“it sounds silly, I'm not being "poor pitiful me," but it's like, How do you write sad songs when you get everything you wanted?” »read more
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Songfacts: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.
This song is about a breakup. It's about forgetting the past and moving on because the great events in your life will never happen again - you only get to live them once. (thanks, Justin - Pittsgrove, NJ)
Comments:
I've heard through the grapevine that the song has something to do with Henry David Thoreau, but I'm not sure how valid this interpretation is. I just thought I'd throw it out there on the off chance that someone might be able to add their own two bits.
- Meg, Virginia Beach, VA
Unfortunately for an interested Ben Folds fan, these comments are extremely lacking in accuracy due to the insufficient comprehension of the song. The song smoke, for instance, demands more than 2 lines of explanation like the one above. It?s extremely vague and noticeably lacks any sort of imagination. Ben Folds has not written many songs that can be critiqued or interpreted in 2 lines. Furthermore, I don?t believe that he constricts his songs to one meaning, leaving the music?s ultimate definition up to the listener.
Just wanted to leave this here for any fan who expected a more thorough discussion on the genius that is Ben Folds.
- nick, chattanooga, TN
Smoke: "I co-wrote this song with someone else, so I couldn't want to speak for her, but what it means to me is that you can't escape from your memories on your past." -Ben Folds
Completely contradictory to the explanation above. Its not about moving on at all. He spends 4:52 describing someone's feelings of a lost relationship which to me leads to the conclusion that trying to burn your past and forget about it is futile. Just by reading the lyrics one could fabricate hundreds of meanings with all sorts of modifications to their own life experiences.
- nick, chattanooga, TN
It's called a melodica.
- Bill, Rocklan, ME
in "the complete sessions at west 54th" DVD it is played on a kinda woodwind piano thing in the recording i think it is an accordian
- Danny, Austin, TX
Does anyone know what instrument that is playing atop as the lead part?
- Seth, Thornhill, Canada