You Don't Know Me (Ben Folds song)

Last updated
"You Don't Know Me"
You Don't Know Me (Feat Regina Spektor).jpg
Single by Ben Folds featuring Regina Spektor
from the album Way to Normal
Released2008
Genre Indie pop
Length3:12
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Ben Folds
Ben Folds singles chronology
"Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)"
(2008)
"You Don't Know Me"
(2008)
"From Above"
(2010)
Music video
"You Don't Know Me" on YouTube

You Don't Know Me is the name of the lead-off single from Ben Folds' third studio album, Way to Normal . The song features Regina Spektor on vocals dueting with Ben Folds. The song is also the 4th song on Ben Folds' 2009 album Stems & Seeds .

Contents

Recording

Ben Folds called Regina Spektor and asked her to be featured in the song. In an interview with Rolling Stone , he explained, "I just called her up and we went up and did it. I had a part I wanted her to sing it, but she added a lot. There's stuff that just came out of her mouth that wasn't the plan, which is great. That's kinda what I wanted. The song chords were so simple there wasn't much room for that, but she's one of those talented people. When she works it's scary good. She's just all talent." [1]

Music video

The official music video for "You Don't Know Me" was directed by the comedy team of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, featuring Tim and Eric themselves as an unhappy couple. The footage is intermixed with video of Ben Folds, drummer Sam Smith and bassist Jared Reynolds playing on the lawn outside the couple's house. Regina Spektor herself is not in the video, although a photo of her (with the lips altered to look like they are singing) can be seen in the living room partway through the video. Josh Groban also appears in the video. [2]

Commercial success

The single was featured in the 11th episode of the fifth season of the ABC hit drama, Grey's Anatomy titled "Wish You Were Here". It was also featured in a January 2015 commercial for Nationwide Insurance.

Track listing

  1. "You Don't Know Me" 3:12
  2. "Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)" 3:37
  3. "Brainwashed" (Non-album track) 3:35

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Folds</span> American musician (born 1966)

Benjamin Scott Folds is an American singer-songwriter from Greensboro, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the eponymous frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five from 1993 to 2000, and again during their reunion from 2011 to 2013. He has recorded a number of solo albums – the most recent of which, What Matters Most, was released in June 2023. He has also collaborated with musicians such as Regina Spektor, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and yMusic, and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with actor William Shatner and authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. Since May 2017, he has been the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

<i>Tonights the Night</i> (Neil Young album) 1975 studio album by Neil Young

Tonight's the Night is the sixth studio album by Canadian / American songwriter Neil Young. It was recorded in August–September 1973, mostly on August 26, but its release was delayed until June 1975. It peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard 200. The album is the third and final of the so-called "Ditch Trilogy" of albums that Young released following the major success of 1972's Harvest, whereupon the scope of his success and acclaim became so difficult for Young to handle that he subsequently experienced alienation from his music and career.

Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller is a British music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 Diva video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song "Why" from the same album. In 1993, she received a BRIT Award for "Stay" by Shakespears Sister. She won another MTV Award in 1997 for "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Muller is a longtime collaborator of Sade, Annie Lennox, Gwen Stefani, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Garbage and Shakespears Sister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Wareheim</span> American comedian, musician, actor and director (born 1976)

Eric Alexander Wareheim is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, and winemaker. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netflix series Master of None.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Heidecker</span> American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (born 1976)

Timothy Richard Heidecker is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Spektor</span> American musician

Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, comedian, and pianist.

<i>Soviet Kitsch</i> 2003 studio album by Regina Spektor

Soviet Kitsch is the major label debut and third album by American singer/songwriter Regina Spektor. It was originally released on Shoplifter Records in May 2003 but was reissued in August 2004 when Spektor signed with Sire Records. The title is drawn from Milan Kundera's expression for the vacuous aesthetics of Stalinist-style communism, a theme in his book The Unbearable Lightness of Being. One version of the album was released with a bonus DVD, which included a short promotional film titled The Survival Guide to Soviet Kitsch and the music video for the song "Us."

<i>Begin to Hope</i> 2006 studio album by Regina Spektor

Begin to Hope is the fourth album by Soviet-born American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200, but due to the popularity of the single "Fidelity", it peaked at number 20 and was labeled a "pace setter" by Billboard. Rolling Stone named it the 21st-best album of 2006. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA for shipments to U.S. retailers of 500,000 units.

Like a Version is a weekly segment on Australian youth radio station triple j. It involves Australian and international artists playing two songs live in the triple j studio, one of their own songs and then a cover version, hence the name of the segment. The title is wordplay on the Madonna song "Like a Virgin".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidelity (song)</span> 2006 single by Regina Spektor

"Fidelity" is a song by American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, released as the second single from her fourth album Begin to Hope. The song marked Spektor's first and only Billboard 100 entry and is her most successful track to date. Despite a release date of September 25, the song did not hit the charts until December. The song was released in the UK as a two-part single on March 12, 2007. The song makes it Spektor's highest-charting single across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Smith</span> American singer-songwriter

Alice Smith is an American singer and songwriter, her style anchored in rock, R&B, blues, jazz and soul.

<i>Way to Normal</i> 2008 studio album by Ben Folds

Way to Normal is the third studio album by Ben Folds. It was released in Japan on September 17, 2008, in Australia on September 27, in UK and Europe on September 29, and in the US on September 30. The album is Folds' highest-charting solo album in the US, reaching #11 on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release.

<i>Far</i> (album) 2009 studio album by Regina Spektor

Far is the fifth studio album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. It was released in Europe on June 22, 2009, and in North America on June 23, 2009, through Sire Records.

<i>And Ill Scratch Yours</i> 2013 studio album by various artists

And I'll Scratch Yours is a compilation album developed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Initially slated for release in 2010, the album was released on 24 September 2013. The original concept was that And I'll Scratch Yours would serve as a companion piece to Gabriel's 2010 covers album Scratch My Back. The idea was to give the artists whose songs Gabriel covered on Scratch My Back a medium to reciprocate – And I'll Scratch Yours would feature those artists covering Gabriel's songs. However, three artists declined to record covers of Gabriel's material. Therefore, three new artists contributed covers to the album instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Was a Teenage Anarchist</span> 2010 single by Against Me!

"I Was a Teenage Anarchist" is a song by the Gainesville, Florida-based punk rock band Against Me!, released as the first single from their 2010 album White Crosses. The single was released as a four-track digital download through various online music stores on April 6, 2010, including the additional album track "Rapid Decompression" and two B-sides from the album's sessions, "One by One" and "Bitter Divisions". A 7" single was released on April 17 in conjunction with Record Store Day, with an acoustic version of "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" featuring as the B-side.

"The Way You Love Me" is a song recorded by American R&B singer-songwriter Keri Hilson featuring rapper Rick Ross from the former's second studio album No Boys Allowed (2010). It was written by Stanley Benton, India Boodram, Paul Dawson, Hilson, Kesia Hollins, Jazmyn Michel as well as William Roberts, and was produced by Polow da Don. "The Way You Love Me" surfaced online on November 7, 2010; its explicit lyrics fueled controversy, with music critics accusing the singer of swerving into a racy lane. However, Hilson clarified in several interviews that the song was not just sexual but also had a message for empowerment of women. She added that "The Way You Love Me" was not a song "meant for children".

<i>What We Saw from the Cheap Seats</i> 2012 studio album by Regina Spektor

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats is the sixth studio album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. On November 21, 2011, Spektor posted on her Facebook page that the album had been recorded with Mike Elizondo in Los Angeles during the summer of 2011. It was released on May 29, 2012. The album is a collection of new material alongside the first studio recordings of several songs Spektor had previously only performed live.

"Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" is a song by Regina Spektor, from her 2012 album What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. It was released as the album's second single on March 26, 2012. Although a handful of critics assumed this was an English-language cover version of Jacques Brel's song "Ne me quitte pas", Spektor's song is different in every way except the title. The chord structure, melody, and lyrics are all completely different. Brel's song was written in the key of A minor, in 3/4 time. It is a slow, haunting story of a man trying to win back his former lover—a song about the cowardice of men according to Brel. In contrast, Spektor's song is lively, in 4/4 time, and in a major key. Its lyrics evoke a carefree jaunt through various neighborhoods of New York City, the narrator describing all the beautiful and interesting things encountered along the way. Somehow the narrator ends up in the cafés and gardens of Paris, and the song ends with repeated declarations of love for Paris in the rain.

Sarah Dooley is an American comedian, singer, songwriter, and performer located in New York City.

References

  1. Downs, David (August 13, 2008). "Why I Leaked It: Ben Folds Comes Clean About His Fake (And Real) New Album, "Way To Normal"". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  2. "Triangle Music: New Ben Folds video - "You Don't Know Me"". Trianglemusic.blogspot.com. 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2011-02-11.