Yes, it's nearly ten years old now, but it's bugged me for so long. What is this song about? Is the girl getting an abortion? Did the parents force some sort of confession? Why is SHE the brick in this whole thing? Why is it HE who is drowning?
I feel like I'm missing something when I hear this song (though the whole album is one of my desert-island must-haves).
2006-07-20 14:23:49 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
WOW! Fantastic answers - every one of them from a real fan, too, which is great. Dandelion - very nice with the MySpace thing... wouldn't that be cool!
My appreciation of this song is much increased because of all these great answers. Thanks!
2006-07-20 14:54:44 · update #1
from what i remember, it is about her getting an abortion and he's there to support her, the whole situation is weighing both of them down emotionally
i dont think her parents know about it
looking at an old message board, this song is about his girlfriend in high school
i love the song too, i remember this from college, it made everyone think, and plus, i'm from close to Charlotte so that makes it even better!
2006-07-20 14:29:51 · answer #1 · answered by lulucakes32 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
On Ben Folds Live, Folds explained: "People ask me what this song's about... I was asked about it a lot, and I didn't really wanna make a big hairy deal out of it, because I just wanted the song to speak for itself. But the song is about when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about."
2006-07-20 14:29:38 · answer #2 · answered by texasgirl5454312 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the song brick is about an abortion.
On Ben Folds Live, Folds explained: "People ask me what this song's about... I was asked about it a lot, and I didn't really wanna make a big hairy deal out of it, because I just wanted the song to speak for itself. But the song is about when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about." as he says in the end of the song "Fred Jones Pt 2" on his Live album.
On Ben Folds recent iTunes Originals compilation, he confesses that he had attempted to write a song about the abortion for quite some time, but he had trouble getting the song finished because it was too literal, but thanks to Darren Jessee's chorus, the song was given just enough mystique to be the hit that it was. (Folds even jokes that "I've never understood hit choruses. I wish I did.")
2006-07-20 14:29:27 · answer #3 · answered by fakemoonlandings 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"The Thompson Twins" started with 8 members but changed to 3. If anyone asks, inform then that it is named after the time that Ben folded five of something. I don't know, the sheets of paper on which the first sets of lyrics were written or something. And it's a clever in-joke play-on-words. Word-games are not exactly the pinnacle of intellectualism, but they are very common in band names.
2016-03-27 01:29:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The deal with this song is that it is a reflection of an experience he had in highschool. Needless to say, an instance happened of which he got his girlfriend pregnant and her parents forced her to abort the baby. I can't exactly recall what I was told about the drowning thing, but the birck is the thing that is pulling him deeper underwater. If I remember right, he regretted having to abort the baby, and the drowning may be the representation of this regret.
2006-07-20 14:28:46 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, she gets an abortion on Christmas Eve while her parents are out of town. He has to sell some of his presents to help pay for the procedure. Then as time passes, "she was not fine" - don't know if it's emotional, physical or both - so her parents make them confess.
I never fully understood the "she's a brick" part, either. I guess it just relates to the depression and isolation ("...she's alone, and I'm alone, now I know it...") that resulted from the experience.
2006-07-20 14:26:43 · answer #6 · answered by HearKat 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think it is about abortion, but the parents don't know about it. She is a "brick" because she is like a weight weighing him down and it is causing him to "drown" so to speak. I'm not sure if he wanted the abortion or not.
2006-07-20 14:27:31 · answer #7 · answered by lisamac22_98 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is abortion. Yes they had to tell. She's the brick that he is holding on to, and the whole situation is drowning him. It's an abortion from the man's point of view.
2006-07-20 14:26:54 · answer #8 · answered by Blunt Honesty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ben was interviewed about this song a while ago. he said that this was a true story about how he had to take his girlfriend at the time to get an abortion... how they both had to sell their christmas presents in order to fund it... and how it ended up tearing them away from each other. its a great song.
2006-07-20 14:38:08 · answer #9 · answered by Joann 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, but Ben Folds is on MySpace so I sent your question to his profile on the remote chance we may get an answer. I'm quite curious myself because I love that song! I won't hold my breath that he'll answer, but ya never know till ya try, right?
2006-07-20 14:30:47 · answer #10 · answered by dandelionsoup 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋