Sunny 16 (EP)

Sunny 16
EP by Ben Folds
Released September 30, 2003
Length 20:54
Label Attacked By Plastic
Ben Folds chronology

Speed Graphic
(2003)		 Sunny 16
(2003)		 Super D
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
The Guardian (average)[2]
Pitchfork Media 5.2/10[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [4]

Sunny 16 is the second of a three-EP series by Ben Folds. The EP includes one cover track, "Songs Of Love" (written and performed originally by Neil Hannon's Divine Comedy on the 1996 album Casanova). The song "Rock Star" was co-written by his wife, Frally Hynes-Folds.

Hidden tracks

The last two tracks both contain hidden tracks of sorts, although they are really just a snippet of one of the track layers of the song on which the tracks are hidden. In "Rock Star", it is the song's closing vocal overlays, and in "Songs of Love" is the string quartet's part.

Comments from Ben Folds

Ben's comments regarding this EP: "If I was starting over again and had to make a demo tape, i'd use this EP. It represents a big part of what I do very naturally. Part of me thinks I'm an idiot for 'wasting' this recording on a limited release EP, but i'm really into this method of recording and releasing quickly and making it all about music, so here it is."

Regarding "All U Can Eat", Ben explains, "When it was an embryo of a song, I played it at a few gigs and called it 'they give no fuck'. The bulk of the song was written the day it was recorded and I realized it should be called 'all you can eat'. I've always said I'd write one love song and one political song. I think this is about as political as I care to be in my music."

Ben comments on "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You." "It's about anybody who elevates themselves through making someone else feel like they aren't up on something, or that they try too hard or that they're too interested or they tuck their shirt in when they're not supposed to. There's always someone cooler than that person too. You see soccer moms now dressed in ringer tees kinda looking like Sonic Youth from 10 years ago, and it's not that becoming on them." [1]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ben Folds, except where noted. 

No. TitleLyrics Length
1. "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You"    4:15
2. "You've Got to Learn to Live with What You Are"    4:25
3. "All U Can Eat"    3:22
4. "Rock Star"  Folds, Frally Hynes 4:23
5. "Songs of Love"  Neil Hannon 4:30

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ The Guardian review
  3. ↑ Pitchfork Media review
  4. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 61. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.