"Shoe Box" is a song by

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 ...

band

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 ...

, released as a single from their 1996 album, ''

Born on a Pirate Ship ''Born on a Pirate Ship'' (sometimes abbreviated ''BOAPS'') 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 be ...

''. It is notable for being featured on the first soundtrack to the television series '' Friends'', as well as the last track on the band's ''

'' album (added at the last minute). The song was also recorded and mixed for the band's live album, ''

Rock Spectacle ''Rock Spectacle'' is the first live album by Barenaked Ladies. It was also the first major success for the band in the United States, selling over one million copies and producing a hit single in the country in its version of "Brian Wilson." ...

'', but was ultimately left off, and later included on ''One Week'' single.

Music video

The video for the song was originally to feature

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom '' Friends'' and in its spin-off series, '' Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc ...

and

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...

, from the

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

'' Friends'', but each pulled out nearly last minute, and had to be replaced with unknown actors. According to the commentary track on the DVD '' Barelaked Nadies'', the male actor was

Chris Hardwick Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts '' Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' ...

, who later became famous for his work with

Nerdist Industries Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast ( The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium con ...

. The video features a young girl who sneaks out of her bedroom to meet with an older man and go out with him for the night, only to be found by her mother and the police. At the end, the girl wakes up screaming, indicating that the scenario was only a dream. The performance portion of the video shows the band on a set with oversized props giving the appearance that they are within a shoe box kept under the girl's bed. The video is the first to feature new band member

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 ...

, who was not involved in the song's recording, but plays marimbas in the video nonetheless. The band later described the making of the video as a "fiasco".

EP

The ''Shoe Box EP'' is a four-track EP which also contains an "enhanced" portion. The disc contains both the original ''Pirate Ship'' album version of "Shoe Box", as well as the radio remix, which includes an 8-bar instrumental introduction. The EP also includes the B-side "Trust Me", which also later appeared on the " If I Had $1000000" single; the version on the EP includes a count-in at the beginning that is edited from the later single version. The final track is a version of "If I Had $1000000" from '' The Yellow Tape'' (which previously appeared on the UK ''Sandwich CD'', which contains the first four tracks from ''The Yellow Tape'' in CD form). The enhanced portion features video clips and other multimedia elements playable on a computer. However, the disc was created using the

pregap The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents (TOC). The pregap ("index 00") is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence. Po ...

format which has not been supported by Windows or Mac OS for some time, rendering the data inaccessible to most users.

Track listing

Personnel

* Steven Page – lead vocals, electric guitar * Ed Robertson – electric guitar, background vocals * Jim Creeggan – double bass, background vocals * Tyler Stewart – drums, tambourine

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Production

*Producers:

Michael Phillip Wojewoda Michael Phillip Wojewoda is a Canadian record producer and musician. He has been nominated for eight Juno Awards and has received one for Recording Engineer of the Year and one for Producer of the Year. History Wojewoda began recording bands in ...

on 3 *Engineering: Michael Phillip Wojewoda, Walter Sobczak on 3 *Photography/Design: Neil Prime-Coote *Publishing: Treat Baker Music, Warner Brothers Music Corp.

References

{{Authority control Barenaked Ladies songs 1995 singles Barenaked Ladies EPs