Do y'all know my boy Ben Folds? I thought everyone knew Ben, but apparently not as I've heard a few of my friends say "who?" when I've brought him up or one of his tunes has come on the iPod. Ben Fold is my homeboy who plays a mean piano and rocks everything from his own tunes like "Brick," the song everyone my age remembers, to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" to Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Sh*t." Really. He's a white boy from North Carolina who can SANG. Yes, sang.
I first became a fan of Ben Folds in 1997( like everyone else) when Ben Folds Five released their second album Whatever and Ever Amen, with the songs "Brick" and "Battle of Who Could Care Less" playing on the radio every hour. It was the year Scott and I were married and I remember singing both songs driving to work near Atlanta every day, Ben Folds Five was everywhere. I hadn't heard a band who rocked as hard as nearly any other rock band without the use of guitars. It was refreshing and interesting and odd all at the same time. Along with Ben's lovely piano playing and quirky lyrics (who else references the Rockford Files show in a song?) he used expletives without fear or apology and it was certainly off the beaten path for this girl. For instance, off Whatever, "Song For the Dumped" is something everyone's been through and maybe not verbalized, but Ben says what we've all thought in a way only he can. Warning, I've already mentioned the expletives, so if you're at work or you have sensitive ears or children around, you may skip the listening party.
"Song For the Dumped" http://kerryfaler.typepad.com/files/04-song-for-the-dumped.m4a
If you remember, this song came on as our principal opened the door to the minivan for my daughters when I dropped them off for school after they missed the bus earlier this year. Yes, I'm That Mom (for the record, I play the iPod in the car because my precious son put coins in my cd player and failed to put on the kids playlist that morning, which contains no cursing).
Anycursing,the band went on to release The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner in 1999. Here's what the Wikipedia article on the album says about the title:
He is thanked in the record's liner notes for his understanding and
cooperation. Messner later contacted Ben Folds Five to let them know
that he was highly pleased with the album.
As all good things come to an end, Ben Fold Five folded and Ben went solo with Rockin' the Suburbs in 2001 and lo and behold, he played almost all instruments on the album including guitar of all things! Its a great album, go get it right now if you don't have it and you'll have a new instant favorite. Here's the title track, "Rockin' the Suburbs," and it has Ben screaming the F-word at one point, so don't say I didn't warn you.
http://kerryfaler.typepad.com/files/10-rockin-the-suburbs.m4p
And because it's my favorite and this song gets me every time, here's "Annie Waits," which I think is a pretty perfect song. On second thought, I can't get the infernal thing to work, so go watch it on YouTube, it's worth it. Really.
Next Ben put out Songs for Silverman, and this past fall, Way to Normal. The latter is on my everyday listening, it's pretty doggone good. Way to Normal is full of the quirky and ecclectic Ben that I know and love, it's good stuff. I've been listening for a while and I'm discovering something new with it all the time. Ben Folds is a musician who likes to tuck unexpected lyrics and delightful melodies into his albums and there is usually something special in every track, with his latest being every bit of that. Right now my favorite of the album is "You Don't Know Me" with Regina Spektor, so I'll end with that. Y'all have a great rest of this Tunes Tuesday. http://kerryfaler.typepad.com/files/04-you-dont-know-me-feat.-regina-s.m4a
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