IT'S BETTER THAN DRINKIN' ALONE: The Official ILM Track-by-Track BILLY JOEL Listening Thread

Blue Bayou's closer to what I was thinking, Rikki Don't Lose That Number.

Agree with Alfred that this one is all about Billy's truly impressive vocal performance. I don't know if the orchestral sweep was necessary, but the strength of the vocal and the melody get me through.

He can't sing this now.

he hasn't been able to sing this for at least 25 years! crystal taliefero started singing the high note for him when she joined his touring band, which was circa 1990.

Billy cites "Under the Boardwalk" as the direct inspiration.

righteous brothers vibe, too.

I have a fondness for "An Innocent Man" thanks to the melody (speaking of Joe Jackson's influence)

funny that I never thought of this given my mentions of jj above but i never thought of this

Also: I think of myself as a Glass Houses guy but if I'm to be honest about my life in the 1980s I listened to this one about 100x more (and Nylon Curtain hardly at all)

god the melody on this is just the best. endless fun in the shower, if you're unafraid of disturbing the roommates when you reach the high-note moment of truth.

the craftsmanship is peak billy, both music and lyric. i love the way the rhyme scheme builds the same way the music builds. the verses are long, slow rhymes (long A, long B, long C, long B); you may not even notice he's rhyming at all the first time around. then he shortens up to an A-A rhyme scheme as he begins the bridge ("protecting yourself," "somebody else"). he shortens yet again to an internal rhyme as he goes back into the verse ("i'm not above making up for the love"), but then pulls back to the initial long, slow rhyme scheme as the the music pulls back, too. and then, in the final build toward the chorus, it's another internal rhyme, even closer than the previous one ("only willing to hear you cry/because I..."). and then the tension-release of the classic pop everything-rhymes chorus ("am," "man," "am," imperfect rhymes, but still).

great read. there's also a rhythmic shift along the way, with a steady patter of syllables in that first part (some-peo-ple-SAY that-the-bum-ba-duh-DUM).... then the same with more emphasis and a dramatic pause at the end of the line ("i-know-you're-on-ly-pro TEC TING YOUR SELF! (pause for breath) i-know-you're-thin-king-of-SOME BOD Y ELSE!"), then a little reprieve with the original rhythm again before the chorus, where we zoom out to a vocal wide shot: be-cause-I-am-an INN OH CENT MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

"tell her about it" gets similar mileage out of a dense, syllable-scattering verse followed by a very straightforward chorus. kid, i could go on and on, but all my advice can really be boiled down to four simple words...

and in that it's also a very close cousin to "Until the Night" of course.
Aged 13, this album came out at the same time as my taste fractured away from my parents' (Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams being the catalyst) and I remember being kind of horrified that they adored this throwback 50s/60s cheese pastiche instead of the new cold sounds I found so exciting. I dislike everything WMJ did from here onwards, not fair of course but I feel like with this record he really doubled down on the "doing it for the Boomers" sentiment expressed about the previous album.

I dunno! The next album has a not bad Ray Charles duet but is otherwise a straightforward 1986 rock album. Storm Front is a straightforward 1989 rock album. And on.

For sure, I just don't have any interest in MOR rock unless it's tinged with childhood nostalgia.

Good breakdown of the internal rhymes, fcc. I also love how dense the lyrics are and how many of the lines start well before the start of the measure. The verses have a calm but still somehow exciting quality. Always figured the inspiration was "Stand by Me" because of the strong bass line and strings

Cuz spot on about the rhymes. Although this is a fight I can lose / the accused... is my favorite. He could have flogged the trial metaphor but doesn't.

The local AOR station 98 Rock occasionally played this parody called "An Ignorant Man", made by one of their DJs. Quite amusing, and spot-on BJ vocals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIQrFEYlHuQ

"Blue Bayou" bass line.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Huh! Wouldn't have thought of that, nice connection. Billy cites "Under the Boardwalk" as the direct inspiration.

― Doctor Casino

Also some of the vibe of "Rikki Don't Lose that Number."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUl4kxTfzKE

Instant doo-wop classic The Longest Time features a squadron of multi-tracked Billys in a near-a cappella arrangement (supported only by Stegmeyer's bass line and just a hint of Liberty's brushed snare). It is wonderful.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bf/TheLongestTime.jpg

As the album's fourth single, supported by a must-see music video, it peaked at #14 on the Hot 100 and #1 on Adult Contemporary (where, with "Hello" it kept "Against All Odds" at #2). Not bad for a doo-wop number in 1984! A demo, The Prime of Your Life, revealed on the My Lives box, previews the verse melody with a completely different (and unfinished) lyric, some uncertainty about the key, and a conventional, indeed classicist Billy Joel arrangement. This clip of Billy talking about the album has all kinds of relevant reflections on this song, but I'd point you specifically to the stretch beginning at 3:33 where he plays this and "Uptown Girl" on the piano, in a "Mozartian" mode. Wow.

I was in a fraternity in college, and each year there was an annual "Greek Sing" in which all fraternities and sororities performed what were primarily a capella pieces with some minimal accompaniment. One year our segment consisted of this, accompanied solely by me on bass; "Leave It" by Yes, with an electric piano accompaniment; and "Under Pressure." We lost.

great set phil

i hear this song at least once every time i go to karaoke

xp even better: the arrangements were developed by one of our frat's two musical theater majors, who had a hell of a time getting us to understand all the parts and timing of "Leave It." But more importantly, he would later go on to teach music at a local high school, then go to prison for having sex with his female students!

Always wondered if this was done on purpose -

From yesterday's song:
Some people stay far away from the door
If there's a chance of it opening up
They hear a voice in the hall outside
And hope that it just passes by

From today's:
I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall

There are days when I might peg this as Billy Joel's greatest songwriting achievement. One of the rare revivalist songs that I believe would have been a hit - and a big one - when the genre was in full flower in the first place. The verse melody, winding up at the brilliantly flowing "what else could I do / I'm so inspired by you" part, is an incredible achievement... but all the little moves by the backing vocals are dead-on choices that move you forward and become headsticky in themselves. They have to be painstakingly crafted, but they come off as joyful and sweet and effortless, like the product of delighted improvisations as the tape runs in the studio - "ooh I know just what they'd have in one of those songs!"

Of many fine things about this song I will choose one (1) thing. There is a particular trick of skilled lyricists where the ending of one line blurs so seamlessly into the first that you have a word or syllable that does double duty, hopefully effortlessly.

Joel does it INSIDE A SYLLABLE with "For the longest/I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall."

The ending "t" of "longest" turns the word "I'm" into "time," which is coincidentally in the title of the song and I think we should take a moment to celebrate the cleverness of that lyrical turn.

The Cure's "Letter to Elise" has "Like throwing arms round/yesterday I stood and stared," where "yesterday" applies equally to both lines.

Elvis Costello has a few. "Why must she be the one that I had to love so/like candy"

Or "New Amsterdam/it's become much too much," where "..dam/it's" becomes "dammit." Honestly this is as close as I can come so I invite others to suggest similar feats of lyrical trickery.

wow, never connected the two voices in the hall! Feeling kind of dumb since that's a very specific lyrical choice. The emphasis on "voice" reminds me, once again, of Hall & Oates's marvelous "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear The Voices)," probably the key precedent (1980) for this entire exercise. Perhaps Billy himself was the vaguely haunting voice at the subway stop; shocked to realize he may be driving Daryl Hall insane, he has retreated to the more private if somewhat vaguer setting of "the hall" and turned himself to romantic advances.

my elementary school chorus sang this, either third or fourth grade

I can't stand this one – and it hasn't gone away.

I'm always surprised to remember that "Tell Her About It" was the album's #1 cuz it's "The Longest Time" and "Uptown Girl" that have survived.

this one cracks me up and yeah this and Uptown Girl and maybe the Glass Houses singles are generally all I want from Billy. Youthful nostalgia wins again, I guess.

i am way behind so i’m just going to jump in here

i love this song so much, ever since i was little

when i was 10 i was staying over at my best friend’s house & her 15 yo brother & his friend sang this together just hanging out in their living room and i thought it was so cool, i never forgot it

i also get very corny sentimental over the lyrics, i love how he communicates a sincere feeling as well as pulling off the throwback doo-wop style so effortlessly, it works on all levels

gives me the same giddy feeling i get from Frankie Lymon’s “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” because there’s almost nothing in the world i love more than THAT song

my favorite thing is the shifting use of “longest time”

that hasnt happened for the longest time
i havent been there for the longest time
i intend to hold you for the longest time

<3

that part is poignant, agreed

Veg, right. FWIW "The Longest Time" is much more relatable lyrically than "An Innocent Man."

I mean, most of us - at any age! - can connect with "you're neat and I want to hold you" better than the contortions of "you keep sabotaging yourself because of past emotional traumas, but I am willing to wait through that because I'm not the one who hurt you."

Also look at the shifting attitudes toward innocence and experience. Compare the brash streetwise youths of "Only the Good Die Young"/"You May Be Right"/"Angry Young Man" with the knowing-adult "I am an Innocent Man" with the goofily-happy bit here: "Once I thought my innocence was gone, now I know that happiness goes on."

A Joel for all seasons.

yay welcome back veg, you have been missed!

<3 lol it’s good to be home!

Although this is a fight I can lose / the accused... is my favorite. He could have flogged the trial metaphor but doesn't.

mine too.

i absolutely unreservedly unabashedly unashamedly looooooove "the longest time." a perfect, spot-on study of a form that stands on its own, completely apart from its spot-onness.

i never noticed the hall connection either!

love puffin's post on the blurred lines. billy was really on his compositional A-game throughout this album.

my favorite thing is the shifting use of “longest time”

that hasnt happened for the longest time
i havent been there for the longest time
i intend to hold you for the longest time

<3

This.

I love this song in a completely uncomplicated way. As Pauline Kael wrote once about E.T., "it seems to clear all the bad thoughts out of your head." You are all free to hate it, of course--I probably hate any number of sentimental pop love songs that many of you hold dear--but there's something about hating this song that feels nearly akin to hating a puppy.

Few songs put a smile on my face faster than this song, and unless I'm like, in a meeting with my boss, I will be singing along. The arrangement has so much detail but he makes it seem effortless

Joel does it INSIDE A SYLLABLE with "For the longest/I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall."

The ending "t" of "longest" turns the word "I'm" into "time," which is coincidentally in the title of the song

Have not been able to stop thinking about this.

And we thought "you're the one I depend upOOOONNNNNNNNESTY, IS SUCH A LONLEY WORD....." was crazy.

Childhood mishearing watch: "I'm that voice" was "I'm back, boys." I think it felt like something the motorcycle-gangster Billy would say, incongruous as it might be for this song.

lol this might be weird to admit but this song gives me a Sesame Street vibe too, reminds me of that Shangrila’s throwback they did with “One Way”

this might be my favorite song of his

it's pretty rare to have this combination of perfect craft, detail, and minimal arrangement, the only other thing I can think of right now that comes close is "Kiss"

yeah i've been listening to this all day and i think i've fallen in love with this song for the first time, having previously disliked it for, ahem, the longest time, and before that having been enchanted with it as a kid without being able to place the song stylistically or temporally

what a melody, really

do late 80’s & 90’s kids just intrinsically have a bad kneejerk reaction to the 50’s throwback?

i always wondered why ppl dismissed it so readily

anyway i like this

https://youtu.be/1nR0dkiHEW8

also Billy did doo wop duty on the backing vocals for one of my alltime fave Cyndi Lauper songs “Maybe He’ll Know”

https://youtu.be/IDWZR1_S7Js

Could be that late 80s/90s kids just have less exposure to Billy Joel on account of being less likely to have boomer parents... I suspect they probably have less of a relationship to "A Christmas Story" as well but this is just a personal pet theory.