Let me tell y'all what it's like,
Being male, middle-class and white.
It's a bitch, if you don't believe, listen up to my new CD.

I got shit running thought my brain,
It's so intense that I can't explain.
All alone in my white-boy pain,
Shake your booty while the band complains.

I'm rockin' the suburbs, just like Michael Jackson did,
I'm rockin' the suburbs, except that he was talented.
I'm rockin' the suburbs, I take the checks and face the facts,
That some producer with computers fixes all my shitty tracks.

I'm pissed off, but I'm too polite,
When people break in the McDonald's line.
Mom and Dad you made me so uptight,
I'm gonna cuss on the mic tonight.
I don't know how much I can take,
Girl, give me something I can break.

I'm rockin' the suburbs, just like Quiet Riot did,
I'm rockin' the suburbs, except that they were talented.
I'm rockin' the suburbs, I take the cheques and face the facts,
That some producer with computers fixes all my shitty tracks.

In a haze these days, I pull up to the stop light,
I can feel that something's not right.
I can feel that someone's blasting me with hate,
And bass, sending dirty vibes my way.
Cause my Great, Great, Great, Great, Grandad,
Made someone's Great, Great, Great, Great Grandaddies slaves.
It wasn't my idea, it wasn't my idea, never was my idea.

I just drove to the store for some Preparation-H.
y'all don't know what it's like, being male, middle-class and white [Repeats]

It gets me real pissed off, it makes me want to say,
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me want to say,
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me want to say,
Fuck!

Just like Jon Bon Jovi did, I'm rockin' the suburbs,
Except that he was talented, I'm rockin' the suburbs.
I take the checks and face the facts,
That some producer with computers fixes all my shitty tracks.

These days, yeah-yeah, I'm rockin' the suburbs,
Yeah-yeah, I'm rockin' the suburbs, yeah-yeah.
You'd better look out, because I'm gonna say fuck [Repeats]


Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit

Rockin' the Suburbs Lyrics as written by Ben Folds

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Rockin' The Suburbs song meanings
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68 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment

    Yeah, I think leakeg got it, totally. I also really don't think he was mocking black rappers at all. He's speaking as the crappy, whiny middle class white guy, who thinks that the black guy in the next car is blasting his rap music because he hates Whiny White Guy, when the black guy probably doesn't even care. The Whiny White Guy is making it all about him, and he gets all angry and defensive and claims that black people need to get over it, basically, which is, sadly, how a lot of white America views race relations. Whiny White Guy's views are really simplistic, ignorant, and self-centered, and I think Ben Folds is mocking that, not the dude in the other car who's just trying to listen to his music.

    random6x7on January 16, 2008   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    I saw Ben Folds in concert a few years ago. This is his explanation for the song, straight from his mouth.

    He wrote it after reading an article that interviewed one of the guys from Korn. To summarize the guy said he ates p***y piano rock like Ben Folds.

    So, Ben retaliated with a song that mocked Korn's style of angry, white, middle class, nu-metal. In other words: Korn sucks, their music sucks, and their fake angry attitudes suck.

    ...For those of you who say you don't like the song b/c it isn't in his normal style... that is the point... it's called satire.

    spinalgrailon January 17, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    it's been a while, it's been a while, it's been a while, it's been a while, it's been a while....... if you've recently seen Ben in concert, you'll get it.

    saintdaddyon January 29, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    your all wrong fools

    he's pulling the piss out of faux angry white boy rapper nu metal bands like korn and limp bizkit, they whine about having a hard time but really they don't have much to complain about, and they just wanna fit in with the black guys but can't because they feel that they are still hated because of what their "great great great great grandad" did. He says the biggest thing these guys have to whine about is "when people break in the mcdonalds line" and "mom and dad."

    If you've seen the video for this song "Korn Sucks" flashes on the screen at about the 4:00 mark, ben sports a red hat very simular to what fred durst (from Limp Bizkit) is often seen wearing, and the finale is filmed in a very simular room to that of Korn's video "Freak on a Leash."

    He IS NOT pulling the piss out of Micheal Jackson, Quiet Riot or John Bon Jovi, he's just saying these guys captured the attention of suburban america but they actually had some talent, unlike the nu metal bands.

    Also he IS NOT pulling the piss out of Rage Against the Machine, apart from the fact that these guys are NOT white, they actually "whine" about important issues, not just about how angry mum and dad make them. The only two bad things Rage Against The Machine did were inspire shitty bands (such as Korn) and break up.

    preparation h is a hemorrhoid treatment, basically he's saying that Korn have hemorrhoids!

    "i take the checks and face the facts that some producer with computers fixes all my shitty tracks these days "

    He's saying the bands music is not really made by themselves but its really made by a big suit producer, but the bands don't mind because they still get the checks.

    Done!

    Oh yeah, "sham on" is just a misspronounciation of "C'mon" that Michael Jackson did, probably just a tribute or sorts to him (likely as he is mentioned in the song), or it could be saying that the Nu Metals bands anger and hate is just a sham to sell records.

    leakegon May 31, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this is the first song i heard from ben folds...i laughed not because it was bad but because i thought it was funny.

    its making fun of most musicians, and how they come from an 'american family' (white, middle class, 2.5 kids, no real problems) but act as if their lives were so horrible.

    crayola__on August 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    An in your face shout out to all those complaint rock middle class bands. A full out satire becuse it's...sniff...so hard to be a white middle-class male.

    Spankmanion February 01, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah, kick it to tha curb whitey! hahaha

    igotfullonfellafevaon February 23, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    As much as I love Ben Folds.... I gotta say, I was dissapointed with this song.. (music-wise at least).. How come Ben isn't rocking on the piano?

    anna118kon March 09, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Don't get me wrong, this album is awesome-- (This song just wasn't as good as the others.)

    anna118kon March 26, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I can't wait to see him in concert next month... I just bought my tickets last night...

    TaffyNCKon May 10, 2002   Link

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