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Born on a Pirate Ship

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2016}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Born on a Pirate Ship

| type = studio

| artist = Barenaked Ladies

| cover = Barenaked Ladies - Born on a Pirate Ship.jpg

| alt =

| released = March 19, 1996

| recorded = April–July 1995

| venue =

| studio = The Gas Station, Toronto
Reaction Studios, Toronto
Manta Eastern, Toronto
Right Tracks Studio, Saskatoon

| genre = {{Flatlist|*Alternative rock

| length = 51:39

| label = Reprise

| producer = Barenaked Ladies, Michael Phillip Wojewoda

| prev_title = Maybe You Should Drive

| prev_year = 1994

| next_title = Rock Spectacle

| next_year = 1996

}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = Allmusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}} {{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r232901|pure_url=yes}}|title=Born on a Pirate Ship|author=Stewart Mason |publisher=Allmusic |accessdate=2012-01-17}}

| rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite book |last=Wolk |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Wolk |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |chapter=Barenaked Ladies |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/44 44-45] }}

}}

Born on a Pirate Ship is the third full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies (BNL), featuring the songs "Shoe Box", "The Old Apartment", "When I Fall" and "Break Your Heart". "The Old Apartment" would become BNL's first US hit in 1997.

Although a moderate hit in Canada reaching No. 12, the album managed No. 111 in the US. Born on a Pirate Ship was awarded gold status in the U.S. in 2000.

Album information

Born on a Pirate Ship was recorded as a four-piece quartet, following the departure of keyboardist Andy Creeggan.{{cite news| title = Barenaked Ladies: Spontaneity And Surprise| first = Jennie| last = Punter| url = http://www.davidrickard.net/bnl.org/html/impact.html| newspaper = Impact| date = June 1996| accessdate = 2010-03-01| url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20040611145010/http://www.davidrickard.net/bnl.org/html/impact.html| archivedate = June 11, 2004| df = mdy-all}} Kevin Hearn is not credited on the album, but joined the group for the 1995 tour preceding the album's release in time to be thanked in the liner notes for "injecting new spirit."

Steven Page and Ed Robertson returned to writing together, as they did upon the band's formation, but had abandoned following the release of Gordon.

Regarding the recording of the album, Robertson stated:

"I think the whole band was in a better place. We were all much more engaged, and I remember having a ton of fun making that record. There was lots of silliness and lots of good musical bonding. I have nothing but good memories of those recordings and there’s ongoing jokes from those recording sessions that still come up all the time because it really was a blast"https://www.vice.com/en/article/rank-your-records-barenaked-ladies-ed-robertson/

The album is also an enhanced CD. The data track contains audio samples from the band's previous two CDs, a short montage of press photos, several of the band's music videos, a short trivia quiz, and a pair of "behind the scenes" videos from the band. Similar content was included and expanded upon on the Shoe Box E.P.; however, the format of the enhanced CD used in the creation of that CD renders the data track inaccessible on modern operating systems.

The title and front cover photo refers to a vulgar joke that was popular around the time the band members were children. One kid would instruct another to pull back the corners of their mouth with their fingers (but not stick their tongue out) and say, "I was born on a pirate ship." The result would sound like them saying, "I was born on a pile o' shit." Sometimes "with a bunch of apples" would be added at the end, which would come out as "with a bunch of assholes."{{cite web |title=Music / Barenaked Ladies |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/BarenakedLadies |website=TV Tropes |access-date=20 July 2022}}

Track listing

{{tracklist

| headline =

| all_writing = Steven Page and Ed Robertson, except where noted

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Stomach vs. Heart

| extra1 = Steven Page

| length1 = 2:29

| title2 = Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank

| extra2 = Steven Page

| length2 = 3:23

| title3 = I Know

| extra3 = Ed Robertson

| length3 = 3:02

| title4 = This Is Where It Ends

| extra4 = Steven Page

| length4 = 2:53

| title5 = When I Fall

| extra5 = Ed Robertson

| length5 = 4:04

| title6 = I Live with It Every Day

| extra6 = Steven Page

| writer6 = {{hlist|Page|Stephen Duffy}}

| length6 = 4:30

| title7 = The Old Apartment

| extra7 = Steven Page

| length7 = 3:29

| title8 = Call Me Calmly

| extra8 = Steven Page

| writer8 = Page

| length8 = 2:52

| title9 = Break Your Heart

| extra9 = Steven Page

| writer9 = Page

| note9 = Originally recorded for Maybe You Should Drive

| length9 = 4:57

| title10 = Spider in My Room

| extra10 = Jim Creeggan

| writer10 = Jim Creeggan

| length10 = 4:03

| title11 = Same Thing

| extra11 = Ed Robertson

| writer11 = Robertson

| note11 = Originally recorded for Maybe You Should Drive

| length11 = 4:01

| title12 = Just a Toy

| extra12 = Steven Page

| length12 = 3:42

| title13 = In the Drink

| extra13 = Jim Creeggan

| writer13 = Creeggan

| length13 = 5:12

| title14 = Shoe Box

| extra14 = Steven Page

| length14 = 2:57

}}

Personnel

Barenaked Ladies

  • Jim Creeggan – vocals, double bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dobro, fiddle, piano, electric double bass, percussion, yells
  • Steven Page – vocals, sound effects, electric guitar, percussion, yells
  • Ed Robertson – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass guitar, cowbell, sound effects, yells
  • Tyler Stewart – drums, piano, vibraphone, percussion, shaker, Fisher-Price xylophone, tambourine, background vocals, {{Proper name|phat drumz guy}}, yells

Additional personnel

Production

  • Producers: Barenaked Ladies, Michael Phillip Wojewoda
  • Engineer: Michael Phillip Wojewoda
  • Assistant engineers: Jeff Elliott, Tom Heron, Dale Morningstar
  • Mixing: Michael Phillip Wojewoda
  • Piano preparation: Robin Billinton, Steven Page

Singles

class="wikitable"
Single information
align="left"|"The Old Apartment"

  • Released: 1997
  • Formats: CD, 7"
  • Highest US chart position: 88{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
align="left"|"Shoe Box"
  • Released: 1995
  • Format: CD

    • Charts

    Album

    class="wikitable"
    align="left"|Year

    !align="left"|Chart

    !align="left"|Position

    align="left"|1996

    |align="left"|Canada Albums

    |align="left"|12{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_gwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62 | title=HITS OF THE WORLD | work=Billboard | date=April 13, 1996 | accessdate=December 25, 2018}}

    align="left"|1996

    |align="left"|Heatseekers

    |align="left"|4{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

    align="left"|1996

    |align="left"|Billboard 200

    |align="left"|111{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

    Singles

    class="wikitable"
    align="left"|Year

    !align="left"|Chart

    !align="left"|Position

    align="left"|1997

    |align="left"|"The Old Apartment"

    |align="left"|Billboard Hot 100

    |align="left"|88{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

    References

    {{Reflist}}

    {{Barenaked Ladies}}

    {{Authority control}}

    Category:Barenaked Ladies albums

    Category:1996 albums

    Category:Reprise Records albums

    Category:Albums produced by Michael Phillip Wojewoda