Ben Folds Five: Brick Meaning

Song Released: 1998

Brick Lyrics

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

Up the stairs to the apartment
She is balled up on the couch
Her mom and dad went down to...

1. anonymous

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   Dec 25th 2006 !⃝

   The line "Can't you see, it's not me you're dying for" is pretty much his way of apologizing to the unborn child, because even though he wants the baby, he know that he and his girl cannot take care of it.
2. anonymous

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   Dec 11th 2006 !⃝

   This song is about a masonry expert who falls in love with a brick. He gets in a wreck with a frozen car seat, and throws some clothes on once he hits the lake, then he drowns. Off the coast, he heads nowhere. Its really beautiful because it goes so far in depth of describing the loneliness of a mason worker. Its not sick to love bricks. Its just natural. At least that's what it means to me. Either that or an abortion.
3. anonymous

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   Oct 4th 2006 !⃝

   Interesting how most feel that the "brick" is the girlfriend. I believe the brick in the song is the aborted baby. Not in a literal sense, of course, but that brick (thought) that weighs down and overcomes ben folds is his unborn child.
4. anonymous

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   May 2nd 2006 !⃝

   Another aspect of this song that nobody's pointed out which really increases the melancholie is the fact that the abortion was the 'day after christmas.' You can imagine the pain and dread they had to endure over the holidays while having to put on a show of fake happiness for family.
5. anonymous

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   Jan 3rd 2006 !⃝

   As it has been said, it is about Ben's girlfriend having an abortion. The thing is, a baby is something that can truly connect a couple, but after the abortion has taken place the couple seem distant and almost as individuals again, alone, single individuals. The lyrics tell of the male waiting in the parking lot, meaning that the woman was alone during the precedure, further indicating the seperated state of the couple and the differed reactions to the devastating situation.
6. bella dea

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   Sep 6th 2005 !⃝

   Most of this song is just a story of life. He talks about the world and what's going on as he is preparing for this even in his life; the abortion of his child.
   
   "Now that I have found someone
   I'm feeling more alone
   Than I ever have before"
   
   Just because you have someone doesn't mean that you are never alone. He can't understand the choice she has made. He doesn't want this but is supporting her because he thinks its what he should do. He doesn't want this abortion and the fact that she is doing it has put a divider between them.
   
   "Can't you see
   It's not me you're dying for
   Now she's feeling more alone
   Than she ever has before"
   
   She knows that he isn't with her on this and that in the end, we are alone in our decisions.
   
   "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"
   
   He can't understand why he is feeling this way and the situation they are in has made things seem lonely and far away. They aren't together on this and because of that, they are each alone in this. Neither can support the othe. Every day they sink farther and farther into their own darkness and sadness. The gap between them gets bigger with every day.
   
   They finally realize that this is bigger then both of them. And she realizes that she isn't ok. And this has torn them apart.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2004 !⃝

   Ben Folds has said in interviews that, in fact, the lyrics were taken from his life. when his girlfriend at the time became pregnant, they (as teenagers, i believe) had an abortion performed without their parents finding out. They did, and later ben wrote a song about it and even sought out the ex-girlfriend to seek her permission. The chorus was written by a bandmate a number of years later, and seemed to fit with the lyrics ben had previously written.
8. anonymous

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   May 1st 2004 !⃝

   This is a song about a guy who has never really had a meaningful relationship and when he actually finds a girl he can connect with he finds out she has a terminal disease. That's why it says, "Now that I have found someone/ I'm feeling more alone/ Than I ever have before." and, "Can't you see/ It's not me you're dying for." He finally found this girl who makes him feel so complete but now that he knows she's going to die he feels more alone since he got a taste of what true happiness is like. It's absolutely tearing him up inside.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. chicken

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   Jan 4th 2004 !⃝

   It's a song about a guy who goes with his girlfriend for her to have an abortion and the guilt he feels along with it.
   

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