Brick

Yeah, it's about taking his girlfriend to go get an abortion, but it's also about how it's tearing them apart. Part of him blames her for this (she's drowning him) and in the end he knows that they're both alone, even though they're still (temporarily, I'd imagine) together.

[Edit: 123456]

I heard Ben interviewed on a local radio station in Muncie, IN about 2 years ago, he said that this was a true story about how he had to take his girlfriend at the time to get an abortion... how they sold had to sell their christmas presents in order to fund it... and how it ended up tearing them away from each other. it's a very touching song.

We all know the meaning of the song, but my story has some very scary similarities...we went to the clinic in early December...we started getting ready to leave at 6am...our families didn't know...they called my name at 7:30...he wrote in his journal/book to the child...we came clean to his family (devout Catholics)...weeks later I came clean to my mother when I just about bled out at work...and this had such an emotional toll on both of us that we fell apart. Now, to add to the story, after we fell apart I started to date someone else (who I married, but now I'm divorced from), and I got pregnant 3 months later. My daughter's due date was 1 year and 2 weeks after the abortion. I love my daughter, and I can't help but think that I was so eager to conceive her because of the intense sense of loss I felt after the abortion. It pains me to think that I actually had a child with someone who doesn't and aborted a baby with someone who would have made a good father (if he would have been ready at that time).

I haven't read all the comments so I don't know if anybody else brought up this point. If so, forgive me for being repetitive. I can't help but think that the singer wanted to keep the child but the girlfriend didn't. This would explain the "I'm alone/ she's alone" as both are alone with their own thoughts and opinions of the abortion. I see the "it's not me you're dying for" as him speaking out of guilt to the unborn fetus as please don't blame him, this wasn't his idea. He wants to be supportive in her decision but it's dragging him down and eventually it pulls them apart.

Okay ladies & gentleman, this is exactly what the song means:

Yes, the song is about abortion. When Ben said it was about taking your dog to the vet he was joking. I'm from NC and used to see Ben Folds Five before they found success and have talked to Ben personally and have asked him about the song and he told me about it. Oh and the lyrics that are posted ARE correct. So Here's the lyrical break down:

"6 am day after Christmas I throw some clothes on in the dark The smell of cold Car seat is freezing The world is sleeping I am numb"

Because it was going to be the only time Ben's girlfriend's parents would be away, they had to go to get the abortion the day after Christmas. Ben wasn't feeling good about it at all, he felt horrible because he felt it was all his fault and he wasn't too happy about the concept of abortion. This first verse is just describing him waking up the morning the abortion is too take place, getting dressed, getting in his cold car in the early morning while everyone else is asleep and than going to pick up his girlfriend.

"Up the stairs to her apartment She is balled up on the couch Her mom and dad went down to Charlotte they're not home to find us out And we drive"

Ben was from Chapel Hill, NC and he told me his girlfriend and her family lived in an apartment in Raleigh (only 15-20 miles away). Just as the song says: He got there, went up the stairs to her apartment and finds her in a ball on the coach. His parents and her parents had no idea that she was pregnant or about the abortion. Her parents had went to Charrlotte to visit family and she had said she was too sick to go. So her parents weren't home to find out what they were going to do. They got in his car and drove to the abortion clinic.

"Now that I have found someone I'm feeling more alone Than I ever have before"

Ben told me he felt this way because he felt it was all his fault and he felt like no one could relate to his situation that he knew, thus, he felt alone.

"She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly"

Even though he blamed himself for what had happened, he felt like his relationship with his girlfriend was now drowning him. He was ruining his life now and throwing it away, but at the same time he deep down didn't want her to get an abortion, because he didn't want to kill his unborn child.

"they call her name at 7:30 I pace around the parking lot then I walk down to buy her flowers And sell some gifts that I got"

At 7:30 in the morning they call her name in the Abortion Clinic to get the abortion. Alot was going through Ben's head, he was also worried about his girlfriend so he paced around in the parking lot and than went and brought her flowers and sold some gifts he got for Christmas to help pay for the abortion.

"Can't you see It's not me you're dying for Now she's feeling more alone Then she ever has before"

The first two lines he's talking directly to his unborn child. He didn't agree with the abortion and didn't want to "kill" his unborn baby, so he's telling his baby that he didn't want it and he/she is "dying" because his girlfriend (the unborn child's mother) wants it. The next two lines are refering to how his girlfriend is in the clinic getting an abortion and he can't be there, so she's feeling alone.

"As weeks went by It showed that she was not fine They told me son it's time to tell the truth She broke down and I broke down Cause I was tired of lying"

Weeks later, his girlfriend started to feel guilt and sadness over what had happened and both Ben's parents and her parents noticed. Eventually Ben's parents comfronted him and her about it and told him to tell the truth and they both broke down and told the truth. Just as it says in the song, Ben did it because he was "tired of lying."

"Driving home to her apartment For the moment we're alone She's alone I'm alone Now I know it"

After they told Ben's parents the truth, he drove her home. They were alone for the moment because they were together and didn't have to face her parents yet. But, they weren't alone together, she was alone in her own world and he was alone in his and what do you ask he meant by the line "now I know it"? What exactly did he know? He knew that what had happened had ruined their relationship and tainted their love.

This song has to do with a guy taking his girl to get an abortion. Quite a sad topic, but a beautiful song.

I have an interview with Ben Folds in my iTunes that was formerly my Dad's, and after i fell in love with both Ben Folds Five and Ben Folds, i listened to it. The way Ben Folds himself spoke about the song didn't exactly sound like he was speaking of abortion. Actually, he spoke nothing of abortion. Now, i'm not doubting you all, just saying. However, he does say that the song is really about getting his girlfriend pregnant, at a very young age; i'm thinking 16 or 17, and keeping it from his and her parents. ("They told me son it's time to tell the truth, She broke down and I broke down, Cause I was tired of lying") He says he takes gifts that his family has given him and pawns them so he'll have money for his pregnant girlfriend. ("and sell some gifts that i got") Ben Folds speaks in the interview that the moral of the song is just, life.. and how hard it is. Growing up, really.

I could be wrong about the abortion thing and seem completely ignorant. Wrong or not, this is a beautiful song. Ben Folds is a genius.

Up the stairs to the apartment She is balled up on the couch [as someone who had to watch the girl he loves go thru an abortion this song hit home. i immediatly connected it to abortion. after my girlfriend left the hospital she was still feeling the effects of the sedation. she was distraught, crying, helpless. i helped out of the car and to her room. she lied there crying for hours, and all i could do was watch]

Her mom and dad went down to Charlotte They're not home to find us out And we drive [we had to wait till her mom had work so she wouldnt find out]

Now that I have found someone I'm feeling more alone Than I ever have before [the abortion was the most difficult thing we had to go thru as a couple. it ruins u as a person and it ruined us a a couple. there are no words i could use to make her feel better, or to make myself feel better for that matter. we were together and completely alone. we each had to deal w/ what we had done on our own. nobody can make you feel better about doing something that you feel is wrong, no matter why you had to do it.]

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly [she was depressed and i couldnt bring her up, and by trying to bring her up, i was dragged down too. i dnt regret trying to help her, she'd wouldve done the same for me.]

They call her name at 7:30 I pace around the parking lot [i wasnt alowed to be there for the operation because we were not married and i wasnt family]

Then I walk down to buy her flowers And sell some gifts that I got [i bought her her favorite candy and some flowers, my vain attempt to make her smile]

Can't you see It's not me you're dying for [we wanted the child but neither of our parents would have excepted that we were going to have a baby]

Now she's feeling more alone Than she ever has before [we both cut ourselves off from our families and friends, the guilt was...very heavy, especially for her]

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

As weeks went by It showed that she was not fine They told me son, it's time to tell the truth [we eventually had to tell our parents, we couldnt carry this burrdon on our own]

She broke down, and I broke down Cause I was tired of lying [self explainitory]

Driving home to her apartment For a moment we're alone Yeah she's alone I'm alone Now I know it [it ruined us forever]

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

sorry for any mispelled words i'm felling lazy, the words still sting my eyes and the memories are as fresh as if they'd happened yesterday

Part II...

Fast forward ten years and my girlfriend is now my wife. We have a young child whom we love dearly. We want more children and she gets pregnant. She waits until 10 weeks have passed and makes the announcement. We go for an ultrasound. I am with her and I can clearly see that there is now nothing discernable in the womb. The ultrasound technician knows this as well but isn't allowed to comment. That's the doctor's job. It doesn't matter because we both know that something has gone wrong. Our baby has left this world. My wife suffers a miscarriage.

To this day, I wonder who this child may have been. As I type, I am crying. Seeing the ultrasound for my first child and then seeing the ultrasound of my second child changes my entire outlook on abortion. Does life begin at conception? Maybe. But it is a fact that when there is a fetus with hands, feets, toes, etc. you are looking at life. When I hear "Brick" I cry.

I will not judge others in their decision on this topic. But do not take it lightly. Explore all of your options before making the decision to terminate a pregnancy. Don't be bullied by people at abortion clinics.

Hypothesis of the brick:

While going swimming in flooded limestone mines as kids, we would hold on to large stones (a brick would fulfill the same purpose) and see how far we could sink down before letting go and coming back up to relieve the pressure and get our heads back up over the water to breathe.

I think this is one of the most brilliant metaphors I've ever heard in a song.