Barenaked Ladies - One Week

What this video is

Released in 1998 as the lead single from the album Stunt, 'One Week' became Barenaked Ladies' breakthrough US hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — fittingly for exactly one week — on October 17, 1998. The song exemplified a late-90s moment when white alt-rock artists self-consciously engaged rapid-fire, pop-culture-saturated quasi-rap, operating at the intersection of college-rock irony and mainstream…

Why it matters

A landmark of the late-90s alternative-pop crossover, 'One Week' represents the apex of the ironic, rapid-fire quasi-rap subgenre pioneered by acts like R.E.M. ('It's the End of the World') and developed through the college-rock humor tradition. Its #1 Billboard Hot 100 placement demonstrated that…

The director

Born August 9, 1968 in Kalamazoo, Michigan; raised in Newport Beach, California. Began career as record producer and music video director in early 1990s, co-founding G Recordings. Directed over 50 music videos for artists including Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth,…