Root Beer Rag

Sometimes no words in a song is just fine. This song really shows how well Billy can play the piano and how well he can come up with several parts and harmonies to something other than words. It sounds really old school which is so cool and fun to listen to. When you get something like this and it just sounds like an old fashioned jam session you know you have something special.

Obviously I don't have a favorite lyric from this song but I do have a favorite part. If you have the song fast forward to 1:28 in the song and you will find a set where the piano runs up then has a very odd set of 8 notes. He is playing the notes C and D in two different octaves. It sounds so out of place and so non functional but it is my favorite part of this song.

Billy once said this about the song Root Beer Rag:

"I got my first Moog Synthesizer. This was in the mid 70s and I got my first Moog and I put it on every record. I said 'I have to write an instrumental where I can use this Moog Synthesizer. It kinda turned me off the synthesizers forever after. That's why I wrote that song. Just purely out of stupid self indulgence!"

The Entertainer

Hehe This song is funny. You can tell all of Billy's feelings go into this song. It is kind of a song explaining what goes on in a rock star's world. I think this song was very well written and is one of the songs that has rhymes all through the song. And it actually rhymes well!! It is a little inappropriate at parts but otherwise it is a good song.

My favorite line from this song is: You hear my latest record

It's been on the radio

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 your gunna have a hit you gotta make it fit so they cut it down to 3:05

This is my favorite line because of the story that goes along it. Billy wrote a song but it didn't fit on the radio so they made him cut it down. He was NOT happy with them.

The instruments in this song are cool, especially at the beginning.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Ah what a great song. Any Social Studies teacher who doesn't use this or reference this song is very very sad. Billy Joel took things that had nothing to do with each other and turned them into an amazing song. This song has no theme or anything, it just goes through time. I also love the instruments used. The way this song starts, you always know it is Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire. It is great when a song has that much riding on it that you can automatically know what song it is.

My favorite line from this song...... Oh my there are just so many to choose from. I guess I would have to say that Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

is my favorite line from this song, even though it doesn't have any major meaning to me, it is just one of my favorites. I love the way he says "Dylan Berlin Bay of Pigs Invasion" for some reason that is just so cool to me. My favorite part musically is the Psycho part. The background is just SO cool.

If you have not seen the music video for this I highly suggest you do. It follows the times of the song and the fashions ect. And Billy with the fire behind him is pretty cool too.

All over this is a great song and I love it to death and I bet you will too

Uptown Girl

Hehe I actually really like this song. It is long and really paints a picture of the girl or type of girl the character is dreaming about. Some people can really relate to how he is feeling, especially high school guys... And a lot of people know a girl like that, who all the men adore and wish were his girlfriend. She is pretty and rich and all the pretty rich boys buy her lots of expensive things.

My favorite line in this song is You know I cant afford to buy her pearls

But maybe someday when my ship comes in
Shell understand what kind of guy Ive been
And then Ill win

It really makes you think about what he is trying to tell us and brings in a good saying from the time. It also kinda shows how he can't buy her expensive things but he's willing to work to be able to do that.

I also have to say I love the music video for this song. All the mechanics following a woman in a fur coat is just too good to be true. And yet Billy Joel makes it true :) It all takes place in this one shop just walking to and fro around. This is a great song and a great video :)

Just The Way You Are

Oh boy... Just The Way You Are is not one of my favorite my favorite Billy songs. I can see why it would be some peoples favorite. It is a very romantic song and has several good lines pertaining to weddings and couples. It really is a beautiful song and one of his more famous ones.

My Favorite line from this song is I said I love you and that's forever

And this I promise from the heart

That really defines the song I think and and is used a lot of times in weddings and such. I would want to use that at my wedding because of how beautiful it is. That really shows how talented Billy is as a songwriter when he can write songs like this then write ones like Only The Good Die Young

Piano Man

Obviously probably the most famous Billy Joel song out there. And while it is deserving of the title I do believe there are better songs than this one. It tells a wonderful story and has a beautiful melody. I just do believe it is not his best song.

My favorite line from this 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?

It is the biggest part of the song in terms of dynamics and really sums up his job at the bar and how much he loves his job.

It has one of the best stories of Billy Joel songs and you really feel connected to the people he mentions in the 5 minutes and 35 seconds that this song is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCyKcwvV5gE

She's Got a Way

This is such a good Billy Joel song. Not only does it show off Billy's soft side but it shows his piano skills and how you can make a hit song by having a piano as the background.

My favorite line from this song is most defiantly "She's got a smile that heals me" If you asked any boyfriend how he feels when his girlfriend smiles at him you will get a lot of answers saying just about that.

This was one of the first Billy songs I heard and I just fell in love with the simplicity and sincerity of the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wu6dGMOaY0