Smoke

I agree with the other comments, it's the perfect metaphor, and it also illustrates what you often go through when you lose a friend or significant other... you sometimes need to get rid of diaries with entries about them, photographs, and old letters, just so you don't stumble over them again later and relive all of the pain, thus, you "burn" it all.

the smoke tends to get stuck in your clothes, though.<p><b><i>Edited by delial on November 29 2007, at 05:09AM</i></b></p>

you know, i don't think this is about a break up or even the holocaust, i think it's about the Bible.

yeah, it seems weird, but if ben and robert and darren don't beleieve in that stuff, it's very possible that this song is about them tearing up the Bible and burning it! that's weird!!

NAlmost this entire album is about romantic relationships and breakups, so I think that the song is indeed about a breakup, or at least, one specific aspect of one.

You know how when you are in a long term relationships there are all these moments that you share that are just between you two and no one else? They seem so important and fundamental to shaping your personality and identity. But after you break up with that person, you have no one to talk about those memories with. No one else can really understand how those moments felt at the time, or what they meant, except the two of you. In fact no one else would ever really care. And now, without that person in your life, there's nothing to those moments but your own memories. Without the ability to ever again talk about those moments with someone who truly understands their personal meaning they loose some of their substance: as if they "never really happened", like they are just "smoke".

This has been my favorite Ben Folds Five song for years. My interpretation has always been along the lines of sehnsucht's, who read my mind and wrote my thoughts in his post.

I have many regrets that are hard to let go of, specifically the emotional pain I caused my family in my late teens and early twenties (arrests, rehab, etc.). In 'Smoke', I hear Ben begging and pleading with me to let go of the guilt because they forgave me a long time ago and I need to forgive myself. To me this song has always been about letting go of regret and being kind to yourself, all bundled with the optimism of the feelings that come with putting guilt in the rearview mirror and looking at what is in front of you right now.

The book they wrote was an amazing story, but not one you would like to reread because it brings up painful memories. Nor will there be a sequel or a new tale. Best song on the album

It's about the end of a relationship; all the things the couple savoured and would share with no-one else is now just history and no-one else could ever appreciate the love. It might be talking about a photo album but any of you who thinks it's about the holocaust clearly don't get Ben or Anna.

I've got this song stuck in my head at the moment.

I agree with BenFoldsFan here, sorry commonmary, its about a person tryin to forget a past relationship, by trying to forget it, and cause they will never be together again there will never be a new "book"

I have to agree, it's definitly about a bad break-up. Haven't you ever heard o people burning pictures and other things that remind them of relationships?

The Bible thing does work in a sense, but the other meaning has more to back it up.

my first instinct was that this song was about book burning and the ignorance behind it, but once i sat down and read the lyrics, i think what made me see how it was about the end of a relationship was the very last line: we are smoke. it has such a sense of finality. its wonderful that this song can make so much sense on a literal or symbolic level, and that the symbolism doesnt hit you over the head. its subtle.