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General Board / Re: Foldsby's New Song Belinda

« on: September 29, 2009, 07:22:50 PM »

Thanks for this!  Really loving it.  I know I'm going to do that thing where this version becomes THE version...  I should stop listening to it, but it's really good.  I wasn't sure I'd like this whole non-Ben lyric idea, but it's producing some great stuff.  Three cheers for Foldsby.

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Tour Board / Re: St. Louis show 9-28-09 at The Pageant

« on: September 29, 2009, 05:09:12 PM »

Thanks for the list.  I saw that You Don't Know Me performance with Kate on Youtube.  Looked highly entertaining.   

Sucks you had to leave early.  I'm convinced that I'd have to be unconscious or on fire to leave a Folds show early, but I know sometimes things come up. 

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News / Re: ABC Dig Interview and Performance - a must watch

« on: September 10, 2009, 05:34:46 AM »

I apologize Sabrina. I forgot you were had a major in english/creative writing. 

Well, remember it!  I'm going to need donations a few months after I graduate.  Turns out that being snotty on message boards only pays minimum wage.    (Sorry if it came across that way.)

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News / Re: ABC Dig Interview and Performance - a must watch

« on: September 10, 2009, 03:45:04 AM »

On Kylie - Well, the end of the first verse says she turns out the light.  Later, she closes her eyes (twice).  I think he's equating the 2 (technically 3) lines since they presumably carry the same death metaphor. 

Yeah, the political speeches thing is new to me, and cool.  His choice of profession if not a musician...  It's exactly what I would be doing if I hadn't already settled down.  Except the photography part would be a hobby and I would be there as a meteorologist since I'm into tornado science more than tornado aesthetics.  Similar, though.   

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General Board / Re: Fiji Water

« on: September 10, 2009, 03:36:56 AM »

Boz, the fact that Sam was labeled in that picture increased the value of this thread by a factor of 10. 

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News / Re: ABC Dig Interview and Performance - a must watch

« on: September 09, 2009, 03:02:11 PM »

On Landed...  Didn't Ben say once that Songs for Silverman was his divorce album (in defense of WtN being called a divorce album)?   So I wouldn't be all that surprised if Landed was about him, insofar as him sharing with that song's narrator a desire to be in a healthier environment.  I don't think we could ever assume that any song's details are autobiographical even if he says the underlying emotion of the song is.  (I'm spoiling it in the 3rd post, but no one should get this far into the thread without watching the video first.) 

In all my creepy-stalky Ben research, I've never heard that about how it was written, though. 

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General Board / Re: Ben Folds Lyric Appreciation

« on: September 08, 2009, 07:59:10 AM »

There are a few really good lyricists out there, and what sets them apart for me is that they're inventive with language.  This is definitely the case for Ben.  He doesn't say anything that is obvious, cliche or ordinary unless he's doing it as a conscious comment on being cliche.  Even when his songs aren't stories (and I think of some of them as a kind of flash fiction), they continuously reveal something new about the narrator or the "characters."  Chorus/bridge repetition aside, his lyrics don't say anything that has already been said, and the verses tend to shed new light on the repetitive parts so that even they are different the 2nd/3rd time around.  What makes him unique, though, IMO, is the way he infuses humor with sadness, which makes each song complete with an array of real-life emotion.  If I really had to sum it up, I'd say that he's just a careful writer.  It's really impressive to me since he's clearly a musician first and foremost, but his craft is important enough to him that he doesn't let any aspect of it slide. 

Great topic!  But I'm an English/Creative Writing major, so I could (and do) talk for hours at a time about this...  I'll spare you guys since I have to get to school. 

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General Board / Re: Levi Johnston's Blues - Possibly an early studio version?

« on: September 07, 2009, 02:21:07 AM »

I LOVE this!  Can't stop grinning.  Funny and insanely catchy.  Awesome find.  Made my night so much better. 

Noticed the little piano splash in the beginning...  Ben might be the only person on earth who can be sarcastic with a piano.  Most of us need facial expressions or words.

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General Board / Re: Fiji Water

« on: September 07, 2009, 02:05:38 AM »

I don't understand this thread.  It makes me smile. 

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General Board / Re: Levi Johnston's Blues - Possibly an early studio version?

« on: September 07, 2009, 02:03:01 AM »

It's also on Youtube now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg-KqSCzwIU

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Transcription / Re: Picture Window lyrics

« on: September 04, 2009, 01:26:22 AM »

"We checked into the hospital New Year’s Eve" - I don't hear a "we" at the beginning of the line, and it wouldn't really make sense; the rest of the song is in 3rd person.  "We" suggests a 1st-person narrator.  The woman/mother is the main character, but her story is told in 3rd person...  Maybe it's "they" or maybe he just begins the line without a pronoun?  As in:  "Checked into the hospital New Year's Eve"... ?

"Another mom deserves some sparkling wine" - I'm completely convinced that it's "another mom gives her some sparkling wine."  It just makes more sense, it sets up a brief scene, and it reveals that the main character (woman) is indeed a mother, which tells us that the person who's sick is her son.  I don't know what "another mom deserves some sparkling wine" means, exactly, and whose opinion this is supposed to reflect. 

Just my thoughts.  Otherwise, awesome job!  I'm really glad Ben decided to do this.  I'm liking these lyrics quite a bit.  Ben's a great lyricist, but this is also good and very different.

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General Board / Re: Picture Window Demo - In Studio

« on: August 28, 2009, 10:56:53 PM »

Damn, that's nice.  Loving the lyrics especially...  "And she nearly gives in to the moment, but he'll still be sick in 2009."   Heart-wrenching stuff. 

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Tour Board / Re: 2009 Tour Dates

« on: March 26, 2009, 09:28:57 PM »

So, I guess there's no Meet and Greet for the K-State show?  I think I'm going to sign up as if there is, just in case.  If I'm the only one doing it, I'll have pretty good odds. 

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Tour Board / Re: 2009 Tour Dates

« on: March 26, 2009, 05:33:58 AM »

Awesome - we're right next to each other! I LOVE shows where we don't have to wait in line

Beautiful!  Couldn't have planned that one better. 

Whoa. PFofJ just impressed the hell out of me. A presale at a COLLEGE?

HIGH FIVE.

No kidding.  They mean to tell us that loyal, paying fan club members have priority over random college students who, on the whole, really only know Brick and (amazingly) Bitches Ain't Shit?  It's a brave, new world.  If only PF of J would work on their Meet and Greet emails, they'd be just about perfect.     

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Tour Board / Re: 2009 Tour Dates

« on: March 25, 2009, 08:20:31 PM »

Thanks for the info, Lynn!  Not knowing would have sucked with seats being assigned.  I just got tickets for Justin, a friend of Justin's, and me.  We got first row, seats 3-5, in section F2.  I can't really tell what F2 will mean in relation to how the stage will be arranged based on the seating chart.  I figured I'd be safer just getting them asap than messing around trying to get positioned exactly between the drums and piano, etc.  We'll see you there!  I guess waiting in line won't be an issue.