Ben Folds Five – Mess

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  General Comment:I also felt like "there are rooms in this house that I don't open anymore" referred to the fact that the memories are painful, and he will not revisit them. Acording to what someone wrote above, this is not the intended meaning, but it still makes a lot of sense to me.

  Flag bohemianbansheeon October 23, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:You guys, the song is NOT about religion, or about how "if only he would believe in God, he would be saved". It is not about knowing there is a God, but not believing. The line "But I don't believe in God, so I can't be saved" refers to him knowing no one can get him out of his self-created mess but himself. It's taking full responsibility for the mess he's made of things.
  
  Also, the line "she'll never see that part of me" is NOT about him wanting to be seen for who he really is, but knowing it can never happen. It's about WANTING TO NEVER BE SUCH AN ASS AGAIN.....wanting to have a fresh start with someone new and never screw it up. "That part of me" is the part that was a jerk and screwed up this relationship. "She'll never see that part of me" = "I'll never again treat a woman this poorly". He says "I want to be for her what I could never be for you". In other words, he wants to be the man he should have been in this relationship, but wasn't.
  
  Sometimes the majority of posters here seem pretty clueless. *smacks head*

  Flag bohemianbansheeon October 23, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:A really heartbreaking song. He has messed up his relationship beyond repair by being too raw, too real. So with his next partner, he won't open himself up as much because he wants to be for her what he could never be for you.

  Flag UncleWalter1978on July 25, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:He explains this on iTunes. Its about his loss of innocence. He's realized he's at a time in his life that he has made such a mess of his life that any woman he meets from now on will not be able to completely know his future, they will just have to let some things go. "There was a time when I had nothing to explain"...."my innocence has all but faded; oh this mess I have made." Then at the end he talks about his new relationship how there are things he still has to hide, and regrets that he couldn't hide them in his last relationship. The part about God is saying he can't just be saved and forget about all this mess because he doesn't believe in God.

  Flag evenpar288on August 21, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:to quote Kevin Smith, he's chasing Amy

  Flag SgtReznoron February 03, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:Wonderful song, sad and haunting. Ben Folds sounds so alone and separated from everything and everyone in it - brilliantly written and performed. I think the part about not believing in god is straightforward, he doesn't believe in a god and he doesn't even have the crutch of faith to save him from his inner turmoil. Perfect heartache song.

  Flag sygsteron September 05, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:This song isn't about "how much he loves her more than him". This song is about a man and his regrets.
  
  What I like about this song is that he's reconciled (or at least acknowledged) his failures. He is a bit of a sad hero; he recognizes his plight ("All alone as I've learned to be in this mess that I have made")... and he even knows it's not a singular thing ("... over and over again."). His errant ways will be repeated.
  
  The most striking line to me is: "There are rooms in this house that I don't open anymore..", immediately followed by his sadness that she'll "never see" that part of him. Even in his lack he wants her to recognize him, but she won't.
  
  All alone he will be in the mess he's made indeed.

  Flag AlanzoBon March 17, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:People have things to say about the believe in God part. It's not really about if he believes in God he could be saved, it's about he can't delude himself into feeling he could be saved. Not believing in love makes him act the same way regardless of situation, so he can't be tamed or changed...
  
  It's not about not having these beliefs that's ruining him, it's about how he doesn't have these delusions to fall back on anymore, and so he doesn't have a simple answer.

  Flag BuckWilderon November 10, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:To me this song is about a person who has given up believing not only in God (which is a common and somewhat logical occurrence), but also in love, possibly due to past experiences. For this reason he feels jaded, while his partner feels the "pure love" feelings, he manages to just screw the situation up beyond repair without thinking about it because he doesn't believe in love anymore. His dark side, the fact that he doesn't really believe in anything and that he has acknowledged that he'll be alone forever were out in the open before, but now he's willing to pretend for another girl he has met that he doesn't have these feelings. He acts in a manner that expresses the fact that he doesn't believe in love or God without bearing it to the world anymore, and hides away that part of himself from the outside world as it only helps to screw things up. Instead he'll pretend and kill off that part of himself, keep it to himself in order to keep company with his latest love interest and "be for her what I could never be for you." Very touching to me, and only my interpretation. It's about being jaded without being old and wrinkled, and knowing love to be a child's dream while still finding yourself in the middle of "romantic" situations.

  Flag BuckWilderon November 10, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:Releasing what his songs are about to him would defeat the purpose of music entirely. He obviously wrote these songs as music so he could get an idea out of his head in a way that people would enjoy. If he wanted to write a book explaining it all, he could have scrawled an emo journal under his covers late at night.

  Flag wil555on September 24, 2006   Link

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