People have mixed feelings on Billy Joel. Well, really, my family has mixed feelings on Billy Joel. Most either love him or hate him. Though if his shows, which continue to sell out to this day are anything to go by, the man is damned loveable.
My brother thinks he is an arrogant and unrepentant alcoholic who has shat on everyone on his way to the top. He holds himself in the most esteem and fuck everyone else, right? Though I agree, that is also what i love about him.
It is hard to find anyone in mainstream jukebox-staple music from that era that isn’t all about love, friendship or meeting for a movie.
In a very real sense, Billy Joel is a renegade. He is the rear tires of the DeLorean, scorching flames up a slick highway. He is Mr. Fahrenheit, travelling at the speed of light. He is the jet you see before you hear the thunderclap.
Arsehole: Yet, Thunderclap.
But don’t take those words of mine for it, take these words of mine for it.
Big Shot.
They Don't Make Shots Much Bigger.
I still don’t really know if this is Billy scolding himself for a boozy night where he played up or him cursing a woman for getting under his gills in a similar boozy night. Let me check wikipedia…which says:
“The song is superficially about the protagonist mocking a woman with a severe hangover about her intoxicated escapades around town”
Does that nonetheless make him an arsehole for calling a drunk woman on all her shit? I mean, we all been there no? Does it make him a bitter misogynist? Does it make him a sour grapes type? Or does it make him a hero of music for including such a savage engagement in one of his bigger hits of the late 70s?
I would say time will tell, but time had told; hero of music.
My Life.
It's His Life, you guys.
Here, my hommes William is talking about all the people on his arse about his bad habits. He is sticking to that credo of ‘to each his own’ and Billy-Bob is taking his own, and then some. The real question he is raising though is, when is being a sentient and adult human enough?
Yes, there is worry for this troubadour come pop-god, but really is it any of your business? You can take every burger on the gut, let the meth come with euphoria and leave with your teeth, you can change your name to Eugene and farm foreign corn, you can put all your money on the underdog and do it week after week. Who should care enough to talk to you about it?
Well, your family and friends obviously. No-one wants to see their beloved fall down a hole that will kill them or take years to crawl out of. But no matter what you think you can change, you can’t. We will fall into our own holes and create our own destiny and all you can try to do is haul us out when we do.
Bill said it best ‘keep it to yourself it’s my life’
You May Be Right.
You Probably Are Right.
Again my boy Billy is under the thumb of an oppressive woman (something of a theme). Basically this particular ditty concerns the nameless woman and Billy shacking up with her despite the fact he is very reckless. In the song he drunkenly crashes a party, drives drunk and milks the pity udder by walking alone. I’ll admit it is not looking good for this legend of songwriting.
But he did make it ‘home alive’ and also said sorry. This is the repentant drunk my brother has been yearning for.
There is not much more of a case to be made for this song, or for Billy-Boy.
Yes he is a scathing figure, yes he grates on the very soul of responsibility and yes he is very very happy that way. But that is his genius. A peek into the dark-side that will eventually swallow us all, though set to upbeat piano melodies.
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