If You Need a Smile…

There are certain things which are pretty much guaranteed to make me smile.  For instance, the “Who’s on First?” routine by Abbott and Costello invariably makes me laugh, though every time I go into it thinking, “it can’t possibly be that funny this time.”  My newest discovery in this category comes from a group of Canadians and is entitled “The Ninjas.”

What is it?  It is the second song on the Barenaked Ladies’ new album Snacktime.  It hasn’t failed yet to make me smile, even if I’m in a rather melancholy mood.  How can it, with lyrics like these:

I woke up this morning
And everything was different
Something was strange in the air
I woke up this morning
And everything was different
I knew that the ninjas had been there

and

The ninjas are deadly and silent
They’re also unspeakably violent
They speak Japanese
They do whatever they please
And if you tear of their mask,
They’ll be smiling

So if you need a laugh, I heartily recommend “The Ninjas” to you.  In fact, I recommend the whole album.  Other gems on it include “7 8 9″, “Pollywog In a Bog”, “Popcorn” (never thought you’d hear someone make music sound like popcorn popping, did you?), and “Crazy ABC’s”.  To  give you a taste of that last one:

A is for aisle
B is for bdellium
C is for czar
And if you see him, would you mind telling him-

It’s a children’s music album but has plety of jokes for us older children in it too.  You can get it at Amazon, eMusic, or iTunes.

And if you don’t believe me yet, you can listen to the NPR All Things Considered story that made me buy it.  Enjoy!

Update (7/5/08): One further reflection.  I think that the following may be some of the most inspired lyrics I have ever heard (from “Raisins”):

Raisins come from grapes
People come from apes
I come from Canada

Tags: Barenaked Ladies, laugh, music, smile, Snacktime