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.
You Don't Know Me
Ben Folds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Do you ever sit and wonder,
It's so strange
That we could be together for
So long, and never know, never care
What goes on in the other one's head?
Things I've felt but I've never said
So I'll say something that I should have said long ago:
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
You could have just propped me up on the table like a mannequin
Or a cardboard stand-up and paint me (paint me)
Any face that you wanted me
To be seen.
We're
Damned by the existential moment where
We saw the couple in the coma and
It was we were the cliche,
But we carried on anyway.
So, sure, I could just close my eyes.
Yeah, sure, trace and memorize,
But can you go back once you know
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
If I'm the person that you think I am
Clueless chump you seem to think I am
So easily led astray,
An errant dog who occasionally escapes and needs a shorter leash, then
Why the fuck would you want me back?!
Maybe it's because
(You don't know me at all)
(You don't know me,
you don't know me.)
So, what I'm trying to say is
What (What?)
I'm trying to tell you
It's not gonna come out like I wanna say it cause I know you'll only change it.
(Say it.)
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
What?
The lyrics of Ben Folds's song You Don't Know Me touch upon the complex nature of human relationships, where two people can spend a significant amount of time together but not truly understand each other's innermost feelings and thoughts. The singer of the song expresses his frustration at this phenomenon, wondering how it is possible that he and his partner could have never cared or attempted to understand what goes on in each other's heads despite being together for so long. The song speaks to the dangers of complacency and taking relationships for granted, where assumptions are made without ever truly communicating and connecting with one another.
The singer goes on to illustrate the extent of this lack of understanding by describing how his partner could have propped him up like a mannequin and painted any face they wanted for people to see. He further describes feeling like a cliché when observing a couple in a coma but continuing on with the relationship despite knowing there may be underlying issues. He questions whether it is possible to go back once one has realized the extent of how little they knew about their partner. The song culminates in a frustrated outburst, where the singer questions why his partner would even want him back if they did not truly understand who he was.
Line by Line Meaning
I wanna ask you
I have a question for you
Do you ever sit and wonder,
Have you ever considered
It's so strange
It's odd
That we could be together for
Despite being together for
So long, and never know, never care
Such a duration without caring about or knowing
What goes on in the other one's head?
What the other person is thinking
Things I've felt but I've never said
Emotions I've experienced but didn't verbalize
You said things that I never said
You falsely assigned words to me
So I'll say something that I should have said long ago:
Here's what I should have told you before:
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all
You have no understanding of me
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all (at all)
You have no understanding of me whatsoever
You could have just propped me up on the table like a mannequin
You could have used me as a lifeless figure
Or a cardboard stand-up and paint me (paint me)
Or a paper cutout to which you assign an image
Any face that you wanted me
Create a facade of your choosing for me
To be seen.
For others to observe
We're
Together
Damned by the existential moment where
Cursed by the moment of existence when
We saw the couple in the coma and
We encountered that unconscious pair and
It was we were the cliche,
We realized we were a stereotype,
But we carried on anyway.
Despite the revelation, we persisted.
So, sure, I could just close my eyes.
Although I could ignore the situation
Yeah, sure, trace and memorize,
Trace and record
But can you go back once you know
Can you revert after comprehending
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all
You have no understanding of me
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all (at all)
You have no understanding of me whatsoever
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all
You have no understanding of me
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all (at all)
You have no understanding of me whatsoever
If I'm the person that you think I am
If I match your perception of me
Clueless chump you seem to think I am
The impression you may have of me as an ignorant fool
So easily led astray,
Quickly going off course
An errant dog who occasionally escapes and needs a shorter leash, then
A wandering canine who needs a tighter lead
Why the fuck would you want me back?!
Why would you want me to return?
Maybe it's because
Perhaps it's because
(You don't know me at all)
You lack knowledge about me
(You don't know me,
You lack understanding of me,
you don't know me.)
You have no knowledge of who I am.
So, what I'm trying to say is
I'm attempting to express
What (What?)
I'm speaking about
I'm trying to tell you
I aim to inform you
It's not gonna come out like I wanna say it cause I know you'll only change it.
I know you'll alter it, so it won't be as I intended.
(Say it.)
Go ahead and request it.
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all
You have no understanding of me
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all (at all)
You have no understanding of me whatsoever
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all
You have no understanding of me
(You don't know me)
You lack knowledge about me
You don't know me at all (at all)
You have no understanding of me whatsoever
What?
I don't understand. What do you want?
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BEN FOLDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@etudes3209
I wanna ask you -
Do you ever sit and wonder,
It's so strange
That we could be together for
So long, and never know, never care
What goes on in the other one's head?
Things I've felt but I've never said
You said things that I never said
So I'll say something that I should have said long ago:
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
You could have just propped me up on the table like a mannequin
Or a cardboard stand-up and paint me (paint me)
Any face that you wanted me
To be seen.
We're
Damned by the existential moment where
We saw the couple in the coma and
It was we were the cliche,
But we carried on anyway.
So, sure, I could just close my eyes.
Yeah, sure, trace and memorize,
But can you go back once you know
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me
If I'm the person that you think I am (Ah ah ahh)
Clueless chump you seem to think I am (Ah ah ahhh)
So easily led astray,
An errant dog who occasionally escapes and needs a shorter leash, then
Why the fuck would you want me back?!
Maybe it's because
(You don't know me at all)
Ahhh ah
Ahhh ah
(You don't know me,
you don't know me.)
Ahhh ah
Ahhh ah
So, what I'm trying to say is
What (What?)
I'm trying to tell you
It's not gonna come out like I wanna say it cause I know you'll only change it.
(Say it.)
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all
(You don't know me)
You don't know me at all (at all)
What?
(Mmmm, ohh oh
Ah ah ah ah ah
Aha ah ah ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Aha ah
Ah ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Oh-oh-oh-oh oh ohh)
@im_glitch_ghost
AHEAD OF ITS TIME
@TheRighteousHerosTRH
***** Obviously because the resolution sucks ass.
@im_glitch_ghost
Adam Salemi knock knock, whos there.....slam thats what stupid comments about taking this literally makes me want to do
@magicalishusdf1975
The world was a lot different in 2008, 10 years things changed a lot.
@ethenswords2134
The song would be a massive hit if it came out in 2011/2012
@MrAstrothousand98
@lieutenant T H I C C N E S S It would be a massive hit today. With all the cheaters, liers, scammers, etc....It shows we can't trust anyone.
However at the same time since we can't trust anyone we refuse to find out how they are. We judge people on pictures or videos instead of their actions and achievements. We take everything out of context to warp it into our meaninglessness advantage. Like a poem derived of any life we stomp it merely for being different and conform to social standards only in place so we may look accepting. We don't question the right things anymore. We're to busy consumed on how to appropriately speak with someone without offending insteas of looking at the government to see they have us incredibly distracted....
@peppereaterlivestream4357
So I've been listening to this song for the longest time and I finally decided to watch the video and this is what I get. Tim and Eric. of course.
@paloron-gamingtm1136
:D
@stevesteve222
Same. Spotify premium expired for me so I'm in youtube for music now. Didn't expect to see the dynamic duo.
@emilyrosenfeld4596
SAME