Tag Archives: What Matters Most

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Song of the Day #5,459: ‘Kristine from the 7th Grade’ – Ben Folds

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.”

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Song of the Day #5,458: ‘Paddleboat Breakup’ – Ben Folds

Continuing my countdown of the songs on Ben Folds’ new album, What Matters Most…

#4 – ‘Fragile’

Folds has been married five times (his current marriage, knock on wood, is the only one not to end in divorce) and his song catalog is well-stocked with evidence of his relationship difficulties.

He’s written a few straight-up love songs (‘The Luckiest‘ is probably my favorite) but he’s had more success writing about the tough times. And he’s never shy about digging into the uncomfortable dynamics that rarely make it into songs.

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Song of the Day #5,457: ‘Clouds With Ellipses’ – Ben Folds

Continuing my countdown of the songs on Ben Folds’ new album, What Matters Most…

#6 – ‘What Matters Most’

The title track finds Folds discarding things from an old storage space during the pandemic when he learns about the death of a close friend. That friend was actor/comedian Bob Saget, who passed away in January of 2022.

Both the pandemic and the loss of his friend have Folds contemplating his priorities. If the song is a bit on the nose lyrically, that isn’t to its detriment. Folds has a knack for delivering simple platitudes with sincerity and heart. It’s one of his superpowers as a songwriter, and he puts it to good use here.

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Song of the Day #5,456: ‘Back to Anonymous’ – Ben Folds

Continuing my countdown of the songs on Ben Folds’ new album, What Matters Most…

#8 – ‘Moments’

I have album closer ‘Moments’ near the bottom of this list in part because it’s the song I’ve heard least since downloading the album. As with all of Folds’ music, I’m sure this one will grow on me even more with repeated listens.

For now, I’m finding the melody a little tough to latch on to. This is one of the only songs on the album I don’t find myself humming. But I do like the piano sound here, one that reminds me of excellent Folds songs like ‘Mess’ and ‘Jesusland.’

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Song of the Day #5,455: ‘But Wait, There’s More’ – Ben Folds

After a long drought, Ben Folds has released a new album! And not a hybrid of pop songs and orchestral pieces like his 2015 record So There — an actual full-length album!

What Matters Most is Folds’ first proper solo release since 2010’s Lonely Avenue, and even there he handed lyric duties over to novelist Nick Hornby. So we’re going back 15 years to 2008’s Way to Normal before we hit a comparable album. This is a big deal.

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