Radio hosts re-write "If I Had a Million Dollars" to account for inflation (VIDEO)
Remember when one million dollars sounded like a lot of money? With inflation these days, even that amount of cash wouldn’t go as far as it used to.
Two Canadian radio hosts took it upon themselves to update the Barenaked Ladies’ iconic hit “If I Had a Million Dollars” to account for the tough times we’re in, and the things they’d buy are much less extravagant than what’s named in the band’s original version.
Seanna Jefferson and Andrew Beckler of Calgary’s X92.9 morning show said that the idea came from Stephen Keppler, a radio friend of theirs who hosts a show in Kelowna, after he tweeted that the song should be revised.
Due to inflation, the @barenakedladies need to re write, āif I had a million dollarsā.
I donāt make up the rules.
ā Keppler (@RadioKeppler) February 19, 2022
The Barenaked Ladies’ original version, which was released in 1988, lists all the things they’d do if they had a million dollars, including taking a limousine to the store, buying John Merrick’s remains, eating Kraft Dinner with really expensive ketchups, and purchasing a Picasso painting.
Jefferson and Beckler’s parody is much more realistic, featuring simpler goals such as buying arugula, turning up the heat in your apartment “by a degree or two,” and purchasing an “average single-family detached home.”
Jefferson goes on to sing that she wouldn’t be able to buy furniture for that home since she spent all of the money on the house itself.
Another line in the radio hosts’ re-write goes “I’d buy you a bike, for when gas continues to spike,” which really hits home right now.
@seannajefferson Due to inflation, we re-wrote āIf I Had a Million Dollarsā by the Barenaked Ladies #yyc #parody #inflation #housingmarket #ab #canada @beckler89 #economy #radio @RadioKeppler ā¬ original sound – Seannajefferson
“If I had a million dollars, it’d be worth half as much as in 1992,” sings Beckler, and Jefferson adds, “You’d have less than your parents at the same age as you.”
Jefferson shared the song on TikTok in late February, and it has since garnered more than 220,000 likes on the video sharing platform.
What would you do if you had one million dollars in today’s economy?
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