History Trivia / BenFolds

** "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 Jesse'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 Jesse's party".

* 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 Jesse {{Corpsing}} in response.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: "Too Late," his tribute to the late Eliot Smith, 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.

* OneHitWonder: Ben Folds Five only cracked the Top 40 with "Brick," and even then it had to be released as a single on four separate occasions to chart. Understandably, the band didn't bother to try and have a hit afterwards. As a solo act, Ben's only Top 40 hit was "Rockin' The Suburbs." As mentioned above, neither of these songs are indicative of either act's typical sound.

* WriteWhatYouKnow
** "Too Late," his tribute to the late Eliot Smith, 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.
** 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.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Or rather "what little you know." "Too Late," his tribute to the late Eliot Smith, doesn't go into much more detail about him other than Ben's love of his music and Smith's love of basketball because Ben didn't know him all that well personally.

** Despite being their most popular song, the sombre ballad "Brick" is a far cry from the band's trademark punk sound and features Robert Sledge on a bowed double-bass instead of a distorted bass guitar. Several fans accused them of selling out as a result.

** Despite being their most popular song, the sombre ballad "Brick" is a far cry from the band's trademark punk sound and features Darren Jesse on a bowed double-bass instead of a distorted bass guitar. Several fans accused them of selling out as a result.

* BlackSheepHit: "Rockin' The Suburbs" is his highest-charting single to date. It's also [[PlayingAgainstType the complete opposite]] of a typical Ben Folds song in every way, not only for the presence of guitars but for it's compressed mixing and multi-tracking, [[StealthParody made to sound like exactly the kind of corporate sell-out modern rock it's making fun of]].

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Or rather "what little you know." "Too Late," his tribute to the late Eliot Smith, doesn't go into much more detail about him other than Ben's love of his music (and Smith's love of basketball) because Ben didn't know him all that well personally.

* BlackSheepHit: "Rockin' The Suburbs" is his highest-charting single to date. It's also [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent the complete opposite]] of a typical Ben Folds song in every way, not only for the presence of guitars but for it's compressed mixing and multi-tracking, [[StealthParody made to sound like exactly the kind of corporate sell-out modern rock it's making fun of]].

* 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.

* 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 they wanted]]". 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.

* 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 they wanted]]". 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, they learned never to ask him for a single again.

* 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, the only time he was. After well over fifty songs were rejected, Ben simply asked "[[InTheStyleOf which]] Music/EltonJohn [[InTheStyleOf song they wanted]]". 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, they learned never to ask him for a single again.

* 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, the only time he was. After well over fifty songs were rejected, Ben simply asked "[[InTheStyleOf which]] Music/EltonJohn [[InTheStyleOf song they wanted]]". They responded "Tiny Dancer." The result was "Landed."

* 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 it's a hell of a better one than bussing tables or pumping gas.

* WhiteWhatYouKnow: Or rather "what little you know." "Too Late," his tribute to the late Eliot Smith, doesn't go into much more detail about him other than Ben's love of his music (and Smith's love of basketball) because Ben didn't know him all that well personally.

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The "leaked" versions of the songs from "Way To Normal" were written and recorded in a span of about twelve hours.

* 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 Jesse {{Corpsing}} in response.

* The song "Not the Same" is based on actual events. 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 Jesse'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 Jesse's party".

* The song "Not the Same" is based on actual events. 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 Jesse'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 Jesse's party".