Pop music has something fleeting about it. You don’t always pay attention to the lyrics, sometimes it takes years to realize why you find a song so touching. A certain emotion is addressed, which is conveyed so well through the music that the lyrics are not needed to feel it. Only later, when you take a closer look at him, do you understand on a factual level what triggers this feeling.
This is particularly surprising when the cursory listening has masked the fact that the song pays homage to a person you know well, like, or at least observed from afar. The small genre of song homage regularly triggers such feelings when it becomes clear through text exegesis, clues or coincidences to whom honor is being paid. Whether “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder, which pays homage to the inimitable elegance of Duke Ellington, the most important composer of the 20th century. Or whether the few lines of Pink Floyd’s opus “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” make it clear that the band pays homage to their dysfunctional former member Syd Barrett. Or the song “Late” by Ben Folds, which is the subject of this article, is particularly touching.
Ben Folds is a phenomenon of the multi-faceted and adventurous nineties. In the middle of the decade he appeared with two (!) fellow musicians and the wonderfully self-deprecating band name Ben Folds Five. The band’s concept was extraordinary: Without a guitar, they played the most powerful power pop the world had heard since Big Star (with guitars). Songs like “Underground” or “Best Imitation of Myself” made her famous. “Brick” from her masterpiece “Whatever And Ever Amen” deserves its own consideration in the pop anthology. In it, Folds describes his girlfriend’s abortion in a sensitive and detailed manner. Later song pearls often ironically mixed biographical events with subtle observations of the zeitgeist.
But Ben Folds, who embarked on a solo trip after his Five’s third album, which he paused for occasional reunions, would be an inadequate description if his extraordinary live shows were not mentioned. In the song “Army,” which pokes fun at his early musical failures, he splits the audience in half and has them each sing a part of a wind section: saxophones and trumpets. What comes out of it when the rather virtuoso pianist Folds makes music together with his fans is totally spectacular and, apart from in the concert hall, can best be experienced on his live record “Ben Folds Live”. A fun cannon and stage pig.
memories of a comrade-in-arms
However, on his second solo album “Songs for Silverman” in 2005, Folds took on a calmer tone, proving that he also has a lot to say as a serious performer. “Late” is a very calm piano ballad. In the later verses an acoustic guitar, drums and bass are added. Then a very subtle accompanying men’s choir begins. The composition is very classic: verses are followed by refrains, a bridge interrupts this sequence.
The lyrics are about alternative rock singer Elliott Smith, who died two years earlier and was one of the most talented songwriters of the turn of the millennium. He had made a name for himself with very melancholic to depressive guitar songs. It is said that he has long suffered from alcohol addiction and depression. Knife injuries, apparently self-inflicted, led to his death in 2003. Other rock musicians such as Beck, Pearl Jam and Rilo Kiley have also written tributes to him. Smith was one of the most inspirational musical figures of his time. Folds once said he saw Elliott Smith on tour together, but never had time to express his admiration for his songwriting.
