"It's All Been Done" is a song by Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

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 self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...

. It was released as the second single from their

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

album, ''

Stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

''. The song was successful in Canada, peaking at 1 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart and becoming the band's highest-charting song in their native country. The song was used as the theme song for the television series ''

Baby Blues ''Baby Blues'' is an American comic strip created and produced by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott since January 7, 1990. Distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1995 until January 2022, and distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication as of Janu ...

''. The song is also notable for being one of the band's first to feature an electric guitar solo by

Ed Robertson Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...

Music video

The video was directed by

Doug Aitken Doug Aitken (born 1968) is an American artist. Aitken's body of work ranges from photography, print media, sculpture, and architectural interventions, to narrative films, sound, single and multi-channel video works, installations, and live perf ...

and was filmed in the former house of comedian

Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, deliberately offensive persona known as "The Diceman". In 1990, he became the fi ...

. The concept of the video was that it was seen from the point of view of various household pets (a cat, a dog, a goldfish, and a bird). Robertson and Page was disappointed with the filming of the video while it was being shot, as he did not feel it was capturing the feeling of the concept. The video features a bald Kevin Hearn, as he was undergoing chemotherapy. He plays a Hohner Clavinet.

Performances

The band performed the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'', ''

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'' and ''

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''. On ''The Tonight Show'', actor

David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...

, who had appeared as a guest earlier in the program, joined the band for the song in the musical segment, playing an egg shaker. The band had arranged it with the actor after an impromptu meeting a week earlier while shooting a television guest appearance at a studio lot.

Track listings

Australian CD single # "It's All Been Done" (album version) – 3:26 # "

One Week One Week may refer to: * One Week (1920 film), ''One Week'' (1920 film), a short film starring and co-directed by Buster Keaton * One Week (2008 film), ''One Week'' (2008 film), a Canadian feature film directed by Michael McGowan * One Week (song), ...

" (Pull's Break Remix) – 3:21 # "

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

" (live) – 4:40 UK CD single # "It's All Been Done" (album version) – 3:27 # "Brian Wilson" (live from ''

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." T ...

'') – 4:46 # "The Old Apartment" (live from ''Rock Spectacle'') – 3:21 UK cassette single # "It's All Been Done" (album version) – 3:27 # "Brian Wilson" (live from ''Rock Spectacle'') – 4:46

Personnel

Steven Page Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in Februar ...

– lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars *

– acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals *

Jim Creeggan James Raymond Creeggan (born February 12, 1970) is the bassist for Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies. Early life Creeggan was born in Scarborough, Ontario. His mother taught piano lessons to neighborhood children, which Creeggan cred ...

– electric bass, backing vocals * Kevin Hearn – keyboards, 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 * Natasha Hébert – "Parlez Français" * Tom Lord-Alge – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1998 singles 1998 songs Barenaked Ladies songs Reprise Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Steven Page Animated series theme songs