As of fall 2006, Ben Folds has released five solo LPs. His first album, Fear of Pop: Volume 1, an album of spoken word and instrumental compositions, was recorded and released while Ben Folds Five was still together. Since it was an uncharacteristic release, and officially released under the moniker of 'Fear of Pop', it is widely considered that his first "proper" solo album was Rockin' the Suburbs (2001), on which he played all the instruments by himself. A year later, in 2002, he released Ben Folds Live, a collection of live solo recordings. In late 2003, two solo EPs, Speed Graphic and Sunny 16, were released, with a third entitled Super D released in mid-2004. In 2005, Folds released a second studio album called Songs for Silverman. Most recently Folds has released the album "Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp" a compliation of his EPs, a The Bens track called "Bruised," "Still" from the motion picture of 2006 "Over the Hedge" for which Folds wrote all the songs, his cover of the Dr. Dre song "Bitches Ain't Shit", and, with the kind permission of his good friend Neil Hannon, a cover of The Divine Comedy song "Songs of Love". "Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp" otherwise includes remastered takes from the three internet EPs from 2002-2004. Ben claims that he wanted to have the CD in hard format so he could "put it past him."
Ben resides in Nashville. He often tours the United States, the United Kingdom, other countries in Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Folds' tours are famous for his solo act as "Ben Folds and a piano", often having the audience become involved by "playing" the accompanying instruments (such as the trumpet and saxophone harmonies in "Army") and singing choir-like backing vocals on "Not the Same". His concerts are charismatic, yet calm - an enjoyable experience for most. And although Folds is constantly putting out new songs, his concerts rarely omit classic fan favorites such as "Philosophy," "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces," and "Army." Also, a seemingly fan favorite that started in Chicago, IL was "Rock this Bitch," a song where Folds has to come up an impromptu new tune with the words "Rock this Bitch" in it; though the song seems to be phasing out, it still makes appearances on tours, such as the November 2006 tour and the Spring US College tour of 2007 and 2008.
Folds also produced and arranged the William Shatner album, Has Been (2004); he previously worked with Shatner on the songs "In Love" and "Still in Love" for Fear of Pop.
Folds described his former band, Ben Folds Five, as "punk rock for sissies," and his oddball lyrics often contain nuances of depression, melancholy and self-conflict. Folds also provided a number of songs for film soundtracks. Some of these include "Lonely Christmas Eve" for the Jim Carrey film How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2000), and a rendition of the Beatles' "Golden Slumbers" for the film I Am Sam (2001). He (as The Bens) has also done charity compilations, from singing "Wicked Little Town" (from film and stage show Hedwig and the Angry Inch) on the benefit album "Wig in a Box" (2003) to appearing on No Boundaries, a benefit album for Kosovo refugees, with the song "Leather Jacket." (written by Darren Jessee)
On a planned tour of Australia, Folds teamed up with solo artists Ben Kweller and Ben Lee to travel the country together as The Bens, at the suggestion of a fan on Ben Kweller's official website. The trio also went on to record a four-track EP together, entitled The Bens.
In summer of 2004, Folds co-headlined an American tour with fellow rockers Rufus Wainwright and Guster. His second solo studio album, entitled Songs for Silverman, was released in the U.S. on April 26, 2005, featuring Jared Reynolds on bass, and Lindsay Jamieson on the drums, thus returning to the trio format, which had been so successful earlier, in earnest. This album includes the track "Late," a tribute to the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, and also features backing vocals from "Weird Al" Yankovic on "Time." (Folds had played piano for Yankovic's song "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?" and "Weird Al" directed Folds' music video for Rockin' the Suburbs). In January of 2007 Lindsay Jamieson left the band and was replaced by Sam Smith, of The Comfies on drums.
Folds performed with Rufus Wainwright and Ben Lee in the summer of 2005 as part of the "Odd Men Out" tour. In addition, Folds has performed with many other famous musical names, including Weezer. Folds has also shown the complexity behind his authentic sound by performing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, in March 2005, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in November 2005. A DVD recording of Folds playing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra was released in December, 2005.
Folds was the first artist to do a "Live at Myspace" concert, held on October 24, 2006 in his recording studio in Nashville, the show was an hour long and had requests from the internet submitted via Myspace's Messenger. It also entailed several stunts, including a suicide attempt, and a falling audience member during "Jesusland". The DVD of the broadcast (almost whole) was released in February of 2007.
Folds supports the independent music scene, creating his own record label (Attacked By Plastic) and doing promotional work for independent record stores across the country.
In 2008, September 16 marked the release of Amanda Palmer's solo album which was produced by Folds. Two days following that release, Ben Folds Five had a one-time reunion concert held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the same place the band was formed. Weeks later, he released his third solo album entitled Way To Normal, released on September 30. Folds also recorded a fake album that was leaked intentionally during the summer to please fans and in an attempt to stop the real album from leaking. The fake tracks were recorded and mixed over a period of only several days. The leak contained 6 fake songs with names similar to the real songs or the album, and three songs from the actual release (except the song Cologne, which was an orchestral version of a song by the same name on the final album).
Since December 2008, Folds has been collaborating with English novelist Nick Hornby, writing the music while Hornby writes the lyrics. This album was originally planned to be recorded over a course of 3 days, the same amount of time in which the fake album was recorded, but Folds has since been recording the album in a more standard format, albeit attempting to retain the live recording format. He has also played several songs from the upcoming album at live shows since mid-2009, and the album is slated to be released on September 27th of 2010.
From December 14 through 21, 2009, Folds was featured as a judge on NBC's a cappella competition The Sing Off alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Shawn Stockman and offered insightful, constructive comments and criticisms to the contestants. On the final show, in a departure from his a cappella purism, showcased his talents and played the roaring, riffing piano background on "Why Can't We Be Friends?" sung by the two finalist groups, Tufts Beelzebubs from Tufts University near Boston and Nota, from San Juan, Puerto Rico. He again returned for the show's second season, and has been confirmed to return for the third season in September 2011 alongside Stockman and new judge Sara Bareilles.
Recently Ben Folds was assumed to be the anonymous pianist playing songs to random ChatRoulette users, named "Merton." Although Ben Folds has admitted to NOT being Merton, he paid tribute to the YouTube star at a concert in Charlotte in "Ode To Merton."
Ben Folds recently released his first album since So There, What Matters Most in June of 2023 after a 12 year hiatus.
Doc Pomus
Ben Folds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lobby of the forest
With freighters, hustlers, hard up millionaires
Mobsters, cops,
Whores, pimps, and Marxists
All human life is there
In the forest all you need is eyes and ears
Man in a wheelchair listens to the chatter
Writes down all the insane crap he hears.
He can't move around but it doesn't really matter
In the farthest stall you needed his eyes and ears
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
And he could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's okay.
He was mad as hell.
Frightened and bitter,
He found a way to make his feelings pay.
Back at the forest in the steakhouse of a lobby
A diner gets 3 bullets in the head.
Doc looks down eating his linguine
Thinking up a lyric for the dead.
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
1962
Friendly Jack Benny, crazy Phil Spector
? and Eydie Gorme
Damon Runyon Junior and the ? orchestra
All super human life is there
In the forest all you need is eyes and ears
And he could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's okay
He was mad as hell, frightened and bitter.
He found a way to make his isolation pay.
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
The song "Doc Pomus" by Ben Folds pays tribute to the famous songwriter Doc Pomus, who was known for his ability to turn personal pain and isolation into hit songs. The forest referred to in the first verse is the Hotel Forest, a famous New York City hotel in the 1950s and 60s where Pomus would spend hours observing and listening to people in the lobby. In the chorus, Folds sings about the hits and misses that poured out of Pomus's pen, referencing some of his most famous songs such as "Turn Me Loose" and "Lonely Avenue," as well as the Elvis Presley hit "Suspicion," which Pomus co-wrote with Mort Shuman.
The man in the wheelchair was Doc Pomus himself, who suffered from polio and had to use a wheelchair for most of his life. He was not the type to put on a happy face and pretend everything was okay, but he found a way to channel his bitterness and isolation into his songwriting. The last verse references a true event where Pomus witnessed a murder in the Hotel Forest and used it as inspiration for a song. The song reflects on how Pomus's own struggles and observations of the world around him influenced his songwriting and contributed to his success.
Line by Line Meaning
Man in a wheelchair
A disabled man in a wheelchair
Lobby of the forest
A place where people from all walks of life gather
With freighters, hustlers, hard up millionaires
A diverse crowd of people including dock workers, con men, and people struggling to make a living
Mobsters, cops,
Criminals and law enforcement officers
Whores, pimps, and Marxists
Prostitutes, their managers, and left-wing intellectuals
All human life is there
People from all walks of life mingle in this place
In the forest all you need is eyes and ears
If you pay attention, you can learn a lot about people's lives here
Man in a wheelchair listens to the chatter
The disabled man overhears and records people's conversations
Writes down all the insane crap he hears.
He records all the crazy things people say
He can't move around but it doesn't really matter
His disability doesn't prevent him from working in this environment
In the farthest stall you needed his eyes and ears
Even from a distance, he could still listen in on conversations
And out they pour the hits and the misses
The songwriter's creative output is a mix of successful and unsuccessful attempts
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
The songwriter is referencing one of his famous songs
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
The singer is naming another famous song from the same era
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
The songwriter is referencing himself and someone he worked with during that year
And he could never be one of those happy cripples
The disabled man doesn't fit the cultural stereotype of a cheerful disabled person
The kind that smile and tell you life's okay.
Some people with disabilities feel pressured to always appear cheerful and optimistic
He was mad as hell.
The disabled man was angry about his situation
Frightened and bitter,
The disabled man felt scared and resentful about his life
He found a way to make his feelings pay.
The disabled man channeled his emotions into his creative work and found success
Back at the forest in the steakhouse of a lobby
The disabled man is back in the same place where he used to listen to people
A diner gets 3 bullets in the head.
Someone is killed at the restaurant
Doc looks down eating his linguine
The songwriter is present at the scene of the killing, eating dinner
Thinking up a lyric for the dead.
The songwriter is inspired by the situation to write a song about murder
Friendly Jack Benny, crazy Phil Spector
The songwriter is listing famous people he knows or has met
? and Eydie Gorme
Another famous person is mentioned, but the songwriter can't remember their name
Damon Runyon Junior and the ? orchestra
More famous people the songwriter is familiar with
All super human life is there
Even more famous or influential people are present in this environment
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BEN FOLDS, BENJAMIN SCOTT FOLDS, NICHOLAS PETER JOHN HORNBY, NICK HORNBY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind