Let’s get right to it. A million dollars doesn’t buy what it used to. Or does it? We look at the lyrics and break down the numbers to see how this Classic BNL hit has aged.
A House
$790,000
The average cost of a Canadian home in 2021 takes up almost the full million smackers. That’s about five times higher than it was in 2000 ($163,951) and more than double the 2019 average ($339,030).
A nice chesterfield*
$2199
The Sven couch by the Canadian design company, Article, gets a great review in Architectural Digest. Here’s to buying local!
*Or an ottoman
$529
The matching ottoman goes for $529
A K-Car
$16,368
The Chrysler vehicle (and all around “nice Reliant automobile”) made history as the cheapest car in the compact class. Even adjusted to today’s dollars it’s pretty affordable.
A tree fort
$400
The US national average for building a treehouse is $7000, but you can get that cost down with a little DIY.
A little, tiny fridge
$178
The Frigidaire Retro Mini looks like a reasonable size for a tree fort.
Pre-wrapped sausages
$7.65
That’s for the Johnsonville Original Breakfast Sausage. (Just a thought, but aren’t all sausages technically “pre-wrapped”?)
A fur coat (but not a real fur coat)
$99.90
This snazzy faux fur from Zara is neither prohibitively expensive or creature cruel.
An exotic pet, like a llama
$900
This is for an untrained, untamed llama, which frankly sounds like a bit of a nightmare (but slightly more affordable than the alternative—an emu chick runs for around $1000).
John Merrick’s remains
Priceless
John Merrick, aka The Elephant Man, died in 1890 at the age of 27, suffering from a condition called Proteus syndrome. In 1987, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, offered to buy this particularly significant bag of bones for $1,000,000. He was turned down by the London Hospital Medical College, which said that a sale would be “quite wrong on ethical grounds”.
A limousine
$85
Sure, it’s indulgent (and not great for the environment) to take a limo to the store. But, can you put a price on grocery storage space and legroom?! (Yes, actually, you can!)
Kraft Dinner
$1.34
One box of KD, no butter, no milk.
Expensive ketchup
$4.97
In the song they wonder why there is no Grey Poupon (or fancy) version of ketchup, which is a question that has been pondered by some of the great intellects of our time. Turns out Heinz has a solid grip on the market.
A green dress
$149
Obviously there’s a wide range here. The world’s most expensive dress is a red chiffon number by a Malaysian designer worth $30 million. (Now that’s cruel)
Some art… a Picasso (or a Garfunkel)
Variable
The cheapest work by one of history’s most celebrated artists will run you around $120,000. Which is cheaper than Art Garfunkel’s booking fee (apparently around $350,000).
A monkey
Variable
The cost of Justin Bieber’s pet Capuchin was about $6,000 (not including the $10K in fees he had to pay when trying to illegally transport it across the border).
Total: $1,936,392.86*
*This figure includes the million dollars towards John Merrick’s remains. Assuming the medical powers that be adhere to their ethical stance, we leave out the million, and the new tally becomes a manageable $936,392.86. This leaves a balance/contingency of $63607.14 to buy “your/their love” — or to boost the house bid, since that may be necessary in this seller’s market.
