This song is clearly about Christie Brinkley. She grew up with a more affluent background than Billy Joel. I think there is some insecurity in this song. He talks about it like "maybe someday I'll be good enough for her, maybe she'll like me for me even though I don't have the same background." That really makes the song universal (as Billy's good at doing) because we can all think of trying for the "unattainable" person and hoping they'll see us as we are. And look where they are now- divorced, and Christie's with her uptown boy! But this is still one of my favorite Billy Joel songs.
This song is clearly about Christie Brinkley. She grew up with a more affluent background than Billy Joel. I think there is some insecurity in this song. He talks about it like "maybe someday I'll be good enough for her, maybe she'll like me for me even though I don't have the same background." That really makes the song universal (as Billy's good at doing) because we can all think of trying for the "unattainable" person and hoping they'll see us as we are. And look where they are now- divorced, and Christie's with her uptown boy! But this is still one of my favorite Billy Joel songs.