Ben Fold Five's song Brick what is he talk about at the end? What does he know?

As ILM's Ben Folds Five expert/only fan...

The song's about how a relationship breaks down after the woman aborts a child the man really wants. The clues are in the song: " walk down to buy her flowers/And sell some gifts that I got", "They call her name at 7:30". He knows that they can never really be close again, because of the day's incidents.

Incidentally, Ben hates being asked what this songs about. He once said it was about "taking your dog to the vet".

I never got the idea that Ben Folds wanted to KEEP the baby. Otherwise, why the line "She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly"? I think he feels as weighed-down by the situation as the girl does.

Would he have bought the gifts in advance though, if he wanted it but knew his girlfriend wasn't so keen? "Son, it's time to tell the truth" implies that he's already told his parents about the situation (out of pride, one assumes), and that line "I was tired... of life" seems to fit more with a mourning for the child rather than the relationship. It all comes down to whether the "brick" is his girlfriend or the aborted child, it's never made clear.

Dom, I have to disagree with your interpretation of the lyrics. I don't think there's all that much abiguity in the words, they seem to paint the picture pretty clearly.

I think it's pretty clear that the "she" in the song is Ben's girlfriend. I don't think you can abort a baby by the time it's well-developed enough to tell its sex.

As for the "son, it's time to tell the truth", I think that the parents (hers or Ben's, we don't know) can sense that something's wrong and can see it on the girl - "it showed that she was not fine". They encourage Ben and the girl to spill the beans. I don't believe he had told his own parents previously; in fact, I think he has been lying to everyone... "tired of lying".

Gifts that I got? It's the "DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS", Dom. He buys her flowers to make her feel better, but SELLS the gifts that he's been given for Christmas. Perhaps he needs to sell some stuff to pay for the abortion.

"She's alone, I'm alone. Now I know it." This is what he KNOWS, the central irony of the song - having "found someone", and cemented that relationship with sex, he's now more alone than he's ever been.... and so, presumably, is the girl, with her own loneliness caused of having an abortion.

the first answer from dom p. was the clearest. the follow-ups were pretty vague. it is possible to get an abortion even after the sex can be determined... the circumstances are just a lot more unpleasant. i wouldve never suspected it to be about an abortion, the song. think this song is ben fold five's best.

first off, ben folds concert last night at Urbana Champaign was one of the best days of my entire life...

I've always assumed basically what tomtierney says, two posts above. Definitely, "sell some gifts that I got" is a bitter, ironic statement about the state of his life. I think he intentionally says it casually... it's what he does every year, he needs the money. This year, either to pay for her gifts or the abortion. But yes, I definitely think the gifts are what he got for Christmas. And that he bought her flowers to try and ease her mind a little over the abortion- kind of a sad gesture. I don't know.. I get this image of him going and doing it because he wants to do whatever he can, but feeling totally defeated, knowing that they won't make a difference and that they aren't going to be together much longer.

I don't see anything that indicates he wants the kid... or that he doesn't. I guess I've always just assumed that it was a mutual thing; that they both wanted it but knew it couldn't work out.

Son it's time to tell the truth.. "and she broke down, and i broke down".. I don't think this is breaking down and crying, I think it's breaking down and telling the truth.

One thing I will say for sure, I don't think it's EVER clear in any song just what the meaning is. We will never know what everything means... even when it seems obvious for all we know it could be based on some personal joke, or something.

Ok.. I feel kind of like an ass for analyzing such a personal song like it's an article in a scientific journal.. but whatever that's my 2 cents.

Such a personal song that he released it as a single and will live on the royalties/fame for the rest of his life.

Which is more than the girl got, I'm sure.

heres how you can tell he wants to keep the baby:
can't you see, its not me youre dying for

just wanted to voice what i read in an interview with ben fold five. the lead singer said we had to get an abortion..basically implying that probably they did want to keep the baby,but knew probably thier parents would be against it..i personally think that mostly everyone that has had an abortion goes through deep depression and always remembers that babies life (it is not a mass of tissue)..i know that people will hate on me for saying that but anyone that has gone through something like that has deep feeling for that child that was..

Spmg sixpr/

I mean, song suxor. "Battle of Who Could Care Less" much better. "Boxing" much better and more poignant.

good song, very sad. you can feel the coldness of it all in the piano chords.

it's about time we had a bit more ben folds discussion on ilm as they're hugely underrated (even in my mind) and i used to have the first record then sold it stupidly.

I hate that this, of all of Ben Folds' songs, became the Big Chart Hit. I do though love his sappy/hilarious balance, very Charlie Chaplin-ish. He (especially back in the day w/ Ben Folds Five) is a total pro performer.

Five songs that should've been big radio hits for them that aren't "Brick" (BFF tracks only):

1. "Underground"
2. "Sports and Wine"
3. "Army"
4. "Kate"
5. whatever that one was called about that guy Steve leaving town

I believe it was called "Steven's Last Night in Town."

I've kind of always hated that this is BFF's most famous song, the one that made them popular -- and mostly because I got into them because of all the upbeat, rollicking stuff on the first album. But I think I can finally admit that it's a pretty good song.

A friend of mine is the biggest Ben Folds fan probably ever. She once, after a show, got him to sign her ankle, which she then had tattood, along with a picture of a piano. I guess she could sell herself on ebay as a signed original or something

Pfft. There's a dude in Chicago who has tattooed signatures of over 30 past and present Chicago Bears on his back, with Ditka getting the prime real estate just above his neck.

Is this the first pro-life random googler we've ever gotten?

Anyway, my strongest memory of this song is hearing it on the radio while driving around North Carolina, in which context it worked better for some reason--I think it needs a warm Christmas rather than a snowy one.

He's from NC.

Yes, I figured that went unsaid.