Bank Job

So, this weeks Lyric Thursday is courtesy of the Barenaked Ladies' 2006 release, Barenaked Ladies Are Me. I luuuuuurve this album! It's got maybe three songs I skip over because I'm not crazy about them, but with 13 tracks, that's a high signal-to-noise ratio. (I see the second half, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, was released in February. Duly added to my Amazon shopping cart!)

I love the lyrics to this song in particular because I find them so funny. There is a particular point (which I won't give away) where EVERYONE I've ever shared this song with laughs. Until that point, they kind of furrow their brows with concern. But after that, they're always sold!

Bank Job
Steven Page and Ed Robertson, copyright 2006

It was an upset in two minutes flat
We were back on the freeway, foot to the mat
I can't understand it; we had it down pat
It's very upsetting, could we leave it at that?

We all had positions; we each had a role
We'd over-rehearsed it; we had full control
They can't teach you acting, it's there in your soul
It's the same with a bank job, and each thing we stole

So I don't need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Wait by the phone

I was the driver; you ran the show
You had the last word, the go or no go
I knew every laneway in Ontario
But it's not what you're sure of, it's what you don't know

It should have been filled with the usual ones
Throwing their cash into mutual funds
We all had our ski masks and sawed-off shotguns
But how do you plan for a bank full of nuns?

Well, I guess we panicked - we all have taboos
And they were like zebras; they had us confused
We should be in condos with oceanfront views
Instead we're most-wanted on the six o'clock news

So I don't need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone

Inside the police car you tried to explain
Your crisis of conscience; the voice in your brain
And now that the whole thing has gone down the drain
I think we all know who should shoulder the blame

Cause you made a choice there, almost sublime
I'm all for compassion, just not on my dime
You looked like an amateur, and that's the real crime
So I'll take a walk now, and you do the time

And I don't need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
There's no need to phone

We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Leave me alone