High School Album #3

I had a hard time picking the number 3 spot on my list, because there were a few bands in the running. But of those bands, most of them were more influential in my college life than in my high school life. So I went with my gut, which usually has shit for brains, but not this time. This time, I think I got it right.

I used to work for my high school's radio station: WKET 98.3 FM Kettering, HOME OF THE FAIRMONT FIREBIRDSSSSSSSSS.....lame, I know, but I was pretty damn good at being a DJ and a producer. I was also News Director, but that amounted to printing off the news of the AP wire. Yeah, any stupid monkey could do that, and better I bet. I even got to bring in Saving Face for an acoustic set, which was a blast, for they were ripping on everything that day. Anywho, there was always a bunch of cool CDs in the station that no one played, so I would sometimes just play random stuff. One of the singles we had on there was "The Battle Of Who Could Care Less". So yes, my #3 album from high school is:


And....
Wait....what?

Both of these perfect albums have to go hand in hand. Whatever And Ever Amen was my first introduction to Ben and Co. And the first song that struck me....was what has to be the popiest song on the whole damn thing: "Kate" is full of goofy lyrics about mix tapes and birds and flowers and smoking pot and the damn thing feels like Summer. And how can you hate Summer songs? You can't, that's right!

After that, I was actually going through what my teenage addled mind called a "bad break up", whcih now, I wish I could have a break up like that again. So, you have to know what song would fill that hole in my heart: "Song For The Dumped" had all of those high school style slams on that damn ex you hate. If your parents heard it, they wouldn't be scared you'd be falling into the wrong crowd, they'd bop along to the melody and go "Now, when I was in high school, we weren't so foul mouthed, but we felt the same"....which is what my mother did the first time she heard it.

So after appreciating the fun that Whatever And Ever Amen had, I graduated backwards to the little more serious, yet still fun album Ben Folds Five. So with graduating to a more mature album, I gravitated to more mature songs, like "Best Imitation Of Myself". This song really got to me at the end of high school, when my love life became a bigger part of my life, when I had to actually impress a girl to get her attention (something I'm trying completely not to do anymore). I didn't know exactly what my personality was, I was still a huge smart ass who joked at all the wrong occasions, but still had a sweet side. Of course, it was only the girls who wanted to be my friend that saw the sweet side.

And that takes us to what has to be in my Top 5 favorite songs of all time list (another month when I have nothing good to post)...."The Last Polka". All it took was this one verse to almost move me to tears, for at the time, I was just "dieing" after a breakup (I got dumped a lot):

"She said,
"You've been pushing me like I was a
sore tooth"
"You can't respect me 'cause I've done
so much for you"
He said,
"Well I hate that it's come to this,
but baby I was doing fine"
"How do you think
that I survived the other 25 before you?"

If that line doesn't strike you as much, that's cool. It does for me. I've found that my problem with women is that I either date people who have had a lot more relationships, or fewer relationships than I've had. So that song fit.

Bonus Song:

I hate Jam bands. I hate them so much. I think that playing something that really doesn't have structure, lyrics, a pure melody, well, it just doesn't make sense to me. If you like 'em, cool, good for you. But I don't. But my god, this jam song, this improv, is easily one of the coolest things I've ever heard. And if I had heard it when it was played, I would have fallen appart, just from the laughter alone. "For Those Of Y'All Who Wear Fanny Packs" is just so damn fun, you can't help but love it. I wish the Five were back together, just so I could hear it live (I've seen Ben twice, and a third time is most likely coming up soon at either Columbus or Miami University).

Also, if you love the singing on the song, that's drummer Darren Jesse, who if you read Dodge, know that he has a solo project out now. Hotel Lights have a very cool sound to them, at least from the songs I've heard. Check em out.