| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think the people who like this song and lyrics tend to overrate it ("awesome" and "genius") and the people who hate this song (most music critics) tend to bash it and Billy too much. It's kind of a novelty song, and very atypical of the rest of Billy Joel's songs, or most anybody else's songs and lyrics too. Yet, it's got a catchy beat and it is fun to go through the chronological catalog of names, images, and memories that it mentions. The alphabet song is not a great song, but it's catchy and a good way to learn the alphabet. Similarly, this is not a great song, but it's catchy and a good way to get a quick history lesson. But this song is hardly one of Billy's best, though it was one of his most popular. Sometimes I wonder if the critics who pan Billy Joel don't like his songs, or don't like a segement of the fans who idolize him (the ones who count this song and "Uptown Girl" as their favorites, versus songs like "Summer, Highland Falls" or "Vienna"). I'm not a fan of this song, but I do like the Hooters' (Scottish band) version of it, which you can find on YouTube. |
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| Billy Joel – Rosalinda's Eyes Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is a great song, but Billy does not play it live and it is not played on the radio anymore. I don't recall if it was released as a single, but it did get some airplay when 52nd Street was released. Billy has said it is the song that his dad would have or should have written about his mother, Rosalind. His parents, Howard and Rosalind (not Rosalinda), did live in Cuba for awhile, or at least one of them did, before immigrating to the US. They are ethnically Jewish and German I believe (definitely not Cuban). Now, that said, it's not a biography by any means. Billy' dad did not play in a Puerto Rican band, though he was a talented pianist. The sentiment behind the song is beautiful. Here is a talented guy, trying to make it as a musician, but he can only get gigs at weddings or for "union wages". But Rosalinda gives him the strength and inspiration to keep trying. He yearns for his homeland or the homeland of his parents, or perhaps more accurately for a "home", and while he may never get there, he can see it in Rosalinda's eyes. I think today, as we are more politicaly correct, some people might cringe at or be upset at the "Crazy Latin" reference, but at the time it was probably not as offensive. |
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| Billy Joel – Famous Last Words Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Underrated songs and lyrics. I think this is one of his best songs and lyrics, but the production was overdone. His piano-only version of the song (on Inside the Actors' Studio) is better than the record version. He has many songs likes this: Souvenir, Summer Highland Falls, Vienna, Through The Long Night, Where's The Orchestra, And So It Goes. Sad, wistful, melancholy. Sometimes the lyrics are literal, sometimes more abstract (like this one), but the overall feeling is the same. |
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| Billy Joel – She's Always A Woman Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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He is singing about his then wife, Elizabeth Joel (Elizabeth Weber). She was his manager at the time, and was known to be a tough, fierce, and determined negotiator. She had earned a degree from UCLA in business (not sure if it was an MBA or not). She was instrumental in getting Billy's affairs in order after he had signed some bad contracts early in his career. There was an article about her management skills and style in a magazine at the time, maybe Business Week, I can't remember, called "They Were Maulin' Her Man." He gave her alot of credit for getting things back on track. The song was basically saying that while you may think she is a bitch, that she "kills with a smile" and "wounds with her eyes," to me (i.e. to Billy), she is always a woman. You may think she is "suddenly cruel" and a tough S.O.B. in negotiations, but to Billy she is always a woman. Yes, to some degree, he acknowledges she may be like that, but he loves her....just the way she is. It is a love song, there's no question about that. It is not derogatory of woman, quite the contrary, he is saying that a "woman" does not have to be all cute, pretty, subservient, but can be strong, tough, even brutal, and still be a woman, and a woman he loves. The song was most definitely written by Billy in 1977 (someone posted that it was written by Chantal Kreviazuk, but was corrected by another poster; rather Chantal does a cover version of this song in concert). Billy and Elizabeth divorced in 1982 or 1983 I believe,but so what, that does not make the sentiment of the song any less authentic or sincere. They had been married or together for over 10 years. Sources? Read anything Billy has said about this song. Read his three main biographies (by Mark Bego, Hank Bordowitz, and Bill Smith "I Go To Extremes"). Incidentally, I don't really like any of thoese biographies for other reasons; it has been reported that Billy is writing an autobiography. |
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