Rockin' The Suburbs (song) - Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

Folds stated of the inspiration for this song:

"I used to do this big rant at the end of some gigs with Ben Folds Five. The band broke into this big heavy metal thing and I started as a joke to scream in a heavy metal falsetto. I found myself saying things like: Feel my pain, I am white, feel my pain. I was going to write this song about Korn. I don’t know, it wasn’t as funny when I directed it at somebody. So I thought I would write it not directed to anybody. I mean, I would be happy to tell the guys from Korn that I wrote a song about them, but I think, when people listen to it, it is a better song when it is not directed to anybody."

The song parodies Korn and Rage Against the Machine. Folds stated of the song "I am taking the piss of the whole scene, especially the followers."

The song's simplistic guitar part (played by Folds) separates the song from much of his work with Ben Folds Five, who famously shunned guitars in their music (using them only on a single studio recording, "Emaline").

The lyrics for a portion of this song are often changed during live performances. In the refrain of the song, "I'm rockin' the suburbs, just like ______ did", Ben inserts the name of a musical artist. In the album version, the order for the names is: Michael Jackson, Quiet Riot, and Jon Bon Jovi. For live performances Ben has inserted other names, such as Bryan Adams. On the Songs for Goldfish version, he mentions William Shatner (for whom he produced an album, Has Been) and Henry Rollins (whom he worked with on Shatner's song "I Can't Get Behind That").

When performing the song live, especially on television, Folds has been known to change some of the lyrics around for comic effect. Most famously, while on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn inserting "girl we couldn't get much higher," a reference to The Doors song "Light My Fire," where a profanity was supposed to be uttered.