Ben Folds By Track – Track #3

See here for the idea behind this series of blogs. Here we go onto the next tracks from the Ben Folds (Five) catalog.

1. “Brick” from “Whatever and Ever Amen” – True pain and angst felt in the lyrics in this song about the decision to get a teenage abortion. Ben Folds readily admits that this song was difficult to write, but was not written as a political statement of any kind. One of the many songs that he wrote using his own personal life experiences.
2. “Frown Song” from “Way to Normal” – One of my favorite songs off of this album. The general theme of the song is to stop being a miserable prick for no reason and just wipe the frown off your face because how it affects other people. Good advice in my opinion.
3. “Still Fighting It” from “Suburbs” – Another song written from personal experiences in Folds’ life. This song was written for his son to try and prepare him for the life he is about to live. It also touches on how having a child changed his life, a feeling I hope to experience someday.
4. “Jesusland” from “Silverman” – This song has some great vocal harmonies and paints a picture of Jesus walking through some town where everything is done in His name. I find it difficult to really quantify why I like or dislike this song, so I’m going to put it in the middle of the Track Threes.
5. “Mess” from “Reinhold Messner” – I enjoy the tone and feeling of this song, and how well it fit into the feel of the overall “Messner” album. Yet another Ben Folds song written from the perspective after a break-up, a recurring theme for sure in many of his songs.
6. “Levi Johnston’s Blues” from “Lonely Avenue” – I like this song primarily it is about Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston during the 2008 presidential campaign. Nick Hornby took the chorus of the song from some postings on Levi Johnston’s Facebook page around the time that the news broke that he had managed to get Sarah Palin’s daughter pregnant during the campaign. Very humorous.
7. “Julianne” from “Ben Folds Five” – I have always liked things other than the piano playing in this song. The opening bass riff is among the best from Ben Folds songs, but this song overall gets relegated to the bottom of the Track Threes.

Average ranking by album to this point:

1. “Rockin’ the Suburbs” – 1.7 (5)
2. “Whatever and Ever Again” – 2.3 (7)
3. “Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” – 3.3 (10)
4. “Way to Normal” – 4.7 (14)
5. “Songs for Silverman” – 5 (15)
6. “Ben Folds Five” – 5.3 (16)
7. “Lonely Avenue” – 5.7 (17)

Until next time…