History Trivia / BenFolds

TeasingCreator: "Uncle Walter." When asked if the song was about a real person, Ben and the band would make up outrageous stories.

** "The Luckiest" was originally written for the finale of ''Film/Loser2000'' and was even composed to match the beats of the scene. When the scene was cut, the producers offered to use it in another scene, but he politely declined. Years later, the song was prominently used in another movie,''Film/AboutTime''.

** ''Whatever and Ever Amen'' was the first Ben Folds Five album to have as many ballads as it did uptempo songs, and Ben was concerned about potential MoodWhiplash or listeners being unable to take certain songs seriously because of the more humorous ones on the album, so he toyed with the idea of putting all of the slower songs on the second half of the album.

** "The Luckiest" was originally written for the finale of ''Film/Loser2000'' and was even composed to match the beats of the scene. When the scene was cut, the producers offered to use it in another scene, but he politely declined. Years later, the song was prominently used in another movie, ''Film/AboutTime''.

* CreatorBacklash: Ben grew to dislike his "ironic" cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit," at first because he was getting sick of people calling him "...the 'Bitches' guy!" in front of his kids and, later, due to his own views on racial politics evolving to the point that he didn't find it appropriate for a white performer singing that song, ironically or not (especially since it drops a couple of n-bombs). In 2020, he went to far as to [[https://www.facebook.com/BenFolds/posts/10157248247392231 ask his label to pull it from all digital platforms]].

* OldShame:
** The 4.6 songs he had to write for a music publishing company, discussed in "One Down," were so awful that he's made no effort to even remember how they go.
** He had his cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit" pulled from all digital platforms once he decided that his changing views on racial politics made him uncomfortable doing an "ironic" cover of a rap song.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** "Brick" is about a girlfriend he had when he was younger whom he had to get an abortion with.
** "Not the Same". Ben Folds was at a friend's party, some guy did a lot of acid, climbed up a tree, and when he came down in the morning he was a born-again Christian. The only major difference is that the party took place at Darren Jessee's place, not Robert Sledge's. [[WordOfGod Ben said]] that the reason for this change was because he thought "at Robert Sledge's party" simply sounded better than "at Darren Jessee's party".
** The final verse of "The Luckiest" was about his neighbors, an elderly couple who really did die a week apart from one another. He felt it was the most realistic depiction of romance he could think of.
** A milder example is the title of the album ''The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner''. Darren Jessee and a lot of his friends used that name on fake ID's when they were teenagers, and the band decided to use it in the title. They didn't know that it was the name of an actual person -- a mountaineer who (among other things) was the first to climb Mount Everest unassisted, and also one half of a two-man team that was the first to do it without using a backup oxygen supply. After they found out, they added a thank-you to him in the liner notes.

* BlackSheepHit

* OldShame

* RealLifeWritesThePlot

* ThrowItIn

* WhatCouldHaveBeen

** A milder example is the title of the album ''The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner''. Darren Jessee and a lot of his friends used that name on fake ID's when they were teenagers, and the band decided to use it in the title. They didn't know that it was the name of an actual person -- a mountaineer who (among other things) was the first to climb Mount Everest unassisted, and also the first to do it without using oxygen bottles. After they found out, they added a thank-you to him in the liner notes.

** "The Luckiest" was originally written for the finale of ''Film/{{Loser}}'' and was even composed to match the beats of the scene. When the scene was cut, the producers offered to use it in another scene, but he politely declined. Years later, the song was prominently used in another movie, ''Film/AboutTime''.

* CreatorBacklash: Ben grew to dislike his "ironic" cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit," at first because he was getting sick of people calling him "...the 'Bitches' guy!" in front of his kids and, later, due to his own views on racial politics evolving to the point that he didn't think a white performer singing that song, ironically or not, was appropriate (especially since it drops a couple of n-bombs). In 2020, he went to far as to [[https://www.facebook.com/BenFolds/posts/10157248247392231 ask his label to pull it from all digital platforms]].

** "Brick" began as a more up-tempo pop rock song. Darren Jessee wrote what would become the chorus on guitar and brought it to Ben, who had just written a more sombre piano melody in the same key. They decided to combine the two and Ben got to work on lyrics that he felt fit the "evocative" tone of the song.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "Brick" is about a girlfriend he had when he was younger whom he had to get an abortion with.

* ThrowItIn: While Ben Folds Five were recording a take of "Steven's Last Night In Town", a phone rang right at the end of the last repetition of the chorus - it happened to do so on rhythm, so it was left in. If you listen carefully, you can also hear Darren Jessee {{Corpsing}} in response.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: "The Luckiest" was originally written for the finale of ''Film/{{Loser}}'' and was even composed to match the beats of the scene. When the scene was cut, the producers offered to use it in another scene, but he politely declined. Years later, the song was prominently used in another movie, ''Film/AboutTime''.

* CreatorBacklash: At least for a time, Ben sought to retire his cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit" so people would stop calling him "...the 'Bitches' guy!" in front of his kids. He's only played it sporadically since. In 2020, he went a step further, [[https://www.facebook.com/BenFolds/posts/10157248247392231 announcing that he had asked his label to pull the song from all digital platforms]] - this time, rather than the profanity and sexism, his explanation was more to do with the racial politics of a white performer "ironically" covering a rap song.

* OldShame: The 4.6 songs he had to write for a music publishing company, discussed in "One Down," were so awful that he's made no effort to even remember how they go.

* CreatorBacklash: At least for a time, Ben sought to retire his cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit" so people would stop calling him "...the 'Bitches' guy!" in front of his kids. He's only played it sporadically since.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: "The Luckiest" was originally written for the finale of ''Film/{{Loser}}'' and was even composed to match the beats of the scene. When the scene was cut, the producers offered to use it in another scene, but he politely declined. Ultimately the song was prominently used in another movie, ''Film/AboutTime''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: "The Luckiest" was originally written for the finale of ''Film/{{Loser}}'' and was even composed to match the beats of the scene. When the scene was cut, the producers offered to use it in another scene, but he politely declined.

** Ben's then-wife Frally happened to call his cellphone during the instrumental outro of "Dog", and he decided to actually pick up while still recording. The ensuing conversation was included on the ''Speed Graphic'' EP, but removed from the NotRemix version included on the compilation ''The Supersunnyspeedgraphic LP''.

* DoingItForTheArt: Played with in "One Down," written about being contractually obligated to write 4.6 songs for a music publishing company he used to work for. When asked why he doesn't just turn in any piece of junk, he replies "I don't wanna waste my time on music that won't make me proud." However, he acknowledges in the last verse that, at the end of the day, being an artist is still a job, and he could be doing a LOT worse.

* ExecutiveMeddling: A minor one with ''Songs For Silverman''. It was the very first and, so far, only time the label asked that Ben write a song that could be released as a single. After well over fifty songs were rejected, Ben simply asked "[[InTheStyleOf Which]] Music/EltonJohn [[InTheStyleOf song do you want]]?" They responded "Tiny Dancer." The result was "Landed." However, when he rejected the version of the song recorded with strings, which the label had paid a large sum of money for, in favor of the straightforward "band" version for the album, they learned never to ask him for a single again.

* OldShame: The 4.6 songs he had to write for a music publishing company, discussed in "One Down," were so awful that he's made no effort to even remember how the go.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: "Too Late," his tribute to the late Music/ElliottSmith, is a case of "what little you know." Ben didn't know him all that well personally, so it doesn't go into much more detail about him other than Ben's love of his music and Smith's love of basketball.