"Fred Jones was worn out,...

...from caring for his often, screaming and crying wife during the day but he couldn't sleep at night for fear that she, in a stupor from the drugs that didn't ease the pain, would set the house a blaze with a cigarette." These are the lyrics from a song called "Cigarette" on the Ben Folds Five album called "Whatever and Ever Amen." One of the geniuses of Ben Folds is the way he tells stories with his songs. In the song "Cigarette" he tells a story about Fred Jones in one sentence. Go back and read it again to make sure. In the song "Fred Jones Part 2" he tells a more detailed story about Fred. Both songs are great stories about one sad dude. His wife seems to be sick and dying of something, maybe cancer, in the first song. In the second song he loses his job at "the paper" after 25 years. Each song deals with the element of time in interesting ways. The first song has a minute long intro where the piano plays most of a whole verse and then he sings the whole sentence in one verse and a bridge. The last word of the sentence happens as the piano plays what could be the beginning of another verse, leaving the impression that the song could go on or that Fred goes through the same thing again over and over. The refrain of "part 2" is "and I'm sorry Mr. Jones, it's time." It also deals with one of the biggest measurements of time called life. It barrels on like a run-away train.
Each song also deals with lonliness. I really like both of these songs a lot. They are really sad. The cello in "part 2" kills me. They are both beautifully written and recorded. The back up vocals from the dude from Cake are notable and well placed. Ben Folds is definitely a great story teller.
Other songs of his that profile characters that I like are; Kate, Losing Lisa, Zak and Sara, the Army, the ascent of Stan, the battle of who could care less and many many more.