abortion. I don't have the exact link but I know I read it somewhere. I'll say im 94% sure thats what it is about.

Cool question. Heard this song recently and liked it. BF5 is a strangely intellectual group. My first is impression is that for some reason the girl is a brick causing some problem for the guy. The brick and drowning are metaphors for their difficulties. I'll get back to you.

Lyrics Brick by Ben Folds and Darren Jessee 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 Charlotte They're not home to find us out And we drive Now that I have found someone I'm feeling more alone Than I ever have before 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 They call her name at 7:30 I pace around the parking lot Then I walk down to buy her flowers And sell some gifts that I got Can't you see It's not me you're dying for Now she's feeling more alone Than she ever has before 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 As weeks went by It showed that she was not fine They told me son, it's time to tell the truth She broke down, and I broke down Cause I was tired of lying Driving home to her apartment For a moment we're alone Yeah she's alone I'm alone Now I know it 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 source: http://www.azlyrics.com/b/benfolds.html CD "Whatever and Amen" I read the lyrics for all the songs on the cd since BF5 are often recording thematic cd's. Overall, the cd reflects alienation and loneliness in relationships. But in Brick, there are oblique references to a trip, flowers, raising money which could allude to abortion. The elements of remorse and confession could also lead to abortion topics. Guess we'll have to ask Ben and Darren.

An addendum: an excerpt from the site below. In an article about the list, the Los Angeles Times cites “Brick” as a song with an undeniable conservative bent. “Take, for instance, the Ben Folds Five song "Brick," which tells of a young man's regret and heartbreak over taking his girlfriend to get an abortion.” I vehemently disagree. Why? Because I am privy to information that the National Review is not? Well, yes and no. I have seen Ben in concert, where he said unequivocally, “I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like.” But also because I’ve listened to the song. Allow me to correct the most glaring misconceptions first: It’s not a song about an abortion. It’s a song about a pregnancy, which happens to end in abortion. The emotional strain of the song is not about the abortion itself, but the pain of hiding an unwanted pregnancy and the abortion. But mostly the song is about the pre-existing tensions between Folds and his girlfriend, brought to the front by the stress of the pregnancy. http://federalist86.blogspot.com/2006/06/in-defense-of-ben-folds.html

This is how I see it: About a girl who had an abortion. I think he uses a lot of metaphors. It is done after Christmas - might be a metaphor for a good relationship? The clothes that is thrown on in the dark and the world that is sleeping - it means that the abortion is done in secret. This is again repeated by saying the mom and dad is not there to find them out. Now that he has found someone - meaning he has found a significant other in the form of his girlfriend who is having the abortion, but he is feeling more alone, because of the abortion - this can be meant literally or another methaphor for the bond that is broken between mom and child, which makes her feel more alone. She's a brick and I am drowning - the fetus which is apart of him (he now speaks as if they are one); and he says he is drowning, because the fetus dies in the uterus. I walk down to buys some flowers and sell some gifts that I got - in this line he refers to the dying fetus or baby as the gift that he sells in return for flowers. This line is actually very clever because flowers are usually the "gifts" we give at a funeral, when someone dies. In this case the baby. It's not me you are dying for - he talks to the baby saying that this is not his choice, it is the mother's choice. After the abortion, "as weeks went by it showed that she is not fine" - meaning that the girlfriend is mourning her baby and is having regrets. After an abortion the regrets do not start immediately, because right afterwards there is the relief of having made a decision and things being final, but the regrets only come with time - this can be weeks, months or even years after the abortion. In this case, the regrets started weeks afterwards. Eventually they spill the beans, but they still feel alone and empty.