black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

To the modern ear, it seems soft. When you hear it against other things, it seems vulnerable. Lyrically and musically, though, this is more subtle. And, yes, it’s asking a lot of someone who’s used to being hit over the head with bright neon to listen to this.

Ben Folds

A lot of 18-year-olds are like old men. They think they’ve seen everything.
BEN FOLDS

Men Thinking Years
Billy Joel and Joe Jackson were both great, and they both play piano.
BEN FOLDS

Both Piano Play
If the melody is telling me this is what the song is about, then I’m sort of forced into confession, autobiography or fantasy. If I don’t do that, I’ve hamstrung the melody.
BEN FOLDS

Confession Fantasy Song
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 FOLDS

Divorce Mirrors People
I want people to listen to my lyrics and be okay with themselves. The people who have it the roughest are homosexuals who come out of the closet.
BEN FOLDS

Closets People Want
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 FOLDS

People Song White
My parents told me I must get married. I was seen as a failure if I didn’t do it.
BEN FOLDS

Failure Married Parent
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 FOLDS

Church Musician Writing
Everybody knows it hurts to grow up…and we’re still fighting it.
BEN FOLDS

Fighting Growing Hurt Up
If you can’t draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall
BEN FOLDS

Crowd Draws Wall
Because I write very simply, but inside the simplicity, there’s a lot of subtlety. That’s what I’m proud of.
BEN FOLDS

Proud Simplicity Writing
If you’re afraid they might discover your redneck past, there are a hundred ways to cover your redneck past.
BEN FOLDS

might Past Redneck
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 FOLDS

Anything People Person Strange
When someone really goes to tell you something about what they’re thinking, they’re going to wear that experience with them. That’s what you have to share.
BEN FOLDS

Experience Share Something Thinking
I do have that mindset – that most good art comes from some turmoil, from someone trying to come to some equilibrium, or come up and get a breath.
BEN FOLDS

Art Mindset Trying
Everyone grew up with a piano in their living room, so rocking out on the piano was accessible – it wasn’t an upper-class thing. Now pianos have become very much a piece of furniture.
BEN FOLDS

Every Furniture One Piano Room The Piece

To the modern ear, it seems soft. When you hear it against other things, it seems vulnerable. Lyrically and musically, though, this is more subtle. And, yes, it’s asking a lot of someone who’s used to being hit over the head with bright neon to listen to this.

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To the modern ear, it seems soft. When you hear it against other things, it seems vulnerable. Lyrically and musically, though, this is more subtle. And, yes, it’s asking a lot of someone who’s used to being hit over the head with bright neon to listen to this.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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