"Call and Answer" is a song by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

group

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold i ...

. It was the third single from their highly successful 1998 album ''

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'' (the song "Alcohol" had been previously released to radio stations, but was not sold commercially as a single). When released as a single, the song was both remixed and edited into a radio mix which cut from the second verse to the third chorus, skipping a chorus, an instrumental break and the third verse. The remix was a slight adjustment of EQ and levels; not a comprehensive remix involving adding or replacing musical elements. This version was also included on the soundtrack for the film '' EdTV''. The song was written by Steven Page and his longtime collaborator,

Stephen Duffy Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo perform ...

. All of the vocals in the song are performed by Page; this includes overlapping vocals, harmonies and octaves, and a

call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

chorus. This, in addition to a long ad-lib outro makes the song a showcase of Page's vocal abilities. In live performances, the backing vocals were performed by bandmates Ed Robertson and Jim Creeggan. The song seems to be about the reconciliation of a tumultuous relationship. The song was performed on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

as a tribute to

Peter Gzowski Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada",Mary Gazze Canadian Press via The ''Toronto Star'', August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-06-27. was a Canadian broadcaster, write ...

on his death in 2002. It was also performed as a duet with

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two ...

in 2004 during the co-headlining Au Naturale Tour.

Music video

The video for the song utilized the shorter, radio mix version, and involved the band living in a world of duplicates. All the houses look the same, all the cars are white

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s, and there are several "copies" of each band member. Notably, there are multiple Stevens that sing the multiple vocal lines he sings on the song. Steve is the main band member seen in the video, and the other band members are only in a few shots. Steve is paired with a female character in the video. The video was shot in the Valencia section of

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17 ...

. A second version of the video includes scenes from the film '' EdTV''. The video for the song was an Easter egg on the install disc for Mac OS 9-9.2, along with the video for Static X's "Push It".

Personnel

* Steven Page – lead vocals * Ed Robertson – acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals * Jim Creeggan – double bass, cello, backing vocals *

Kevin Hearn Kevin Neil Hearn (born July 3, 1969) is a Canadian musician who is a member of Barenaked Ladies, and his own group, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. He primarily plays keyboards and guitars. He is also a member of Rheostatics. Early life Hearn w ...

– piano, synthesizer, backing vocals *

Tyler Stewart Tyler Joseph Stewart (born September 21, 1967) is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies. Role in Barenaked Ladies Stewart met Steven Page, Ed Robertson, and Jim Creeggan at the Waterloo Busker Carnival in Waterloo, Ontario, C ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1999 singles Barenaked Ladies songs Songs written by Stephen Duffy Songs written by Steven Page 1998 songs Reprise Records singles