You Don't Know Me

Dear Daniel,

Jonathan Ross has just played this song on his Radio 2 show. I'd never heard it before, although I imagine it's a probably not hot off the presses. I've really drifted away from his stuff ever since it became clear he was a really good songwriter. Does that sound odd? What I mean is: when it became obvious he could pen a good tune. That if you asked him to write something for you, he'd be able to do it in a minute and it would be... good.

Hmmm. Try this: Ben Folds Five felt like a really fine cottage industry, putting a bit of blood sweat and tears into their goods and it was sometimes shoddy but you knew somebody had put a heap of love into it. Nowadays, he's bought a big factory and the product's similar, but I can see the machine-cut edges. It's a taste thing. I buy free range eggs.

There's a second reason I was moved to write about Ben Folds. He turned up on Sky news this week. In amongst the reporters kicking in doors and over-egging their pieces to camera, there was this report on a contest to find the best a capella rendition of one of his songs.

I like this one.



mainly for the lead vocalist's arm-brace (unfortunate 11th-hour free-running mishap? Or attempt to create himself a thing, i.e. "It's that guy! You know - with the arm-brace!"). Also for the fact that the camera-operators clearly had no idea he was going to give it quite so much and for the truly really-well-done instrumental section.

And for the guy at the end who thought they were going to shout cut a lot earlier...