.
Ben Folds: That was me. I knew we needed to do a cover song. It would just be a glaring omission not to have Bill do his William Shatner impression. That song wasn't a popular song in America, but it has the weight of a big hit. It's not worn-out. I also thought that he would dig the content, because he's someone who has lived on both sides. He grew up pretty working-class.
That was the thing on the record that I just thought had to happen. We even went so far as to call Bill Clinton. Shatner talked to him for a good 10 minutes about it. Clinton was like [adopting a spot-on Clinton accent], "Yeah, I'll probably do it. Just make sure Ben doesn't make me sound like s***." We took so long to get our act together that by the time we got around to it, his people said he was too busy with the elections and his book. I had grand plans for this song.
BF: Oh, hell yeah, and that has nothing to do with art. It's just cool. Everyone wanted to meet Clinton.
― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 02:33 (twenty-one years ago)