Ben
Folds Five news
Sept. 2012. The
newly-reunited Ben Folds Five releases a new album, The Sound of
the Life of the Mind, and launches their first tour in over a
decade. The Magical Armchair has the
tour dates.
Stuff on this site
• Ben Folds Five FAQ
• MP3 of me sitting in
with BF5 on "Best Imitation of Myself"
• Order albums and sheet
music
• Chord charts for some songs
• My lousy MIDI recording of Best Imitation
• Similarities between BF5 songs and other songs
• A Who's Who Guide to Ben Folds Five
• Interviews with the band from the 1990s
• BF5 Haikus
• Picture of my BF5 tattoo
• The piano market (piano stocks)
• BF5's shows in Austin
• SXSW 1996 concert photos
Other sites
• The band's official site
• Magical Armchair (well-known fansite)
• Wikipedia article about the band
• Lyrics at BestLyrics.com
• Misheard lyrics
• Ragogna interview, Oct. 2012. Excellent interview with Ben; touches on some technical aspects of the music as well as the meaning behind some of the lyrics.
• BF5 All Together Now. Japanese fan site, in
English & Japanese. Doesn't seem to have been updated since
2000, but has some cool GIF animations of the band.
• The Strangest Thing. This large fansite died
in 2002, but here's the archive.
• 1997 interview
• Hotel
Lights. Darren Jessee's critically-acclaimed other band
• ChuckFolds.com.
Ben's brother's site about his own music
• Phil's Finest Hour was an Australian band with a
BF5-like sound. Unfortunately they seemed to have disappeared,
and I can't find any recordings of them listed anywhere.
Ben
Folds Five timeline
1966. Ben born on
Sept. 12.
Mid-1980s. If
the song "Army" is truly
autobiographical, Ben works at Chik-Fil-A, contemplates joining the
army, and plays in an unsuccessful band.
~1987-90. Ben
forms Majosha with Millard
Powers. Band wins a "Battle of the Bands" contest.
1994. Band forms in
Chapel Hill, NC, with Folds,
Darren Jessee on drums, and Robert Sledge on bass guitar.
1995. Debut
eponymous album on Caroline Records.
"Underground" is a semi-hit single.
1996. The band gets
a large following in Japan, courtesy of a
Japanese TV drama in which one of the characters is a big fan, but gets
a lot less attention the U.S.
1997. Second album, Whatever
and Ever Amen.
The single "Brick" launches the band to stardom, and "Song for the
Dumped" and "Battle of Who Could Care Less" hits the Top 25.
1998. Ben releases
his first solo album, Fear
of Pop, though Ben Folds Five is still going strong.
1999. Third album, The
Unauthorized Biography
of Reinhold Messner. "Army" charts in the Top 20.
2000. The band
breaks up amicably in October. The bandmembers' projects
post-breakup aren't detailed here; instead see the Wikipedia articles
about Ben,
Darren, and
Robert.)
2005. A remastered
and expanded edition of Whatever and Ever Amen is released,
including seven new bonus tracks.
2008. The band
reunites for a single show in Chapel Hill. (NME)
2011. The band reunites to
record three new songs for the compilation album The Best Imitation
of Myself: A Retrospective.
2012. The band releases their fourth
studio album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, and begins
their first tour in over a decade.
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Chords to "Battle of Who Could Care Less" by Ben Folds Five
March 1997
I picked up the free BoWCCL single and decided to take a crack at
transcribing it. So for those of you in the States, now you can
play
it before you can buy it! :-) Here are my notes on this
transcription:
- Gm/Eb means a Gm chord with your right hand and Eb notes
with
your left hand.
- 2Gm means you play the Gm in the second inversion (D-G-Bb,
instead of G-Bb-D). I invented this notation since I didn't know how
else to write it.
- Notes or chords with a dash between (in the intro) them are
played more quickly.
- The asterisks in the intro don't mean anything. They're just
to
make it pretty
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(BASS) The bass line changes throughout, but this pattern will do for
the verse. For the intro, try octaves.
Play these quarter notes:
(1) The root note
(2) Then the same note an octave higher
(3) Then the 5th, below the root note
(4) Then the same note as #2
For example: (read left to right)
--------------------------------------
G G F F Eb Eb Db Db
G F Eb Db
D C Bb Ab
--------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(INTRO: DOO-DOO-DOO)
Robert: |: D C Bb C-Bb-Ab * Ab Bb-C--Bb * Gb Ab-Bb-Ab :|
Darren: |: B A G A-G--F * F G--Ab-G * Eb F--Gb-F :|
Chords: |: G..F..Gm/Eb.......Db * Db........Eb * B.........Db :|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(DOO-DOO, ending)
Robert: Bb-C--Bb * C-D--C
Darren: G--Ab-G * A-Bb-A
Chords: ......Ebmaj7 * F.....
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(VERSE)
G F6 Gm/Eb F6-F6-Gm/Eb
Do you not hear me any more?
(Gm/Eb) F Fm/Db
I know it's not your thing to care.
Fm7/Db 2Gm/Eb G
I know it's cool to be so bored.
(G) F6 Gm/Eb F6-F6-Gm/Eb
But it sucks me in when you're aloof.
(Gm/Eb) F Fm/Db
It sucks me in, it sucks it works.
Fm7/Db 2Gm/Eb F
I guess it's cool to be alone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(CHORUS)
2Eb/C Bb F
Will you nev----er rest?
2Eb/C Fsus/Bb F
Fighting the Battle of Who Could Care Less?
2Eb Bb F Eb
Every day you wake up late.
C G7
Sometimes I wish I was that way.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(DOO-DOO-DOO part, one time)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(VERSE 2)
You think Rockford Files is cool.
But there are some things
that you would change if it were up to you.
Something about your masterpiece. (Yeah yeah yeah yeah.)
Watch the Rockford Files
and call to see if Paul can score some weed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(CHORUS)
Do you never rest?
Fighting the Battle of Who Could Care Less.
Unearned unhappiness.
Well that's all right I guess.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(BRIDGE)
Robert's doos: |: A Bb * A Bb C Bb A * A B :|
Darren's doos: |: F G * F G A G F * F G :|
Chords: |: Ebmaj7............................G.... :|
C D G7 C7
I've got this great idea.
C D G7 C7
Why don't we pitch it to the Franklin Fuckin' Mint?
C D G7 C Gsus/Eb
Fine pewter portraits of, General Apathy and Major Boredom.
G Eb (faint)
Singin', "Whatever and ever, amen."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(VERSE 3)
Gm/Eb F Fm/Db Eb
Oh well, maybe not, try again.
Well this should cheer you up for sure.
You see I've got your old ID.
You're all dressed up like the Cure.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(CHORUS)
You never rest.
Fighting the Battle of Who Could Care Less.
Unearned unhappiness.
You're my hero I confess.
Ben Folds Five studio albums
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1st album
(July 25, 1995)
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2nd album
(Mar. 18, 1997)
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3rd album
(Apr. 27, 1999)
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4th album
(Sep. 18, 2012)
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Compilation
albums
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Naked Baby Photos
(Jan. 13, 1998)
live tracks, alternate versions, obscure
covers
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The Best
Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective
(Oct. 11, 2011)
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Sheet Music
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Keyboard Signature Licks
Sheet Music
Order for $23.
Expertly written note-for-note sheet music for selected songs from all four BF5 albums, plus commentary, interviews with Ben about the songs, and a practice CD! Read my review.
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Whatever & Ever Amen
Sheet Music
Order
for $20
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The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
Sheet Music
Order
for $20.
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Naked Baby Photos. This is a collection of live
& alternate versions and some covers. This is a good source for
songs from the first album since the sheet music for the debut album is
long out of print. Order
for $20.
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