The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Fred sits alone at his desk in the dark
There's an awkward young shadow that waits in the hall
He has packed all his things
And he's put them in boxes
Things that remind him that life has been good
Twenty five years he's worked at the paper
A man's here to take him downstairs
And I'm sorry Mr Jones, it's time
There was no party and there were no songs
Cause today's just a day like the day that he started
And no one is left here that knows his first name
Yeah, and life barrels on like a runaway train
Where the passengers change
They don't change anything
You get off
Someone else can get on
And I'm sorry Mr Jones, it's time
The streetlight it shines through the haze
Casting lines on the floor
And lines on his face
He reflects on the day
Fred gets his paints out and goes to the basement
Projecting some slides onto a plain white canvas
And traces it
Fills in the spaces
He turns off the slides
And it doesn't look right
Yeah, and all of these bastards have taken his place
He's forgotten but not yet gone
And I'm sorry Mr Jones
And I'm sorry Mr Jones
And I'm sorry Mr Jones, it's time
There's an awkward young shadow that waits in the hall
He has packed all his things
And he's put them in boxes
Things that remind him that life has been good
Twenty five years he's worked at the paper
A man's here to take him downstairs
And I'm sorry Mr Jones, it's time
There was no party and there were no songs
Cause today's just a day like the day that he started
And no one is left here that knows his first name
Yeah, and life barrels on like a runaway train
Where the passengers change
They don't change anything
You get off
Someone else can get on
And I'm sorry Mr Jones, it's time
The streetlight it shines through the haze
Casting lines on the floor
And lines on his face
He reflects on the day
Fred gets his paints out and goes to the basement
Projecting some slides onto a plain white canvas
And traces it
Fills in the spaces
He turns off the slides
And it doesn't look right
Yeah, and all of these bastards have taken his place
He's forgotten but not yet gone
And I'm sorry Mr Jones
And I'm sorry Mr Jones
And I'm sorry Mr Jones, it's time
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i dunno...this song makes me so sad...its sooo good but for some reason, i think everyone can find a way that it relates to ANYthing thats bothering them...breaking up w/ a gf/bf, getting fired, feeling unwanted, gettin dumped for another guy, being replaced by someone...what a song
is fred jones a real person? because the ben folds five song cigarette involves a character called fred jones who stops his wife from burning the house down, or something like that. so i think it may be based on a real guy, maybe, i don't know. good song anyways.
@xpankfrisst Toward the end of livefromhere.org/shows/2018/06/16/ben-folds-wye-oak-dave-hill , Folds introduces "Fred Jones, Pt. 2" as being about a hero of his growing up, the editor of a local newspaper who eventually got fired. Assume Folds wasn't messing with the audience, that'd mean these are likely two different "Fred Jones"es. The common name is presumably artistic license, the common thread being domestic desperation and the newspaper. Given that background, Folds no doubt agrees with Jones' resentment for being unceremoniously let go from a job he devoted most of his adulthood to.
surely about half the songs ben has written have people's names in.. they can't all be real, surely? i have often wondered though.
this song makes me so sad. when the harmony comes in near the end, it makes me want to cry. it really does.
the song is saying how awful it is to be replaced i think. and how good things have to end, even if you don't want them too.
sooo sad.
Fred Jones was a real person. The lyrics in the song "Cigarette" were actually the words from a short article in a paper that Ben read and he just made a song out of it. As far as this song goes, it's about the same Fred Jones but I'm pretty sure it's not a true story. And a lot of the people in Ben's songs are real people, by the way. :-)
This is a great song that really gets me every time i hear it. I bought the CD for Rockin' the Suburbs which is a good song but i was blown away by this and carrying cathy. As well as being touching and a great song to listen to is also brings in one of my favorite singers : John McCrea from CAKE! they are both great in this song!
Fred gets his paints out and goes to the basement Projecting some slides onto a plain white Canvas and traces it Fills in the spaces He turns off the slides, and it doesn't look right Yeah, and all of these bastards Have taken his place He's forgotten but not yet gone
;(
God Bless Ben Folds :D
Beautiful, sad song...about the inevitability of all good things coming to an end...it also has hints of death in its lyrics. Probably my favourite off "Rockin' The Suburbs." "Streetlight shines through the shades / Casting lines on the floor, and lines on his face / He reflects on the day" - I especially love this bit.
For me, the message of the song boils down to:
No one in the world cares about you. No parties, no songs, nothing's new about the day - just you're gone, only no one notices because no one's left who knows your name. You go home angry, try to imitate art, it fails you, everything fails you, and at the end the only card you still hold is that you're still alive.
What can you possibly do? After all, the world is so big...
this song just makes me wanna cry. i mean its basically about a guy getting fired from his job but the way ben folds writes it just makes it so incredibly sad. it goes much deeper than the surface. when i get a job ill be sure to make an impression upon people so when im there i wont be ignored and when im gone i wont be forgotten. i dont want to end up like fred jones.
I agree with most of what everyone has already said.
About the people being real. .. I wouldnt say a LOT of the people are real, but quite a few of them are. At least for Ben Folds Five anyway.. ie Eddie Walker, Alice Childress..
As for the song. I disagree somewhat with your name here. i think it's about Fred getting fired, but i also think it alludes to Fred's death. .. It's time for his death, and yet there's so much he hasnt done... I agree with Renzoku. We're all fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. How sad.
The music in this song is absolutely gorgeous. Props to Larry Corbett on the cello.. and of course Ben on the piano. :)
yah I agree with everyone, at his concert he said that part one is the first line he read in a newspaper artical that was really long and inncorrect so he wrote a song about it...