Q&A with Ben Folds

Reporter Rachel Krasnow interviewed Ben Folds about his song lyrics. Here is what he had to say:

IDS: You’ve been described as a funny, sarcastic guy. How do you explain all of your emotional lyrics?

Folds: They come from all over the place. Music is a vocabulary, and you can say basically what you want, but you need to have a vocabulary. I try to make it arranged, try to make it happy and sad, but there’s a limitation on your tools, sort of. I don’t think that there’s anyone interested in just one track. Humor has simultaneously been a feature of my writing. Critics don’t like it. They go, ‘Well, that’s a novelty.’ Songs are a novelty. Songs are often very topical, and it’s satire – it’s funny.

IDS: What do you want people to gain from hearing your music?

Folds: I have some minor missions. I’ve always felt strongly about people being who they are. Sticking by your guns, what you feel about your intuition, who you are is important, the boundaries of formality – I’ve always been about breaking those down and the ways those are shown in my songs.
I always have constant urge to fit quirky words where they don’t belong. But by being yourself and allowing the wisdom in that has always been a part of me. These are lyrics ... What happens when I put printed music to it? I actually always liked that. It’s how you do it. People ask, ‘How did he do it? How much did you put into it?’ I would also say every song I write and perform, you don’t do it like you’re going to get hit by a car.