"Philosophy" is a song from

Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five is an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds (lead vocals, piano), Robert Sledge (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Darren Jessee (drums, backing vocals). The gro ...

's 1995 self-titled debut album. It was written by

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

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

History

The

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

for the 1998 compilation and rarities album ''

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. Caroline Records' webpage for ''N ...

'' claim sarcastically that the song is about Folds' penis, "if that's what you think it's about." In his 2019 book, '' A Dream About Lightning Bugs'', Folds discusses his philosophy in the chapter “Creative Visualization or Useful Delusion” where he says, "There’s this mode I go into from time to time... It begins with visualizing a seemingly impossible accomplishment as if it had already come to be. A trance ensues, mountains are moved and soon it is so... Results fueled by temporary delusion... its that temporary state of craziness that pushes us to make the fantasy real, whether it is building a house, writing a movie or running a marathon." The piano solo at the end of the track borrows a melody line from ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered i ...

'' by

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

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 , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

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 (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

The Posies The Posies were an American power pop group. The band was formed in 1986 in Bellingham, Washington, United States, by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. Their music has its origins in Merseybeat and the Hollies. They are ...

, Jewel, Blues Traveler, the

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 200 ...

, and others. The second live audio version, recorded at

de Melkweg Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a popular music venue and cultural centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein, a prime nightlife square of Amsterdam. It is housed in a former dairy and is divided into ...

in Amsterdam on March 18, 1997, appears on ''Naked Baby Photos''. While the third version, recorded March 20, 2002, at the

Moore Theatre Moore Theatre is an 1,800-seat performing arts venue in Seattle, Washington, United States, located two blocks away from Pike Place Market at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street. It opened in 1907 and is Seattle's oldest active theater ...

in Seattle during Folds' solo "Ben Folds and a Piano" tour, appears on the 2003 album ''

Ben Folds Live ''Ben Folds Live'' is a live album by Ben Folds, released on October 8, 2002. This album marked the first official release of the Ben Folds' improvisation, "Rock This Bitch". The song, which changes with every performance, is now a staple of his ...

''. This version incorporates the

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

surf rock classic "

Misirlou "Misirlou" ( el, Μισιρλού < tr, Mısırlı 'Egyptian' < ar, مصر ''Miṣr'' 'Egypt') is a folk song from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The original author of the song is not known, but Arabic, Greek, and Jewish musicians wer ...

" 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 is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

's Gaston Hall in Washington, DC;

Cabaret Metro Metro (formerly the Stages Music Hall and Cabaret Metro) is a concert hall in Chicago, Illinois, United States, that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in 1982. Th ...

in Chicago; and in Australia – appears on '' Spare Reels'', a video packaged in a limited edition offering of the 1999 album ''

The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner ''The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner'' is the third studio album by Ben Folds Five, released April 27, 1999. It represented a departure for the band from their usual pop-rock sound to material influenced by classical and chamber musi ...

''. The second live video version, filmed in New York on June 9, 1997, for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

program ''

Sessions at West 54th ''Sessions at West 54th'' is 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 ...

'', appears on the 2001 music concert DVD '' Ben Folds Five – The Complete 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

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

of the album version of the song was released as a

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

single in 1996 by Intercord Records for

Passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

/ Caroline. The other tracks on the single were recorded live on August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry.Singles – The Unauthorized Discography of Ben Folds Five
/ref> These tracks were mixed at Rutabaga Studios in Arlington, Virginia, in May, 1996. "Tom and Mary" also appears on the Japanese release of ''

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

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Darren Jessee Darren Michael Jessee is an American drummer and singer-songwriter best known as a member of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five. Jessee has also worked as an instrumentalist for Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger and released two ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals, tambourine *

Robert Sledge Robert Sledge (born March 9, 1968) 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 ...

– bass, vocals

Production

*Producer:

Caleb Southern Caleb Southern (born December 26, 1969) is an American professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, musician and record producer. He has worked with Ben Folds Five, Fear of Pop and Archers of Loaf. As of 2002, he was a member of Partners Ag ...

*Mixing: Marc Becker

References

{{Authority control Ben Folds Five songs 1996 singles Songs written by Ben Folds 1995 songs Caroline Records singles