Ben Folds has had himself quite a prolific career. The world first became familiar with his quirky brand of alternative piano-rock through his band with Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee, Ben Folds Five. After their three albums and a rarities compilation, Folds went on to add three more LPs and and an equal number of EPs to his catalog under his own name. Tack on his numerous collaborations with the likes of William Shatner, Regina Spektor, author Nick Hornby, Amanda Palmer, and more, plus his work on films, and it’s clear Folds’ cup over flows with material.
Now, after more than a decade apart, Ben Folds Five have reunited. The band’s first onstage performance together since a one-off event in 2008 goes down this weekend at Mountain Jam, with more festivals and tour dates to follow. What’s perhaps most exciting for fans, however, is the promise of a new album from the trio due out this year. Three new tracks from the band appeared on Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective last year, but this currently untitled, crowdfunded record will be their first full one since 1999.
Whether by himself, with his friends, or with his newly reunited band, Folds’ repertoire keeps growing. Whatever the work, though, a hallmark of them all has been Folds’ lyrics. Witty, philosophical, melancholic, touching, or just straight oddball, Folds’ words have always made his songs instantly identifiable practically just by reading the lyrics sheet. But the real question is: Can you tell if it’s a Ben Folds Five song or Folds solo? Or was it a collaboration with some other artists? We’ve created a little lyrical retrospective to test your knowledge. We tell you the lyric, you tell us if it’s BFF, Folds and his bffs, or Folds himself. Click on, brave listener, and find out if you’re enough of a Folds fan:
Once you’ve tested yourself, click on to the next page for a full explanation of each question. Don’t go peeking, now, ya little cheater.
1. “Every couple nights or so / You know you pop into my dreams / I just can’t get rid of you / Like you got rid of me”
Ben Folds Five – “Fair” – Whatever and Ever Amen
Though not one of the five singles off their sophomore album (how “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” failed to chart, I’ll never understand), “Fair” is one of the strongest tracks on the the record. It’s got all of Folds’ wit and craftiness, romantic and depressing at the same time.
2. “The sun’s coming up / she’s pulled all the blankets over / curled in a ball / like she’s hiding from me and / that’s when I know / she’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up / for terrible things I did to her in her dreams” Ben Folds – “Trusted” – Songs for Silverman
Folds captures that moment when you realize the person you loved isn’t who you thought they were. This lyric connects with anyone who has ever had someone wake up mad at them for no damned reason but spite.
3. “I went because you said you’d be there / A box of candy, smoke in your hair / I didn’t know, I didn’t care / Now I know” The Bens (Folds, Kweller, Lee) – “Bruised” – The Bens (EP)
What else do you call a band with three guys named Ben? Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee toured Australia together in 2003, and a four-track EP was the result. They also covered “Wicked Little Town” for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute album Wig in a Box.
4. “I see that there is evil / And I know that there is good / And the in-betweens I never understood” Ben Folds Five – “Philosophy” – Ben Folds Five
In the Naked Baby Photos liner notes, Folds claims, “This song is about my penis. . . if that’s what you think it’s about.” Whether his philosophy is phallic in nature or not, this is one of Folds’ knottiest songs to date.
5. “‘No one understands me,’ you said / and I nodded once again / as if to agree that all men are indeed the same / somehow, you said, I was different” Fear of Pop (Ben Folds, John Mark Painter, Fleming McWilliams, lyrics sung by William Shatner) – “In Love” – Volume 1
Folds has called William Shatner his “show-biz dad”, having worked with him on numerous occasions. Here, Shatner plays the part of The Unrequited Lover to “sing” the lyrics with his trademark dramatic, halting delivery.
6. “I wanna borrow an allen wrench! / I wanna borrow some duct tape! / I wanna borrow a mic cable! / Bass in your face!” Ben Folds Five – “For Those of Ya’ll Who Wear Fannie Packs” – Naked Baby Photos
A b-side on the “Battle of Who Could Care Less” single, this largely improvised, um, song is probably the most ridiculous thing the band ever recorded. “Shit yeah it’s cool.”
7. “I like to shoot the shit and do some chilling, I guess / you fuck with me, and I kick your ass” Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – “Levi Johnston’s Blues” – Lonely Avenue
Yes, Folds has a song about Levi Johnston and his bastard child with Bristol Palin. To be fair, neither Folds nor Hornsby wrote these lyrics; they were pulled directly from Johnston’s Myspace page. Can’t make that stuff up.
8. “Lucretia walks into a room / because she does it’s not the same room / the one she wanted to be in / she says, ‘Everywhere I go, damn! There I am.’” Ben Folds – “Fired” – Rockin’ The Suburbs
Allow me to break protocol and address you myself: this is one of my all-time favorite Folds lyrics. Anyone who has ever felt insecure around their peers knows what Lucretia is experiencing here.
9. “Roots, the funny limbs that grow underground / That keep you from falling down / Don’t you think that you need them now?” Ben Folds Five – “Your Redneck Past” – The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
Though the album failed to match the success of Whatever and Ever Amen, Reinhold Messner holds some of the juiciest BFF material. Here, Folds sarcastically addresses the idea of hiding from your past, which really defines you whether you like it or not.
10. “God made us number one because he loves us the best / Well he should go bless someone else for a while / Give us a rest” Ben Folds – “All U Can Eat” – Sunny 16 (EP)
Folds has often dropped religious references into his songs, often attaching them to American politics and society (see: “Jesusland”). He does so again here on the Sunny 16 EP.
11. “Sometimes it’s not subjective wrong and right / deep down you know it’s downright wrong / but you’re invincible tonight” Ben Folds Five – “Do It Anyway” – (forthcoming)
You had to be really on the ball to get this one. An unmastered version of this new cut was released just a few weeks ago.
12. “You could have just propped me up on the table like a mannequin / Or a cardboard standup and paint me / Any face that you wanted me to be seen with” Ben Folds feat. Regina Spektor – “You Don’t Know Me” – Way to Normal
Okay, so this one was a bit of a trick question. Yes, it’s on a Ben Folds solo record, but it features his good friend Regina Spektor on backing vocals. Thus, it’s a bff recording.
13. “I stay focused on details / it keeps me from feeling the big things / But watch the microscope long enough / Things that seem still are still changing” Ben Folds – “Still” - Over The Hedge OST / Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP
Folds provided a few reworkings of old songs, covers, and a handful of originals for the under-appreciated Over The Hedge. “Still” was one of the new tracks. Sidenote: Shatner, who voiced the possum Ozzie in the film, provided a spoken word section to a new version of “Rockin’ the Suburbs” for this OST.
14. “There’s an ugly buzz that hovers just above the quiet / Found a way to make it silent” Ben Folds Five – “Air” – Godzilla OST/Whatever and Ever Amen, Remastered Edition
This track didn’t make the original Whatever and Ever Amen cut, but it found its way onto the soundtrack for the Matthew Broderick-starring Godzilla. What’s more ridiculous: that BFF was on the Godzilla OST, or that Broderick was in a Godzilla movie? You’re right; it’s probably that Godzilla asexually produced offspring in Madison Square Garden.
15. “Some things are more or less like that / Sad, funny, dumb, and brave like that / I don’t know why he had to die / I wonder who was saved” 8in8 (Folds, Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Damian Kulash [OK Go]) – “Twelve Line Song” (aka “The Squirrel Song”) – Nighty Night
At Boston’s Rethink Music conference in April 2011, Folds and some of his pals locked themselves in a room to create eight songs in eight hours. The whole thing was broadcast live, and all proceeds from the album’s download go to benefit Berklee City Music Network.
16. “The kids formed a circle just like Enter the Dragon / I was defending myself from snowballs coming at me / I said I’ll come back then and get you one on one” Ben Folds Five – “Tell Me What I Did” – The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective
This was one of the three new BFF tracks that appeared on Folds’ 2011 retrospective. With the new album in the works, this thankfully won’t be the last new material we get from the trio. The future looks bright, indeed.
