Billy Joel

all lyrics written by Billy Joel


And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright


from Billy Joel's "Piano Man"




She's got a light around her
And everywhere she goes
A million dreams of love surround her
Everywhere

She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me and I get turned around

She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me

from "She's Got A Way"




If I travel all my life
And I never get to stop and settle down
Long as I have you by my side
There's a roof above and good walls all around
You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome
I need you in my house 'cause you're my home

from "You're My Home"




So you play your albums and you smoke your pot
And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot
Oh, but still you're aching for the things you have not got
What went wrong
And if you can't understand why your world is so dead
And why you've got to keep in style and feed your head
Well, you're twenty-one and still your mother makes your bed
And that's too long

from "Captain Jack"




I am the entertainer
I come to do my show
You've heard my latest record
It's been on the radio
Ah, it took me years to write it
They were the best years of my life
It was a beautiful song
But it ran too long
If you're gonna have a hit
You gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05

I am the entertainer
The idol of my age
I make all kinds of money
When I go on the stage
Ah, you've seen me in the papers
I've been in the magazines
But if I go cold I won't get sold
I'll get put in the back in the discount rack
Like another can of beans

from "The Entertainer"




A picture postcard
A folded stub
A program of the play
File away your photographs
Of your holiday

And your mementos
Will turn to dust
But that's the price you pay
For every year's a souvenir
That slowly fades away
Every year's a souvenir
That slowly fades away

"Souvenir"




They say that these are not the best of times
But they're the only times I've ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own
Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lover's eyes
And I can only stand apart and sympathize
For we are always what our situations hand us
It's either sadness or euphoria

And so we argue and we compromise
And realize that nothing's ever changed
For all our mutual experience
Our seperate conclusions are the same
Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
Our reason co-exists with our insanity
And though we choose between reality and madness
It's either sadness or euphoria

from "Summer, Highland Falls"




Oh baby, you don't get turned on by the radio
Oh baby, you got nothing to play on your stereo
"Why don't the Beatles get back together?"
"Why don't nobody sing of romance?"
Oh baby, all you wanna do is dance

Oh baby, I think you are lost in the seventies
Oh baby, "The music she ain't what she used to be."
You don't understand what they're saying
You've given it every chance
Oh baby, all you wanna do is dance

Well you wish you were back in the good old days
When tomatoes were cheaper
And you never heard the words of your favorite songs
Through a three inch speaker
And you never messed around with dangerous drugs
You were all getting sick on beer
And you didn't get any
Unless you went steady and made out for a year

from "All You Wanna Do Is Dance"




Some folks like to get away
Take a holiday from the neighborhood
Hop a flight to Miami Beach or Hollywood
I'm taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line
I'm in a New York state of mind

I seen all the movie stars
In their fancy cars and their limousines
Been high in the Rockies under the evergreens
But I know what I'm needing
And I don't want to waste more time
I'm in a New York state of mind

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and the blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, the Daily News

It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide
Don't care if it's Chinatown or Riverside
I don't have any reasons, I've left them all behind
I'm in a New York state of mind

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and the blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, the Daily News
I'm just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line
'Cause I'm in a New York state of mind

"New York State Of Mind"




I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight
I once believed in causes too
I had my pointless point of view
And life went on no matter who was wrong or right

And there's always a place for the angry young man
With his fist in the air and his head in the sand
And he's never been able to learn from mistakes
So he can't understand why his heart always breaks
But his honor is pure and his courage as well
And he's fair and he's true and he's boring as hell
And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man

from "Prelude/Angry Young Man"




But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off
Before you even get halfway through
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

from "Vienna"




They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
Sinners are much more fun
You know that only the good die young

from "Only The Good Die Young"




And she'll promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
'Cause she's always a woman to me

Oh, she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
Oh, and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

from "She's Always A Woman"




While in these days of quiet desperation
As I wander through the world in which I live
I search everywhere for some new inspiration
But it's more than cold reality can give
If I need a cause for celebration
Or a comfort I can use to ease my mind
I rely on my imagination
And I dream of an imaginary time

I know that everybody has a dream
Everybody has a dream
Everybody has a dream
And this is my dream, my own
Just to be at home
And to be all alone with you

If I believe in all the words I'm saying
And if a word from you can bring a better day
Then all I have are these games that I've been playing
To keep my hope from crumbling away
So let me lie and let me go on sleeping
And I will lose myself in palaces of sand
And all the fantasies that I will be keeping
Will make the empty hours easier to stand

"Everybody Has A Dream"




Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

I can always find someone
To say they sympathize
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve
But I don't want some pretty face
To tell me pretty lies
All I want is someone to believe

from "Honesty"




She cuts you once, she cuts you twice
But still you believe
The wound is so fresh you can taste the blood
But you don't have strength to leave
You've been bought, you've been sold
You've been locked outside the door
But you stand there pleadin'
With your insides bleedin'
'Cause you deep down want some more
Then she says she wants forgiveness
It's such a clever masquerade
She's so good with her stiletto
You don't even see the blade

from "Stiletto"




Crazy Latin dancing solo down in Herald Square
Oh Havana I've been searching for you everywhere
And though I'll never be there
I know what I would see there
I can always find my Cuban skies
In Rosalinda's eyes

from "Rosalinda's Eyes"




When the sun goes down
And the day is over
When the last of the light has gone
As they pour into the street
I will be getting closer
As the cars turn their headlights on
While they're closing it down
We're gonna open it up
And while they're going to sleep
We'll just be starting to touch
I'm just beginning to feel
I'm just beginning to give
I'm just beginning to feel
I'm just beginning to live
Before I leave you again
Before the light of the dawn
Before this evening can end
I have been waiting so long

from "Until The Night"




Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me

Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me

Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me

from "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me"




I got remote control and a color T.V.
I don't change channels so they must change me
I got real close friends that will get me high
They don't know how to talk and they ain't gonna try
I shouldn't bitch, I shouldn't cry
I'd start a revolution but I don't have time
I don't know why I'm still a nice guy
But I'm getting close to the borderline

from "Close To The Borderline"




We met as soul mates
On Parris Island
We left as inmates
From an asylum

We came in spastic
Like tameless horses
We left in plastic
As numbered corpses

We had no home front
We had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy
They gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep
And shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ
With all our might

Remember Charlie
Remember Baker
They left their childhood
On every acre
And who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight

And they were sharp
As sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive

And we would all go down together

from "Goodnight Saigon"




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

Some people live with the fear of a touch
And the anger of having been a fool
They will not listen to anyone
So nobody tells them a lie

I know you don't want to hear what I say
I know you're gonna keep turning away
But I've been there and if I can survive
I can keep you alive
I'm not above going through it again
I'm not above being cool for a while
If you're cruel to me I'll understand

Some people run from a possible fight
Some people figure they can never win
And although this is a fight I can lose
The accused is an innocent man

from "An Innocent Man"




If you said goodbye to me tonight
There would still be music left to write
What else could I do
I'm so inspired by you
That hasn't happened for the longest time

from "The Longest Time"




I'm so romantic
I'm such a passionate man
Sometimes I panic
What if nobody finds out who I am

from "Big Man On Mulberry Street"




Late at night
When it's dark and cold
I reach out
For someone to hold
When I'm blue
When I'm lonely
She comes through
She's the only one who can
My baby grand
Is all I need

In my time
I've wandered everywhere
Around this world
She would always be there
Any day
Any hour
All it takes
Is the power in my hands
This baby grand's
Been good to me

I've had friends
But they've slipped away
I've had fame
But it doesn't stay
I've made fortunes
Spent them fast enough
As for women
They don't last with just one man
But my baby grand
Will stand by me

They say that no one's gonna play this on the radio
They said the melancholy blues were dead and gone
But only songs like these
Played in minor keys
Keep those memories holding on

I've come far
From the life I've strayed in
I've got scars
From those dives I've played in
Now I'm home
And I'm weary
In my bones
Every dreary one night stand
But my baby grand
Came home with me

Ever since this gig began
My baby grand's
Been good to me

"Baby Grand"




I see these children with their boredom and their vacant stares
God help us all if we're to blame for their unanswered prayers

from "No Man's Land"




In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the jungle of doubt
To a river so deep
I know I'm searching for something
Something so undefined
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night

from "The River Of Dreams"




This is our moment
Here at the crossroads of time
We hope our children carry our dreams down the line
They are the vintage
What kind of life will they live?
Is this a curse or a blessing that we give?

from "Two Thousand Years"




And these are the last words I have to say
It's always hard to say goodbye
But now it's time to put this book away
Ain't that the story of my life

from "Famous Last Words"



Next artist: Simon and Garfunkel

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