Philosophy (Ben Folds Five song)
Encyclopedia
"Philosophy" is a song from Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...

's 1995 self-titled debut album. It was written by Ben Folds
Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...

. Folds continues to play the song on various tours as part of his solo career.

History

The liner notes for the 1998 compilation and rarities album Naked Baby Photos
Naked Baby Photos
Naked Baby Photos is a compilation album comprising outtake material from recordings of Ben Folds Five's first two studio albums and live performances. Most of the tracks are previously unreleased rarities....

claim, with a hint of sarcasm, that the song is about Folds' penis, "if that's what you think it's about."

Additional versions

Three live audio versions and two live video versions of "Philosophy" have been released, as has a radio edit of the album cut for a commercial single.

The first of the live audio versions appears on a 1996 promotional CD set from Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 called Modern Rock Live, Volume 1. The 2-disc set was only available with the purchase of a Sony CD player and also featured songs from the Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

, The Posies
The Posies
The Posies are an alternative rock/power pop group. The band was formed in 1987 in Bellingham, Washington by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. They are best known for their radio hits "Golden Blunders" , as well as "Dream All Day", "Solar Sister" and "Flavor of the Month"...

, Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...

, Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...

, the Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...

, and others.

The second live audio version, recorded at de Melkweg
Melkweg
The Melkweg is a popular music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is located on the Lijnbaansgracht, near the Leidseplein, a prime nightlife center of Amsterdam. It is housed in a former warehouse and is divided into a number of spaces of varying sizes...

 in Amsterdam on March 18, 1997, appears on Naked Baby Photos. While the third version, recorded March 20, 2002, at the Moore Theatre in Seattle during Folds' solo "Ben Folds and a Piano" tour, appears on the 2003 album Ben Folds Live
Ben Folds Live
Ben Folds Live is a live album by Ben Folds, released in 2002 .This album marked the first official release of the classic Ben Folds live routine, "Rock This Bitch", which he went on to perform at least 60 more times since, including on the releases Songs for Goldfish and on the Live in Perth DVD...

. This version incorporates the Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...

 surf rock classic "Misirlou
Misirlou
Misirlou , is a popular Greek song with popularity in five styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish klezmer, American surf rock, and international orchestral easy listening .- History :...

" into the song.

Of the two live video versions of the song, the first - set to a montage of footage filmed at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

's Gaston Hall in Washington, DC; Cabaret Metro in Chicago; and in Australia - appears on Spare Reels, a DVD packaged in a limited edition offering of the 1999 album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner is the third and final studio album by Ben Folds Five, released April 27, 1999.-Origins of the album title:...

.

The second live video version, filmed in New York on June 9, 1997, for the PBS program Sessions at West 54th
Sessions at West 54th
Sessions at West 54th was an American television program that featured music performances, and was in some ways a pop music variation on the theme set by the long-lived Austin City Limits, though the featured musicians represented a number of musical genres. It was called Sessions at West 54th...

, appears on the 2001 music concert DVD Ben Folds Five - The Complete Sessions at West 54th
Ben Folds Five - The Complete Sessions at West 54th
Ben Folds Five – The Complete Sessions at West 54th, also referred to as Ben Folds Five - Live at Sessions at West 54th, is a DVD containing musical performances by Ben Folds Five. On June 9, 1997 Ben Folds Five was one of the first guests to appear on a new series called Sessions at West 54th...

. Spare Reels also appears, in its entirety, as an extra feature on this DVD.

An in-studio performance of "Philosophy" was recorded for the 2005 download-only album iTunes Originals - Ben Folds.

Singles

A radio edit
Radio edit
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...

 of the album version of the song was released as a European
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 single in 1996 by Intercord Records for Passenger
Passenger Records
Passenger Records was a New York-based boutique record label that released music by Adult Album Alternative artists. A subsidiary of Caroline Records, it was owned by Virgin Records/EMI. Its albums were distributed by Caroline Distribution in the US and Virgin or a variety of smaller labels...

/Caroline
Caroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...

. The other tracks on the single were recorded live on August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's
Ziggy's
Ziggy's is a live music venue and bar in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Baity Street venue closed after Thanksgiving in 2007. Ziggy's reopened in Winston Salem, in a 14,000sq foot space on the corner of 8th and Trade St. in the Downtown Arts District on August 5, 2011.A former residence,...

 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia
John Alagía
John Alagía is an accomplished music producer. He is best known for his work with the Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer. Alagia is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and a graduate of Georgetown University...

 and Doug Derryberry. These tracks were mixed at Rutabaga Studios in Arlington, Virginia, in May, 1996. "Tom and Mary" also appears on the Japanese release of Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five (album)
Ben Folds Five is the self-titled debut album by Ben Folds Five, released in 1995. A non-traditional rock album by any estimation, it was an indie pop album that excluded lead guitars completely...

.
  1. Philosophy (Radio Edit) – 3:48
  2. Tom & Mary (Live) – 2:51
  3. Emaline (Live) – 3:40

Compilations and soundtracks

No versions of the song appear on any non-Ben Folds compilation album or soundtrack.

Personnel

  • Ben Folds
    Ben Folds
    Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...

     – piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

    , vocals
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

  • Darren Jessee
    Darren Jessee
    Darren Jessee is an American musician and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as the drummer for the alternative rock group Ben Folds Five...

     – drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

  • Robert Sledge
    Robert Sledge
    Robert Sledge is an American musician, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five.-Biography:Robert Sledge began playing bass guitar at the age of eleven. His brother was playing guitar at his house so he also learned how to play the guitar at the same time...

     – bass
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

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