Throwback Thursday: The Lemonheads Look So Happy On ‘Late Night’

The song 'It's a Shame About Ray' might seem sad, but you wouldn't know it from watching Evan Dando and the rest of the Lemonheads perform it on 'Late Night With David Letterman' back in 1992. But that was the band's charm: They tackled big, hairy issues by writing dark lyrics wrapped up in lovely sugar-pop guitar coatings.

Letterman, making a move you rarely see in late night talk shows, opens the segment by saying the band was all set to play their then-hit, a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs. Robinson.' But at the last minute, he asked them to play one of their originals, so they chose the title track from their newest album.

It's possible that the band looks so happy because at the last minute, they won some small reprieve from playing a song that they were probably sick of by then. Or maybe they were just happy to be on 'Late Night.'

And in case you've never heard their cover of 'Mrs. Robinson,' here's the music video -- it's about as '90s as you can get.