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.
Philosophy
Ben Folds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
At the mortar, block, and glass
And check out the reflections in my eyes
You see they always used to be there
Even when this was all was grass
And I sang and danced about a high-rise
And you were laughing at my helmet hat
Well, go ahead, you can laugh all you want
I got my philosophy (it keeps my feet on the ground)
And I trust it like the ground (ground)
And that's why my philosophy (my phil')
It keeps me walking when I'm falling down ('osophy)
I see that there is evil
And I know that there is good
Now the in-betweens, I never understood
Would you look at me? I'm crazy
But I get the job done
Yeah, I'm crazy but I get the job done
And I say, go ahead, you can laugh all you want
But I got my philosophy (it keeps my feet on the ground)
And I trust it like the ground (ground)
And that's why my philosophy (my phil')
It keeps me walking when I'm falling down ('osophy)
I pushed you 'cause I loved you guys
I didn't realize
You weren't having fun
And I dragged you up the stairs
And I told you to fly
You were flapping your arms
You started to cry, you were too high
No, too high
You may take this all for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
And you forget the speech that moved the stone
But it's really not that you can't see
The forest from the trees
You never been out in the woods alone
So you can laugh all you want to
But I got my philosophy (it keeps my feet on the ground)
And I love you, you're my friend (friend)
But you got no philosophy (my phil')
And now it's time for the song to end ('osophy)
(Count that bitch off, somebody)
(You count it off)
(Scream it) (we're Swervedriver, where's the party?
(One, two, thee four)
The song "Philosophy" by Ben Folds Five is about the importance of individual philosophy in keeping oneself grounded despite the chaos and complexity of the world. The song begins with the singer asking the listener to look at the skyline and the reflections in his eyes, pointing out that he has always been this way, even back when the land was just grass. He speaks of a time when he "sang and danced about a high-rise", implying that he is different from most people in that he does not conform to societal norms. However, despite being laughed at for his unusual hat and torch, he has his own philosophy that keeps him grounded and allows him to keep walking even when he falls down.
The second verse speaks of the singer's awareness of the duality of good and evil, but that he struggles to understand the "in-betweens". Despite being perceived as crazy, he gets the job done. The third verse speaks of how the singer pushed his friends to go beyond their limits, but they were unable to handle it and started to cry. The song concludes with the singer telling his friends that they may take things for granted, but his philosophy keeps him grounded, and that they have no philosophy of their own.
Line by Line Meaning
Won't you look up at the skyline?
Will you please take a moment to appreciate the city skyline?
At the mortar, block, and glass
Look at the man-made structures of the city
And check out the reflections in my eyes
Notice the reflection of the city in the singer's eyes
You see they always used to be there
The city and its reflections have always been there
Even when this was all was grass
Even before the city was built, the potential for it existed
And I sang and danced about a high-rise
Before the high-rise was built, the singer had already dreamed of it
And you were laughing at my helmet hat
You were laughing at the singer's odd headwear
Laughing at my torch
You were laughing at the singer's torch
Well, go ahead, you can laugh all you want
It's okay if you think the singer is ridiculous
I got my philosophy (it keeps my feet on the ground)
The singer has a life philosophy that helps them stay grounded
And I trust it like the ground (ground)
The singer trusts their philosophy as much as the stability of the ground
And that's why my philosophy (my phil')
This is why the singer's philosophy is important to them
It keeps me walking when I'm falling down ('osophy)
Their philosophy helps the singer keep moving forward when things get tough
I see that there is evil
The singer recognizes the existence of evil
And I know that there is good
They also acknowledge the existence of good
Now the in-betweens, I never understood
The singer doesn't understand the gray areas between good and evil
Would you look at me? I'm crazy
The singer acknowledges that they might be seen as crazy
But I get the job done
However, they are still able to accomplish their goals
And I say, go ahead, you can laugh all you want
It's okay if others don't understand the singer
But I got my philosophy (it keeps my feet on the ground)
Their philosophy keeps them grounded even if others ridicule them
And I trust it like the ground (ground)
The singer places as much trust in their philosophy as in the stability of the ground beneath their feet
And that's why my philosophy (my phil')
This is why their philosophy is so important to them
It keeps me walking when I'm falling down ('osophy)
Even when everything feels like it's falling apart, their philosophy helps them keep moving forward
I pushed you 'cause I loved you guys
The singer's actions were motivated by love
I didn't realize
However, they weren't aware
You weren't having fun
That their friends were not enjoying themselves
And I dragged you up the stairs
The singer pulled their friends along
And I told you to fly
The singer encouraged their friends to take a leap of faith
You were flapping your arms
Their friends tried to fly but failed
You started to cry, you were too high
Their friends were overwhelmed and started to cry
No, too high
They were trying to achieve something that was out of their reach
You may take this all for granted
People often take the things around them for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
People focus on the man-made elements of their surroundings
And you forget the speech that moved the stone
They forget about the human effort and creativity that made those elements possible
But it's really not that you can't see
It's not about not being able to see
The forest from the trees
It's about not being able to see the bigger picture
You never been out in the woods alone
They have never truly experienced nature
So you can laugh all you want to
It's okay if others don't understand
But I got my philosophy (it keeps my feet on the ground)
Their philosophy helps them remain grounded even if others mock them
And I love you, you're my friend (friend)
The singer cares about their friends
But you got no philosophy (my phil')
Their friends don't have a philosophy that helps them in the same way
And now it's time for the song to end ('osophy)
The song has come to a close, but their philosophy remains important to them
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ben Folds
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Reni
One of the tightest 3 piece bands ever. Darren Jesse on drums has always been severely underrated - such a unique style. 🤌🔥
James S
1000 times this
SampleText McGee
Good grief, nothing like a young Ben Folds!!! Dude is a firecracker!
TBonePicknose
Damn, this song is better than the original recording. Loads of energy!
jdjk7
I've never known Ben Folds much, but I gotta say, the bass playing and that fuzz tone from Robert Sledge has been my gateway. I've been listening to the first album on repeat today.
Leah Rosamilia
They were amazing live! Enjoy
vinta
Check out the second album next! It's got crazy bass lines too!
Not Another James Murphy
have you heard The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner? it fizzles out by the later-half, but the first half-dozen songs are really, really good
Chris Robinson
This is one of the best concerts ever! Magic!
Leon Kowalski
Sophisticated heavy piano metal. Fabulous.