Whatever and Ever Amen

Whatever and Ever Amen is the sophomore effort from American piano-rock trio Ben Folds Five. It was released in 1997.

The title is taken from a lyric from “Battle of Who Could Care Less,” the tenth track on the album. It combines elements of humour, personal reflection, narrative songwriting and general despair. Stereogum described the album’s lyrics as Folds being “the vengeful dork”.

It also retains elements of BFF’s lo-fi production, with some errors making it into mastered tracks. An argument between band members was originally included between “Brick” and “Song For The Dumped,” but was eventually pulled because it felt “too real” and kept bringing up bad feelings.

The album produced five singles: “Battle of Who Could Care Less,” “Kate,” “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” “Brick” and “Song For The Dumped”.

“Brick” would go on to be on of the groups biggest hits, charting internationally. In 2009, it placed at #67 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time.

The 2005 remastered version with 7 additional songs can be found here.