Look Back and Laugh: Band Names

I have never really been able to keep up with all the up and coming artists that hit the music scene. I have also never been able to figure out what the deal is with the obscurity behind most of these bands names. Put the two together and you end up with a lot of confusion.

When I was around 11 years old I remember one of my brothers friends asking him if he liked Smashing Pumpkins. I had never heard of the band so I thought he meant literally smashing pumpkins. When my brothers said yes, I couldn't believe this news. I could just picture him smashing pumpkins into smithereens and I wondered if he had any other secret obsessions that I didn't know about like crushing watermelons or smooshing bananas?

When I was 16 I was out on a date that was actually going quite well until I was horribly offended by what I thought was a very perverse question. He asked me if I liked Barenaked Ladies? I couldn't even answer. I just looked at him shocked and disgusted thinking "what kind of girl do you think I am?" I guess he caught on to the fact that I was unaware that Barenaked Ladies was a popular band and he sorted out most of the confusion. We still never had a second date though.

More recently I found a CD in my husbands car that looked like it had a girls handwriting on it and it said "death cab for cutie.”
“Oh you have got to be kidding me” I thought. I figured Death Cab was the bands name and Cutie was the inappropriate nickname some girl had come up with for my husband. No one is going to be burning CD's for my husband and calling him cutie! Once again, I was relived to find out that Death Cab for Cutie is a band, and my husband's friend just happens to have girlie handwriting.

I don't see band names getting any simpler, they have been this way for as long as I can remember. I am sure I will have more funny stories in the future, and probably even embarrass my children at some point. I can just picture it now "No mom, texting with my pinky is a band. It's not something you actually do!"