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Alternative Girlfriend Lyrics
You're in an all-girl band
Your futon's second-hand
Your parents understand but you don't care.
I have a job in a shop
I'm an undercover cop
I make sure the customers aren't thieves
Old at being young, young at being old
Everything's on hold within our evolution
(chorus)
You're my alternative girlfriend
I love you and now you cannot pretend
There's nothing left that won't cross over
Last night we slept on the lawn
You woke up and I was gone
Back to the dream I dream to leave
My life with her is a bore
A worn-out metaphor
No more surprises up its sleeve
We're old at being young, young at being old
Everything's been sold to others' revolutions
(chorus)
You live above your dad's four-car garage
With your vinyl and imaginary entourage.
If I pull up in a U-Haul, pack up quick
So we can get out of this town, 'cause it makes me sick.
(chorus)
Your futon's second-hand
Your parents understand but you don't care.
I have a job in a shop
I'm an undercover cop
I make sure the customers aren't thieves
Everything's on hold within our evolution
You're my alternative girlfriend
I love you and now you cannot pretend
There's nothing left that won't cross over
You woke up and I was gone
Back to the dream I dream to leave
My life with her is a bore
A worn-out metaphor
No more surprises up its sleeve
Everything's been sold to others' revolutions
With your vinyl and imaginary entourage.
If I pull up in a U-Haul, pack up quick
So we can get out of this town, 'cause it makes me sick.
Song Info
Submitted by
ojms On Mar 20, 2001
More Barenaked Ladies
One Week
Pinch Me
What A Good Boy
If I Had A $1000000
Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
he's bored with whatever he has, and is ready to change it, but it doesn't seem like he will any time soon.
One of the most clever things about this song is the double meaning: she's his alternative girlfriend, in that she's really into the "alternative" scene. But the second verse reveals that he's already seeing another woman, but he's bored with her and is looking for all the excitement of youth with this other girl. So she is also his alternative girlfriend in that she's an alternative to the girlfriend he already has.
Overall, this is a wonderfully spot-on parody of Generation X, circa 1994.
@Archaia Sophia BNL was so "Gen-X"!
@Archaia Sophia BNL was so "Gen-X"!
hehe, great song. and no, the woman is not Kev in the video. Steven Page for president!!!
im only the 2nd post for this song! its so good. its about some people trying to resurect their relationship and how the girl is trying to do everything diferent from her bf
I do hope all of you know this thing is about making fun of all the alt. rock bands out around the time. Watch the video its obvious.
@The_Don Yep, especially the scene with the pumpkins.
@The_Don Yep, especially the scene with the pumpkins.
I love the line about young at being old, old at being young. Great description of the late twenties, early thirties.
I think that when you hear "Old at being young, young at being old everything's on hold within our evolution", you really think about your age. Everyone thinks that they've only had experience at being young, and they don't know how to be old.
One of the most clever things about this song is the double meaning: she's his alternative girlfriend, in that she's really into the "alternative" scene. But the second verse reveals that he's already seeing another woman, but he's bored with her and is looking for all the excitement of youth with this other girl. So she is also his alternative girlfriend in that she's an alternative to the girlfriend he already has.
Overall, this is a wonderfully spot-on parody of Generation X, circa 1994.
@Archaia Sophia I'm an X'er and I agree.
@Archaia Sophia I'm an X'er and I agree.
Dream I dream? That's Les Miserable. That's also the song Susan Boyle used to garnish fame via Simon Cowell. This song I only found because it is Adam Carolla's favorite song from the Barenaked Ladies, which he is upset is not on their greatest hits. Where "One Week" gets annoying the more you listen to it, "Alternative Girlfriend" constantly gets better and better.
According to Page, the band saw who successful the grunge scene was, so they thought they'd try their hand at it. This is from the Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits liner notes: "At the height of the grunge revolution, we were strumming on our old banjos and singing about macaroni. It felt like we were the ones being daring. From the difficult second album, Maybe You Should Drive, this marks the debut of rock guitar (apart from a brief allusion in “Grade 9” from Gordon) in our canon. There’s nothing left that won’t cross over, indeed."