On September 11th, 2001, Ben Folds released his debut album “Rockin the Suburbs”. At this point in the artist’s career, he had written hit after hit while at the forefront of the “Ben Folds Five”, an ironically named alt-rock trio, but after the band had gone their separate ways, Folds re-emerged from the smoke, freshly solo, which would lead him into a stylistic shift in his music. In the world of music, a solo debut could indicate a change in tone, but for what it’s worth, I’d say he stays incredibly consistent throughout this entire album. Now, in the year 2020, there’s one song in particular that I couldn’t get out of my head when I first heard it. A song that has definitely not lost its value and has become a prime example of discourse that is still happening within the topics of race and privilege. Specifically, a white man’s privilege. As a black woman who grew up in a variety of predominantly white suburban neighborhoods, you’ll hear each lyric relies so heavily on the satirical aspect of the cis-gendered white male-ness of Folds. After listening to this song over and over for many years, it had me thinking, would this type of tune be able to reach mainstream radio and have the same type of success as it did in the early 2000s or would the general public not understand the underlying meaning of the song?
In the song, Folds decides to poke fun at his “whiteness”. He expresses the stereotypical demeanor of a straight, white, male by speaking in a language that anecdotally mocks “white culture”. In the beginning, he adopts a rap-metal jeer with the line, “Y’all don’t know what it’s like / being male, middle-class, and white”. Other lyrics within the track suggest the satirized version of himself feels like people are always judging him, presumably a black person because he assumes they’re mad he exists and claims that he should not be at fault for what his ancestors did by stating “‘Cause great-great-great grandad made someone’s great-great-great grandaddies slaves. “It wasn’t my idea” he states, then repeats it until finally ending the sequence with “I just drove to the store / for some preparation H”. Since we know the “real Folds” wrote this, we can determine that he is making fun of white guys who don’t understand their micro aggressive language is actually really harmful and that they’re so far up their you-know-whats to notice. At the end of the song, Folds is heard repeatedly screaming, “You better watch out because I’m gonna say ‘f*ck,’” a line that is intended to mock nu metal as a genre that some might be too unsure to take seriously. The song’s outro is supposedly a spoof of Rage Against The Machine, a band that pretty much encapsulates the “white-boy angst” vibe that Folds pokes fun at throughout the song.
I’ve read review after review of this song. Some people view its lyrics differently which causes people to have an adverse reaction to the lyrics. One reviewer said that this song is just a “manifestation of a giant chip on his shoulder”. Sure, you could think that, but what I think makes the song much more interesting, is that, in the weirdest way, it’s somewhat relatable. Another element to point out is Folds’ primary instruments on the track. You can hear the strums of his guitar and the sounds of a 88-key electronic piano in the background. It’s impossible to accuse Folds of hiding beneath his electronic production gags. Though, in the same vein, he accuses his “producer with computers” of fixing all his “sh*tty tracks.” These are two other lyrics in the song that point to how he doesn’t even have to do the work necessary to be considered a great singer-songwriter-producer. He can pay someone else to do it for him and he can take all the credit. The piano is the most infectious instrument that can be heard in the song, as it balances out the rock aspect of the guitar. It’s safe to say that ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’ may have been what put Folds on the map of relevant alt-rock. I’m personally not a huge fan of what’s currently playing on the radio and as I mentioned earlier, while the song is about a white man poking fun at his own privilege, I can see how it can be misconstrued by the general public into something possibly worse. Maybe my thoughts could be proven wrong. My assumption is, without context, the average listener would be confused and might turn to a station that’s playing something more worthy of their time, like…bubblegum pop? Wait, is that genre’s not popular anymore either? Maybe I am quite possibly behind the times, but I know one thing, this song could definitely stand the test of time not only for its beat, but as a solid reminder that satire, specifically in music, is an art form that should not be ignored and hopefully not have artists feel like they should be on the defense all the time.
