Concluding my countdown of the songs on Ben Folds’ new album, What Matters Most…
#2 – ‘Winslow Gardens’
The album’s first single impressed me right out of the gate and has only grown on me since. This is the song most directly tied to the pandemic. Winslow Gardens is an apartment complex in Sydney, Australia, where Ben ended up settling down after being stranded in the city on tour.
The song uses the details of Folds’ experience to muse on the way unexpected events change our lives all the time. “Oh, just when plans are made,” he sings, “you find you’ve started all over again.”
#1 – ‘Kristine from the 7th Grade’
My favorite track on What Matters Most is a sadly beautiful waltz about a former classmate gone astray. In delicate, hushed tones, Folds describes “Kristine from the seventh grade,” a childhood friend who has gone down a Q Anon rabbit hole and now sends daily meme-filled emails.
He makes room for humor (“The misspellings, they must be on purpose, we went to a good school, Kristine”) but the overall mood is one of sorrow. “This world can be wonderful too,” he sings, “Do you ever see it that way?”
I was surprised to learn that this song is somewhat controversial among fans, with some believing it is condescending and elitist. Maybe that’s coming from right-wing fans upset that he’s showing his political hand. It must be tough to be a conservative with good musical taste, because the best artists tend to be pretty liberal. Imagine having Kid Rock and Ted Nugent as your idealogical kindred spirits.
Overall, I am very pleased with What Matters Most. It’s an excellent addition to Folds’ catalog. I definitely rank it above Way to Normal and So There, but I’ll need to spend some more time with it before deciding how it compares to Rockin’ the Suburbs, Songs for Silverman, and Lonely Avenue.
I knew from seventh grade?
No, it’s definitely you
Just with a new last name
Someone who laughed a lot
Is what I remember the most
But the face in your profile
Suggests maybe not so much anymore
Yeah, I got the emails
These last two years every day
And I just don’t reply because
I’m not really sure what to say
Kristine from the seventh gradе
The anger, the all-caps
And all thе pseudoscience
The misspellings, they must be on purpose
We went to a good school, Kristine
So what would you imagine I might
Take from this deluge of memes?
With the cryptic, dark Bible quotes
Guns and dead fetuses
Seriously, Kristine, are you okay?
‘Cause this world can be
Wonderful too, yeah?
Do you ever see it that way?
Kristine from the seventh grade
There’s a break in the rain
A perfect time for a walk
The smell of wet leaves
The warm smiles and hellos
These things exist in the real world, you know
Oh, what a shame, Kristine
This disease that makes strangers of friends
But if these days, it’s really “us’s” and “them’s”
Then maybe you should just take me off both of those lists
‘Cause it’s such a short and sad
And beautiful life
Do you ever see it that way?
Meet Me In Montauk 
Yes! Totally on board with your number one pick! I was immediately drawn to “Kristine” from first listen. And those “shut up and sing” critics can pound sand!
Overall, I’m so satisfied with this new album. It is really among Folds’ best work.
Thanks for the track by track review this week.
Great ranking and loved learning something new about a lot of these tracks! Very glad to have more Ben Folds content 😌
As a pretty big So There fan, I’m not sure I can definitively rank this above… but it probably does have the slight edge.
Very solid ranking! I may even have a similar top 2? Listening to “Kristine from the 7th grade” for the first time in North Dakota driving with the family was a pretty surreal experience. His whole cadence and attitude in his approach to singing such profound lyrics drew us all in. I am not surprised to see it be so controversial as Folds clearly had a point he was trying to get across here and did so beautifully. It maddens me when Republican or Democrat extremist pick apart something so much to justify how it fits in their echo chamber. This is a great song and a great album! One of my favorites of this year!