Song · Ben Folds Five
“Army” by Ben Folds Five
From the album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999)
“Army” by Ben Folds Five appears on 18 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1999 and 2022. It was first released in 1999 on the album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Its best result is #24 on the WBER Listener Countdown 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #78 alternative song of 1999 and #2,694 alternative song of all time.
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Ben Folds Five's 1999 album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner gets its brassiest kick from "Army", a Ben Folds song about a young man who can't settle on a direction: he weighs signing up for the military, tries college, bails out and ends up in a band. Folds has told concert crowds it's mostly his own story, down to losing a scholarship after flunking a class, though he admits a few details are made up.
Caleb Southern produced and recorded it and Andy Wallace mixed, and a horn section turns it into a full-on strut: Frank London on trumpet, John Mark Painter on valve trombone and flugelhorn, Ken Mosher on alto and baritone sax, Tom Maxwell and Paul Shapiro on tenor. It reached 28 in the UK, and fans held on to it tightly enough that Folds kept playing it in his solo shows.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 34 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1999 | 91 |
| 1999 | 24 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 1999 | 101 |
| 1999 | 31 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 1999 | 103 |
| 1999 | 51 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999 | 100 |
| 1999 | 84 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 104 Songs of 1999 | 104 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2000 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2005 | 352 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
| 2007 | 1299 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1323 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1345 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2009 | 380 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2010 | 1377 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1442 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1417 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1452 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2016 | 213 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2021 | 698 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2022 | 255 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
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