Rock and roll is – and should be – a kid’s place.
BEN FOLDS
BEN FOLDS
More from Ben Folds
I start songs all the time. If I weren’t so lazy, I would finish them. It’s like when I have a deadline I have to.
Ben FoldsBen Folds I divorce myself from listeners who aren’t tolerant of humor. I did notice universally that, especially when it comes to weight, people look in the mirror and get the angle just right, tell themselves it’s all right, and then they go out.
Ben FoldsBen Folds But I really do have a soft spot for the solo shows. Any musician who writes and sings will tell you that’s the center of it, that is it. It’s almost like there’s something church-like about it and you gotta go back there, if you’re a songwriter that sings your material.
Ben FoldsBen Folds I’m not really a strange person or anything, so if there’s music I like, usually there’s other people who like it too.
Ben FoldsBen Folds In many ways, I’ve chosen to be plain, almost too plain, too self-effacing. Like, if I record a vocal and I don’t like the way it sounds, I would have them turn it up and take the reverb off it to make it as plain as possible.
Ben FoldsBen Folds The way I see it, there’s only one melody for any song.
Ben FoldsBen Folds The less I talk in bars, write emails, express myself in an emotionally lewd way outside of my songwriting, the more I have to do it through my music.
Ben FoldsBen Folds The reason I stop playing songs is usually because I get sick of them, and then they find themselves back into the set list at some point.
Ben FoldsBen Folds Notes don’t make music until you learn to insert silence between them.
Ben FoldsBen Folds I have manic energy. What can be done about it? I don’t know what to say sometimes. I’m professional in public, but I like to stay inside and be a hermit.
Ben FoldsBen Folds White people don’t sing together very often, and when they do, it’s about the celebrity of the song. The singing at my shows is all about harmony.
Ben FoldsBen Folds Being capable of anything is a bullshit concept, unless it means you also admit that you’re capable of cheating, lying and killing.
Ben FoldsBen Folds The press is like any business. Its a group of really intelligent individuals that ends up being one slathering, one-eyed, drooling monster.
Ben FoldsBen Folds I’m romantically inclined. No human being on Earth is not attracted to other people. There is no fairy tale that they only have eyes for you. You just choose to act on it or not.
Ben FoldsBen Folds I’m aware that I’m very fringe, and it’s nice that way.
Ben FoldsBen Folds You can’t really control how people hear stuff. It’s hard to remember that. I have to let go of it.
Ben FoldsBen Folds
Original quotes
From our community writers
Since you are gone, I collect the stars each night building my own night sky, so I have something to hold onto forever.
Laura ChouetteLaura Chouette Can anybody hear me? Are my words going to waste I need to believe there was a purpose to all the pain?
Allie MillerAllie Miller The universe hears what you say, but it knows what you mean.
Brianna PastorBrianna Pastor Enough of this. The next one I love will return my passion.
Iestyn TudorIestyn Tudor It’s unconditional; their chemistry is unconditional – forever.
Ophelia ScarlettOphelia Scarlett I love you so much that it hurts and that’s the problem I love you so much that it hurts.
Olivia CliffordOlivia Clifford Let’s always bloom, savor and delight others with our beauty.
Mariya FedulovaMariya Fedulova Shadows follow me the way a vulture stalks death. One small step ahead.
Danielle MontgomeryDanielle Montgomery
Meet the writers
More on kids
If you were a young kid, 19, 20 years old who has two children and a third one on the way and refuses to leave them.
Barry WhiteBarry White R&B is everything. Hip Hop, Soul, Gospel and Classical Blues are everything. All of that makes sense in BJ The Chicago Kid and what we do.
B.J. The Chicago KidB.J. The Chicago Kid The day you realize you’re a grownup is the day you realize that you have to do something. When we’re kids, we don’t have to do anything. Then all of a sudden you realize, if I want this to be better, I’ve got to do something.
Barbara BoxerBarbara Boxer I’d like to help educate kids about the Major Leagues – what to anticipate, what to expect, what they’ll need to do to prepare themselves.
Barry BondsBarry Bonds The voice of every kid hooked on drugs, alcohol or the occult joins the sad chorus “Not me! I didn’t think it could ever happen to me. I was sure I could handle it.
Beatrice SparksBeatrice Sparks I would give the cameras to the kids in the swimming pools and they would play with them, and then I would collect them and we would upload it. If you’re in the process, you’re there.
Barry LevinsonBarry Levinson As a kid, I played my share of football in the street or in a vacant lot. When we were playing in the street, it was more touch football, so we didn’t hit each other into cars.
Barry SandersBarry Sanders I hang out all the time with kids and young scouts and I never meet kids who don’t want adventure.
Bear GryllsBear Grylls