Scene and Heard: Still Singin’ It

Ben Folds, the man behind such feel-good pop hits as the maudlin “Brick” and the more recent upbeat solo hit, “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” added a slightly less commercially palatable track to his repertoire Sunday night at Harvard Yardfest (formerly known as Springfest). The extemporaneous ditty, in which Folds proclaimed alternately that “Eliot House sucks big donkey dicks” and that “Eliot House is not that bad” in minor and major keys, was prompted by a miniature inflated beach ball that landed near Folds’ piano during the concert. Picking up the ball to toss it back into the crowd, the artist—who is known for improvising lyrics in live shows—noticed that the words “Eliot House Sucks” had been inscribed on the toy in permanent marker.

According to one Winthrop resident, who requested not be identified, the beach ball incident was part of a prank on their rival neighbor house. A group of Winthrop students distributed more than twenty beach balls to the Tercentenary Theatre crowd in hopes of catching Folds’ attention, said the source.

“At present, we have no comment,” said Winthrop House Committee Co-Chair Michael J. Robin ’08.

A representative from Eliot House did not return FM’s calls.