Ben Folds ¡V Silver Street (From the album, ¡§Ben Folds Live¡¨
Side note: When playing this on piano, you¡¦ll need to play those signature Ben Folds
chromatically ascending triplet of bass notes. (for instance, the C,Db,D right before the
d minor chord played on the word ¡§you¡¦ve¡¨) I¡¦ll not list them here because the tab
get way too messy, but if you¡¦re just loosely learning this song like I did, these add a
feel.
Intro: DbMaj7, EbMaj7, GbMaj7 (if you¡¦re playing this on piano, you should be able to
enough figure out by ear what Ben is playing, using these chords) If you absolutely
however, look at the bottom of this tab for the exact notes played) (this progression is
played as the outro of the 1st chorus, as well as the first two chords of it being played
the outro of the song (the ¡§never leaving, never leaving, never leaving,¡¨ etc part.)
¡KJust listen to the song and you¡¦ll know what I mean¡K
Verse 1:
Now the houses are ghosts over Silver Street
you've got them dressed up like clowns
married couples slamming doors
bums praising the lord
Am7 A dim 6/D
your playing tapes for the town
Pre-Chorus 1:
well the neighborhoods next
and your college friends
A aug 7
are getting younger every year
Chorus1:
the wind don't blow
and the grass don't grow
you¡¦re never leaving Silver Street
F7 C#maj7, Ebmaj7, F#maj7
Verse 2:
You bought some brown wire frames at a junkshop
that was your trademark at school
now the're barely hanging on
and the styles are moving on
Am7 A dim 6/D
hard for a man to stay cool
Pre-Chorus 2:
now the seasons change
and the storefronts change
A aug 7
everything else stays the same
Chorus 2:
the wind don't blow
and the grass don't grow
you¡¦re never leaving Silver Street
F7 F, Bb/F, C/F, F
Bridge:
Now don't get me wrong
cause, oh-o, woah - I
like this neighborhood
and, now, seeing you was good
dm D (see note on this D chord below)
but now we spent the day
Dm A aug/C#
so com-pletely unin-spired
asking why oh why would I be tired?
G, G, G/A, G/Bb, G/Bb,
G/Bb, G/Bb, G/Bb, G/B,
Verse 3:
the're filling the potholes in on Silver Street
waking the neighbors up at noon
now your friends are out on break
and your out on your brown lawn
Am7 A dim 6/D
raking the junk with a broom
Pre-Chorus 3:
now the seasons change
and the storefronts change
A aug 7
everything else stays the same
Chorus 3:
the wind don't blow
and the grass don't grow
you¡¦re never leaving Silver Street
F7 C#maj7, Ebmaj7, F#maj7
outro:
never leaving
C#maj7, Ebmaj7
never leaving
C#maj7, Ebmaj7
never leaving
C#maj7, Ebmaj7
never leaving
C#maj7, Ebmaj7
oh oh oh oh
C#maj7, Ebmaj7, F
note; the D chord used in the bridge during the lyric, ¡§good¡¨ Is actually the right
even though it sounds bad. If you listen closely to Ben¡¦s recording of this song on ¡§Ben
Live,¡¨ he does play this chord. It¡¦s either him being very jazzy and experimental or
plain screwing up ѓº If you want it to sound better, just play dm instead, or
I also replace it with a C chord cause it sounds nice ѓº
note: the into progression that is repeated throughout the song (DbMaj7, EbMaj7, GbMaj7)
be played on the piano as:
right hand:
C#maj7: (Csus4, Gsus4), Fsus4
EbMaj7: (D4, Bb4), Ab4
GbMaj7: (F4, Ab4, Eb5), (F4, Ab4, Db5)
Left hand:
C#maj7: C#
Ebmaj7: Eb
F#maj7: F#
(the notes in parenthesis are played simultaneously)
Hope this helps, everybody. If anyone has questions, comments, concerns, complaints, or
just wanna talk about how f¡¦ing orgasmic Ben Folds¡¦ music is, email me at: JJacobs6@binghamton.edu
Cheers!
Jeff from Wantagh