A dream about lightning bugs : a life of music and cheap lessons / Ben Folds.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Folds, Ben, 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Folds, Ben, 1966-.

Folds, Ben.

Rock musicians--United States--Biography.

Rock musicians.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

ix, 311 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Ballantine Books, [2019]

Summary:

Ben Folds is a celebrated American singer-songwriter, beloved for songs such as "Brick," "You Don't Know Me," "Rockin' the Suburbs," and "The Luckiest," and is the former frontman of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. But Folds will be the first to tell you he's an unconventional icon, more normcore than hardcore. Now, in his first book, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller. In the title chapter, "A Dream About Lightning Bugs," Folds recalls his earliest childhood dream -- and realizes how much it influenced his understanding of what it means to be an artist. In "Measure Twice, Cut Once" he learns to resist the urge to skip steps during the creative process. In "Hall Pass" he recounts his 1970s North Carolina working-class childhood, and in "Cheap Lessons" he returns to the painful life lessons he learned the hard way -- but that luckily didn't kill him. In his inimitable voice, both relatable and thought-provoking, Folds digs deep into the life experiences that shaped him, imparting hard-earned wisdom about both art and life. Collectively, these stories embody the message Folds has been singing about for years: Smile like you've got nothing to prove, because it hurts to grow up, and life flies by in seconds.

Contents:

File under "Music"

A dream about lightning bugs

Watch me eat this sandwich

Erase and rewind

A working-class tourist is something to be

Hall pass

Measure twice, cut once

Big ears, thin walls

A line and some clues

1979, the summer of love

But for the grace of my music teachers

Cheap lessons

Plan A from outer space

Dropped at exams in a cop car

Drums in a lake

Mt. Labor

The existential chicken dance

Of mace and men

An accidental mentor

Lederhosen to pink bow ties

My semester overseas

Creative visualization or useful delusion?

Where oh where is my voice?

Nashville: The best (preferred) way to fail

Frozen on a suitcase

BFF

The first album (both of them)

Welcome to the goddamn music business

Hand me that piano

Whatever

I wanna be...

Throwing stools (and other monkey business)

Our turn to ride the bull

Reinhold

Stop the bus!

Rockin' the suburbs

Going it alone

Rock this bitch!

Follow the brown

Vincibility

Benny! What IS cool?

Time to grow up... Wait. What? Again?

Way to normal

The fake album

Music for the mating age

After the flood

The ever-popular VH1 Behind the Music artist-hits-bottom act

Following interest.

Other Format:

Online version: Folds, Ben, 1966- author. Dream about lightning bugs

ISBN:

9781984817273

1984817272

OCLC:

1080587660