Song · Barenaked Ladies
“Brian Wilson” by Barenaked Ladies
From the EP Barenaked Ladies (1991)
“Brian Wilson” by Barenaked Ladies appears on 15 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1991 and 2025. It was first released in 1991 on the EP Barenaked Ladies. Its best result is #14 on the CFNY Top 102 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #91 alternative song of 1998, #3,124 alternative song of all time and #399 of the '90s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (Barenaked Ladies (official)). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Brian Wilson" first turned up on Barenaked Ladies' self-titled 1991 EP and landed again on their 1992 album Gordon, and it's the Canadian band at their sly best. Steven Page wrote it in 1990, holed up downstairs at his parents' place, and it opens on one of his late-night record runs to Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street.
From there the narrator starts seeing his own life in the Beach Boys' troubled genius: the mental illness, the weight, the long stretch under psychologist Eugene Landy. Page sings it as a wry, bouncing tribute that keeps slipping into something sadder underneath. The ultimate endorsement came when Brian Wilson himself covered it on Live at the Roxy Theatre in 2000, and that year CFNY-FM listeners voted it the 24th best new rock song of the decade.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 60 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON | CFNY Top 91 Songs of 1991 | 91 |
| 1992 | 14 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON | CFNY Top 102 Songs of 1992 | 102 |
| 1998 | 26 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1998 | 101 |
| 1998 | 70 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1998 | 100 |
| 1998 | 23 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 1998 | 103 |
| 1998 | 70 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 103 Songs of 1998 | 102 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 162 | WHFS | WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) | 500 |
| 1999 | 162 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 42 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2005 | 766 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
| 2007 | 424 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2010 | 429 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2023 | 393 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 342 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2025 | 271 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s | 500 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.