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"James" is a song written and performed by Billy Joel from his fourth studio album Turnstiles (1976). It was released as the album's first single in July 1976, backed with " Travelin' Prayer ". [ 2 ] One Final serenade described the song as "a wistful song about growing up and trying to balance pursuing one's dreams while balancing family and ...
In an interview, Joel stated that the lyrics to the song "James" referred to various different people he knew in real life, with the title character being a "composite" of those people. [3] In the song " Prelude/Angry Young Man ", Joel opens and closes the song rapidly hammering the piano, which was meant to simulate the drum part in the song ...
Joel wrote "Captain Jack" in late 1971, [2] [3] while sitting in his apartment in Oyster Bay, Long Island, looking out the window, trying to find inspiration for a song.. Across the street was a housing project, and he observed suburban teenagers going into the project and obtaining heroin from a dealer known as "Captain Jack
Rock journalist Lisa Torem said that "The inner rhymes and soaring melody uphold the tender lyric" and called the song "profound" despite being short. [6] Torem particularly praised the drumming of Liberty DeVitto, saying that his "passion for the story is clearly evident in his laid-back performance – a true professional he can always be counted on to allow space for sensitive lyrics while ...
"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 album The Stranger. It has been described as "a characteristic Joel observation on New York life." [2] In 2021, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the 324th [3] greatest song of all time. The song was also described as "a seven-minute epic" [4] by American Songwriter.
Joel shared that the melody and chord progression for this song came to him while he was dreaming. [5] In an interview on the Howard Stern Radio Show on November 16, 2010, Joel said that the inspiration for writing the name of the song and how it sounds in the chorus was directly taken from the last line in the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song "Rag Doll", which incidentally was also a ...
In later performances, Joel alters the lyrics about Pete Rose, reflecting his ban from baseball resulting from gambling allegations. [5] Instead of singing of Rose being "a credit to the game," Joel jokes that he will "never make the Hall of Fame." [5] "Zanzibar" was also included on the compilation album My Lives. [9]
River of Dreams stands as Billy Joel's most recent studio album of original material in the pop/rock genre. Joel has often stated that the album was designed to stand as his final record and that while he still composes music, he no longer writes within the pop/rock music vein and has no more interest in the recording industry. [ 18 ]