Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel

This is a pretty morbid song about a somebody dying in a car crash.  It's by Barenaked Ladies, who are great performers and songwriters.  Not afraid of humor or irony, the band has used a sort of carnival sounding music complete with organ as the backdrop for this tune.  Do listen if you please:

This song also showcases Steven Page's great voice- his is one of the best rock has to offer in my opinion.  I think his talent has been masked a bit by Barenaked Ladies' humorous and goofy approach to music.  He is no longer part of the band, and frankly I don't care to hear any of their music unless he's involved.

Oh, if you care, this comes from the Ladies' 2001 album Maroon and is the final track, sort of....

I say "sort of" as a way to vent something that used to be so cool, seemingly a lifetime ago, HIDDEN TRACKS!

Here's a history lesson, kids.  Back in them days, when I was a kid, we used to listen to our music on "Compact Discs" or CD's!  Hoo boy was it exciting to get a new "CD!"  We would take our CD and unwrap the cellophane and then try to pry a sticky label off before we could open it.


Shining and glimmering we would insert the CD into a "CD PLAYER" and through the magic of *digital electricity* we would listen to music.  There was no spotify, there was no iTunes!  It was a happier time.

Every once in a while, especially during the 90's, there would be a surprise at the end of a CD.  It would come as a total shock!  It was called a *hidden track*   So you would be happily listening to your 12 track album for example and the album would end, OR SO YOU THOUGHT!  Instead you would hear empty noise for some time and eventually you would be surprised by a *hidden track* and you would magically be given an extra song!  It was a beautiful, glorious gift from the artist to his fans!  It was better than bacon on a Wednesday morning!  You felt cool if you were the first of your friends to discover the track, if your head didn't explode first from all the commotion and excitement!

But the excitement was short-lived, my friends.  The digital age crept up on us and when we don't stream our music we rip it and store it into our computer.  This makes keeping our music very convenient but the tracks with the hidden track are now annoying because it's impossible to separate the tracks and you're left with dead space between songs, and usually a mediocre song that isn't technically part of the album.  Does this make sense?

I'm running out of time, but what I'm getting at is that this track "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" is followed by a hidden track in my collection.  They extra song is called Hidden Sun, just so you know.  


Hidden tracks are so passe you guys!