What Matters Most (2023)

• But Wait, There's More
• Clouds With Ellipses
• Exhausting Lover
• Fragile
• Kristine From The 7th Grade
• Back To Anonymous
• Winslow Gardens
• Paddleboat Breakup
• What Matters Most
• Moments
• Happy Clapper (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
• Why Did You Tell Me Everything (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
• A Million Years Or So (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
• The Ghost In You (Vinyl Bonus Track) 

But Wait, There's More lyrics - Ben Folds

Wait

There's more

Wait

There's more

Wait, there's more

What used to be extreme's now a bore

That freak show in the landscaping parking lot

Was oh so funny then, now it's not

Enough

But wait, there's more

Did we really think we'd go back to normal?

Did we really ever think we could cut that cord?

'Cause look who's coming back, coming back for more

But wait, there's more

More, more, more

Do you still believe in the good of humankind?

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do

Wait

Time that you won't get back

There's more

All the places you'll never be

Wait

Books that you might have read

There's more

Grandmoms you can't unsee

But wait, there's more

More, more, more

Do you still believe in the good of humankind?

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do

There's more

But wait, there's more

Not sure that we can take too much more

Wait, there's more

Pray that there's a bottom somewhere in sight

Brothers and sisters, hold tight

Clouds With Ellipses lyrics - Ben Folds (feat. Dodie)

Fits and starts

Clouds and ellipses

I fill silences with the dark

And I, I can take it

I wanna know the uncensored thoughts

Or maybe not

I know you

And your rhythm

When you took an extra beat

That rang true

Were you being honest and thought better of it?

I watched the cloud hesitate, then nothing

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go and

Fade away

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go and

Fade away

For these moments

Nothing else matters

Life and doldrums and pain

We float free

Till the cloud bursts

Are you even real?

Is that what you started to tell me but couldn't?

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go and

Fade away

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go

Meet me here

Free and numinous

Soaring over the rain

We get to be our most beautiful versions

Until we come down

Someone else gets the real thing

And we get our dots and our clouds

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go and

Fade away

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go and

Fade away

Clouds with ellipses

They come and go and come and go

Exhausting Lover lyrics - Ben Folds

I woke up in a truck stop parking lot

A girl in a red white and blue halter top was staring

Thick glasses like mine

And a low bored monotone vocal fry

She said, who's the band on the bus?

What bus?

That one, nerd. The one that you got off of

Oh - probably no one you've heard of

Don't know what came over me

As I awkwardly dropped my room key

I said I think that's yours

And three hours later I was banging this verse out

Oh no - head meet floor

I don't wanna do this no more

Every kiss is a jam band solo

Never gonna say YOLO no mo'

My mind says no

My body says hell no

Let this be over

Exhausting lover

Not sure if she couldn't stop

Or if she wouldn't stop

As the motel carpet gave me five more raw spots

What's that stabbing my back?

Ah, that's a wire from her halter top

There was an hour where her head kept banging

Against the bottom of a table top

I saw my life in a split screen

But life's just one shot

What the hell would I tell my girlfriend

But the thing is she's not my girlfriend anymore

I traded it all for some third degree carpet burn

Oh no - head meet floor

I don't wanna do this no more

Every kiss is a jam band solo

Never gonna say YOLO no mo'

My mind says no

My body says hell no

Let this be over

Exhausting lover

Then she handed me a hot wheels track

I said, girl that's pretty weird

Where did you get that?

She said never mind that

Here nerd beat my ass in the bath like my dad did

When I was a bad kid

I said, nah what's this!

Let me up out of the Motel Six

And tell me where my pants went

That's when I heard the door breaking

It wasn't housekeeping

It was her boyfriend

Don't know what came over me

Out the door in my boxer briefs

Some dude live tweeted

As I ran half-naked past a Cracker Barrel

Oh no - head meet floor

I don't wanna do this no more

Every kiss is a jam band solo

Never gonna say YOLO no mo'

My mind says no

My body says hell no

Let this be over

Exhausting lover

I don't wanna do this no more

Exhausting lover

I don't wanna do this no more

Fragile lyrics - Ben Folds

You're only sorry

When you've been called out

And suddenly sane when I stand my ground

You have made such a mess

With no worry, no thought

Here come the tears

Now that you've been caught

Afraid to confront you

When you're so childlike

You pull no punches, and I absorb them

Just when I've had enough

Just before I might crack

You make me smile and

I take all of those thoughts back

Something so fragile about you

It's how you get away with what you do

It's like, crash, boom, oops

Did I break that too?

And I almost believe you

And just when I've had enough

And I thought I might leave

Rather than hurt you

I let you hurt me

Something so fragile about you

It's how you get away with what you do

It's like you're someone else

And when you come to

Your eyes well up

Oops, did I break that too?

And I almost believe you

Something so fragile about you

It's like I blacked out for a year and woke up with you

With a crash, boom, oops

Did I break that too?

Kristine From The 7th Grade lyrics - Ben Folds

Are you the same Kristine

I knew from 7th 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 e-mails

These last two years every day

And I just don't reply because

I'm not really sure what to say

Kristine, from the 7th grade

The anger, the ALL CAPS

And all the 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 7th 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

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?

Back To Anonymous lyrics - Ben Folds

These days

It doesn't matter, I can let myself go

No disguise, just go for a stroll

It's back to anonymous

But those years were

One big blur

I'm not sure where I have been

I dream the pieces back now and then

Is it cliche

Does it sound so ungrateful

When it comes out that way?

If so, I only mean to say

Thank you for those crazy days

But it's back to anonymous

Strangers

Creepy and comfortable that they knew my name

It's not at all what I thought that fame would be

It was just a small world

For a while

Is life better now?

Well, that depends on how I'm feeling about it

It's not so much that I wanted out

I really didn't have a say

But it's a big world

With un-famous people who deserve

The grand applause

And they quietly carry on

I'd like to think that I could be that strong

Daydreaming on the bus, that's all

Now it's back to anonymous

The wife and I

Feeding the birds, in love

In comfortable clothes

The neighbors, they don't wink like they know

But back when they'd say

"Savor this moment

It's your time

Seize the day"

But I couldn't stay awake

And I didn't feel a thing

And she reminds me when I start to think

I might throw my hat back in the ring

But it's time to be

Winslow Gardens lyrics - Ben Folds

Ten minutes in Winslow Gardens

Never noticed the views or the walls

The whole world was closing

We just took the keys and signed the line

Old folks in the windows watching

Rolling in with our rain-soaked bags

We'd packed in a rush back home

When always leaving meant always coming back

Oh, some trips just go one way

Oh, just when plans are made

You find you've started all over again

Ten weeks in Winslow Gardens

Aired out and the mold is gone

Back home the toll grows higher

It's hard to reconcile

With the bluer skies

Oh, some trips just go one way

Oh, just when it seemed so safe

It started all over again

Far away across the ocean

A small crowd and an auctioneer

They're picking over the pieces of our lives

But in this tiny apartment

Sleeping like the dead through the night

Ten years in Winslow Gardens

A young couple moved in down the hall

In the window we're watching the rain

Strip the last of the leaves

For an early fall

Oh, some trips just go one way

Oh, just when plans are made

You started all over

We've started all over again

Ten years in Winslow Gardens

Ten minutes

Paddleboat Breakup lyrics - Ben Folds

Tossed about the ocean in boats built for a lake

Life is but a dream a stream of beautiful mistakes

On a quiet lake so far from the shore

We had paddled for an hour

Back would be way more

She said that's just great

What is wrong with you?

You wait 'til we're trapped in a boat to tell me we're through?

But in the safest dark it had seemed so clear

Tell the truth and let the daylight shine

Watch the shadows disappear

And then the morning came

And I couldn't bring myself to say it

So we went through all seasons

Wrapped in safety vests

The bright red sun it seared my soul

Her eyes they burned the rest

You must really hate me

To have planned it out like this

You can get us back to the shore

I'm not rowing shit

And then the questions came

With no place to hide

Why did I blurt it trapped alone in a boat

I rowed against the tide

I guess I had all day

But I couldn't bring myself to say it

So we turned in our vests and headed to our cars

She said bye and drove away but mine it would not start

And now the sun is setting and everyone has left

I'm waiting for the tow truck now and she's just sent a text

She says

You see, these last few days I've had something big to say

How romantic it would be to wait and I could tell you on the lake

But then you dropped that bomb

And I couldn't bring myself to say it

What Matters Most lyrics - Ben Folds

I could not see the haze

Back in the day when we lived inside of it

Now I'm floating away

And haunting the halls night and day

Out in some storage space out on the highway

Fifteen years tossed in boxes

Chocked with old bills, phones, pictures and trash

Oh, the dramas and memories attached

Now I'm wondering

What matters most?

A true friend is

Someone who when you are with them

You know what matters most

Oh, but that door slammed so tight

With you and our time trapped behind it

Now you're floating away

But in these days of overwhelming change

I just wanna know what I want

Because I only seem to know what I don't

With so little time

What matters most? Mmm

Tell me what, what matters most? Mmm

I keep going for the phone

To send you a note with the news

And I'm thinking, "Man, you won't believe this"

You're gone

Sorting through photos of fake smiles

And photos of real ones

Now I've thrown the whole lot in the bin

Just got a glimpse

Of what matters most, mmm

Tell me what

What matters most, mmm

Moments lyrics - Ben Folds (feat. Tall Heights)

Let's tell ourselves that's it's great to be alive

Let's take our time

To open up our eyes

We mumble words that sound meaningless

When meaning is impossible to find

We try to hold these moments as they glow

We'll breathe them in

And then we'll let them go

And so I ask you to bear witness to this crime

Of letting my heart shine

I'm ready to surrender

Let's take the signs like the lonely hummingbird

That hummed right by

I hummed along assured

These stormy skies won't be dark enough

To throw me off when everything's aligned

The sand in the face

The dull and quiet pain

But for now seems so far away

It seems so far away

And so I ask you to bear witness to this crime

Of letting my heart shine

I'm ready to surrender

We try to hold

These moments as they glow

We'll breathe them in and then we'll

Let them go

Let them go

And now we lie together

Face up to the stars

I'm letting my heart shine

I think I just surrendered

Ah, ah, ah

Ah, ah

Happy Clapper lyrics - Ben Folds

Who's this man who's clapping along to a magical song that no one else can hear?

Better keep our distance, dear

Woa-oh

Anyone with half a brain knows a public happy clapping display

Is not okay

Obviously someone doesn't get much screen time

Someone give this idiot a mirror so he knows

It's not sexy being high on life

Oh, that kind of high was never in style

Happy clapper

Happy clapper

Who's this man taking pictures of rocks

When there were bright lights looking stylish in black and white for blocks

And blocks?

Some of the time, they proclaimed Ansel vapid

But they're fucking dead so history decides

Who's clapping in the sky

Oh, who's this band from the streets of Marin

Following their dreams in a van to make happy music when

It's not very cool to make happy music

It's never been cool to be happy at all

Happy clapper

Happy clapper

Oh-woah my god, there's nothing wrong with a

Happy clapper

Happy clapper

No, there's nothing wrong with them

Misery's got plenty company, but the

Happy clapper don't need company

To be happy

I'm not saying be that bastard who walks up to strangers and says, "Why don't you smile?"

Don't be that guy

It's the sign of a pervert

I'm just wondering what's so wrong about clapping along to a song that's out of time

With domesticated humans standing in line

With domesticated humans bumming out

To the beat of shoe-buying music

Just like the skinny LA models do

Do we really need a reason to smile

Happy clapper's happy just being alive

Happy clapper

Happy clapper

Oh-woah my god, there's nothing wrong with a

Happy clapper

Happy clapper

No, there's nothing wrong with them

Misery's got plenty company, but the

Happy clapper don't need company

Don't need company

Don't need company

To be happy

Why Did You Tell Me Everything lyrics - Ben Folds

I believe we can feel conflicting things

Like the way you're my cure or your my disease

Like the way you miss him and you're still kissing me

Oh why, why did you tell me everything?

And I'm trying

To kill all these useless feelings

So that we can just get over and learn to be

But you look in my eyes when I'm so hard to see

Oh why, why did you tell me everything?

I'm not mad

At you

I'm just mad

At the truth

You keep on asking when I'll be okay

I can't give you an answer

At least not today

I'm too easily swayed when you start to sing

Oh why, why did you tell me everything

Should've been listening to all your thoughts

Not just the ones that sounded like love

I don't blame you; maybe you'll blame me

Oh, 'cause you fucking told me everything

Why did you tell me?

A Million Years Or So lyrics - Ben Folds

(originally by Roger Miller)

I'm not worried, 'cause I know

I'll forget you in a million years or so

I'll miss you, but I'll know

I won't miss you but a million years or so

How I loved you, loved you so

How I lost you, maybe time and tide will let me know

But I'm not worried, 'cause I know

I'll forget you in a million years or so

How I loved you, loved you so

How I lost you, maybe time and tide will let me know

But I'm not worried, 'cause I know

I'll forget you in a million years or so

The Ghost In You lyrics - Ben Folds

(originally by The Psychedelic Furs)

A man in my shoes runs a light

And all the papers lied tonight

But falling over you

Is the news of the day

Angels fall like rain

And love, love, love is all of heaven away

Inside you the time moves

And she don't fade

The ghost in you

She don't fade

Inside you the time moves

And she don't fade

A race is on, I'm on your side

And hearing you, my engines die

I'm in a mood for you

For running away

Stars come down in you

And love, love, love, you can't give it away

Inside you the time moves

And she don't fade

The ghost in you

She don't fade

Inside you the time moves

And she don't fade

Don't you go

It makes no sense

When all your talking supermen

Just take away the time

And get in the way

Ain't it just like rain?

And love, love, love is only heaven away

Inside you the time moves

And she don't fade

The ghost in you

She don't fade

Inside you the time moves

And she don't fade

The ghost in you

She don't fade