Best Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five songs....

[SpikeFayeJettEdBebop 0]

I'm just getting into Ben Fold(Five) and I like some of the stuff, i was just wondering what others thought their/his best is....

 

So, what do you think?

[Henry Spencer 0]

The Battle Of Who Could Care Less

Underground

Narcolepsy

Smoke

[snuffbox 0]

'Brick' and 'Rockin The Suburbs' were both very good singles...the songs are also the complete opposite of each other (Brick being rather sad and RTS being funny and dancey)

 

I also really enjoy "Still Fightin It"

[Mecha Mummy 0]

"Rockin the Suburbs" is my favorite song he's made. Any song where the vocalist sings about how he shouldn't be discriminated against because he's white due to the fact that racism wasn't his idea is wonderful.

[Guest Regina Phelange]

"Whatever and Ever Amen" is a good album altogether... "Battle of who could care less", "Kate", "Song for the Dumped" are great tracks, but the whole album is easy to listen to.

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

Brick, Army, Annie Waits, Best Imitation Of Myself, Rockin' The Suburbs, Not The Same, and most of all, Evaporated. I really love that song.

 

 

Did anyone else see Ben Folds at Summerfest last summer? It was great, but way too packed. We got there at 3 and the whole area around the stage was already packed for a 10.00 show. They sat through some really shitty stuff to get their spots. Meanwhile, my friends and I got crammed way far back, behind a tree or something, having gotten to the Piggly Wiggly Stage around 8.30. But somehow my friend got there right at 10 and had a great view. Dammit.

[moral suasion 0]

Is "Brick" the "Give me my money back, you bitch" song?

[Guest PlatinumBoy]

Is "Brick" the "Give me my money back, you bitch" song?

Brick is the slow song about the main character's girlfriend having an abortion(I've heard it's somewhat autobiographical). The one that goes "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeees a brick and I'm drowning slowly......" It was ALL over the air in the mid/late 90's. The one that starts "6 AM, day after Christmas....." I'd wager you've heard it before.

 

The "Give me my money back, you bitch" song is called "Give me my Money Back".

[DrainYou42 0]

The "Give me my money back, you bitch" song is called "Give me my Money Back".

Actually, it's called "Song for the Dumped"

 

As far as Ben Folds stuff goes, the whole Rockin the Suburbs album is great from start to finish.

 

Mess, Hospital Song, Army, Regrets, Fair, Cigarette, Julianne, Alice Childress, and Underground, are some of my favorite Ben Folds Five songs.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Is "Brick" the "Give me my money back, you bitch" song?

Um...not even close. "Brick" is about Ben taking his girlfriend to get an abortion the morning after Christmas Day, and how he sold his Christmas presents to pay for the procedure, which eventually traumatized her and tore them apart. "Song for the Dumped" is the next track after that on WaEA.

[Guest PlatinumBoy]

The "Give me my money back, you bitch" song is called "Give me my Money Back".

Actually, it's called "Song for the Dumped"

 

As far as Ben Folds stuff goes, the whole Rockin the Suburbs album is great from start to finish.

 

Mess, Hospital Song, Army, Regrets, Fair, Cigarette, Julianne, Alice Childress, and Underground, are some of my favorite Ben Folds Five songs.

Your right on Song for the Dumped--my Mp3 of it lists it as give me my money back.....

[Alro 0]

I recommend finding "Song for the Dumped" performed in a minor key.

 

All of Ben Folds Live is good, too. It is just Ben and a piano. Plus you get a pretty sweet DVD with it.

[Skywarp! 0]

This thread has great timing as I was listening to "Rockin' the Suburbs" on the way to work.

[cynicalprofit 0]

"Satan is My Master" No just kidding. Pretty much all the BFF stuff is good, but I warn ye, AVOID AT ALL COST, the unauthorized biblography of Rheinhold Mezner, or how the hell ever its all spelled. The album just tanks and doesn't hold a candle to anyhting else they did. And I can't in good faith tell you to buy Fear of Pop, just download the 1 song with William Shatner and live without the rest, your better off that way.

[The Czech Republic 0]

"Satan is My Master" No just kidding. Pretty much all the BFF stuff is good, but I warn ye, AVOID AT ALL COST, the unauthorized biblography of Rheinhold Mezner, or how the hell ever its all spelled. The album just tanks and doesn't hold a candle to anyhting else they did. And I can't in good faith tell you to buy Fear of Pop, just download the 1 song with William Shatner and live without the rest, your better off that way.

I liked The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner, "Narcolepsy," "Army," "Hospital Song," "Regrets," all good songs.

[Skywarp! 0]

"Reinhold' is either their best or 2nd best album, I think. They hit their peak, and I think they called it quits after that because they knew that's as far as they could go. "Army" is the rockinest song they've ever done.

[Detective Comics 0]

Anything off of Whatever and Ever and the song "Army" are pretty good.

[Guest Boomer Sprinklespax]

No one has mentioned "Lullaby," a song I'd easily call one of my favorites by Ben Folds/The Five.

 

Sure, it's cheesy and all, but in a good way IMO, if only for the ridiculous lyrics.

 

Also, "Redneck Past."

 

Also, "Fred Jones Part 2."

 

Also, "Boxing."

[SamoaRowe 0]

"Jackson Cannery"

 

"Philosophy"

 

"Underground"

 

"Fair"

 

"Brick"

 

"Battle of Who Could Care Less"

 

"Evaporated"

 

"Emaline"

 

"Narcolepsy"

 

"Army"

 

"Jane"

 

"Lulaby"

 

"Hiro's Song"

 

"Still Fighting It"

 

"Gone"

 

"Not the Same"

 

"One Down"

 

"The Luckiest"

 

I could go on and on and on. I worship the ground Ben Folds walks on

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Bumping this thread.

 

Rockin' the Suburbs is fantastic, but I've found that it's much better for driving than home listening, and "Fired" kinda sucks. Best album is Whatever & Ever Amen.

[C Dubya 04 0]

I think that Reinhold is a little better than Whatever & Ever Amen, but it's like a 1 and 1a difference. Although, if I was going to recommend Ben Folds to someone who has never listened, I'd have them pick up W&E Amen first.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Whatever and Ever Amen is just "tighter" to me, for lack of a better word. I like the way the album is sequenced, and how the instrumentation is generally pretty sparse. The other one with the long name is also great, don't get me wrong, with "Army," "Magic," and "Narcolepsy" being some of Ben's best work, but I get the feeling that something is missing and being compensated for by all the production sheen, which there's virtually none of on W&EA: a telephone goes off in the room, and they just laugh and go on like nothing happened. I guessss UBoRM feels too big to be the best Ben Folds Five, when they were much better doing stripped-down trio stuff. I'm going to go as far as saying Whatever and Ever Amen was one of the best albums of the Nineties.

 

EDIT: Upon looking, for all my blather about Reinhold Messner feeling too bloated and sprawling, it's actually ten minutes shorter than W&EA.

[C Dubya 04 0]

I think it might be that I love the first 3 tracks on UBoRM and Army so much that it clouds my overall view of the album.

 

 

Which do you feel is superior, W&EA or Rockin' the Suburbs? The Five vs. solo stuff.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Whatever and Ever Amen, and it's pretty well ahead. Rockin' the Suburbs seems to have a lot of audio compression, which makes it suited for blasting in the car as you rock the suburbs, but when it comes to songwriting, it falters down the stretch: "The Ascent of Stan," "Losing Lisa," and "Carrying Cathy" are generally filler, "Fired" is just plain bad, "The Luckiest" and "Fred Jones Pt. 2" don't fit the mood of the album, even though the latter is one of his best songs. It has a handful of really good songs, but as a cohesive work, Whatever and Ever Amen is better.

[SuperJerk 0]

This thread sure got bumped out of no where.

 

Having said that, my favorites are "Battle of Who Could Care Less," "Army," and "Underground."

 

If I never hear "Brick" again it'll be too soon.

[Brett Favre 0]

I've only listened to "Fred Jones Pt. 2", and it's pretty good.

[Matt Young 0]

Even though it's a cover, I can answer the original question in three words:

 

Bitches. Ain't. Shit.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

See, the whole "it's funny when I swear" aspect of Ben Folds is what drags him down a lot, in my opinion.

[Ravenbomb 0]

"Raindrops", "Still Fighting It", and the "Whatever and Ever Amen" album from "One Angry Dwarf" to "Battle of Who Could Care Less"

[C Dubya 04 0]

See, the whole "it's funny when I swear" aspect of Ben Folds is what drags him down a lot, in my opinion.

 

It depends. Sometimes it is used correctly, sometimes not and it does drag him down a little and seems like a cop-out. I do like the Bitches ain't Shit cover, it just works for me. (I'm a sucker for those kinds of things though, see: Hack, Dynamite)

 

 

What's everyone's favorite style of Ben song? You really have the slower motivational/touching/love songs, the faster/upbeat kind of rock songs or the almost comedy song/joke.

 

I like both of the first two and flip between them depending on my mood.