Billy Joel Fun

Please say a Travelin’ Prayer

For this Piano Man

Who is Movin’ Out

I have Got to Begin Again

Allentown had me bidding farewell to Laura

And as I Stop in Nevada Somewhere Along the Line

I met Captain Jack

We met up with a Streetlife Serenader named Roberta The Entertainer

Who was a pianist, as well

And joined in with her band Blonde Over Blue

We played Root Beer Rag, The Mexican Connection, and various others into the night

Then I decided, Tomorrow is Today, And so it Goes, I left Keeping the Faith

I wound up in Vienna taking in Scenes From an Italian Restaurant

My Big Shot lifestyle made me The Stranger in every crowd

My Life Ain’t No Crime

I may not be a Los Angelenos type like my friend James, but it’s all good

At least my theme song won’t be, “Prelude/Angry Young Man”!

So with my New York State of Mind

I went to 52^nd Street and sang, The Ballad of Billy the Kid and Only the Good Die Young

A request for Baby Grand, found me looking into Rosalinda’s Eyes

Don’t Ask Me Why, but Sleeping With the Television On Through the Long Night made her leave

Her Famous Last Words were, “You’re Running on Ice, your Code of Silence will Turn Around and prove You’re Only Human (Second Wind), but your Temptation is, too much and eventually, you will be saying, I Don’t Want to be Alone!” 

The River of Dreams took me to No Man’s Land 

Here I said, “Goodnight Saigon, so long Leningrad, and I must part with you my, Scandinavian Skies.” 

The Great Wall of China was the last thing I saw as I shut off my TV

And the Pressure, leaving me, lead to Surprises.  

I called a friend asking, “Why, Judy, Why must it be this way?”

She said, “Sometimes A Fantasy brings you Closer to the Borderline.”

I replied with, “You May be Right!” 

My Summer, (in) Highland Falls was where Worse Comes to Worst

I went to Zanzibar and drank with a woman whose Stiletto made me the Last of the Big Time Spenders

My Weekend Song ended there

I’ve Loved These Days though

In Miami 2017 ((I)) (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) my Honesty must have been, too much

But It’s All About Rock & Roll to Me

So I sang: All For Leyna, ‘C’Ètait Toi (You Were the One), If I Only Had the words (To Tell You), and so on in the dark

Leaving my past behind I met Christie Lee, Half a Mile Away, and the Falling of the Rain made This Night complete.

Our Careless Talk made an Uptown Girl turn into a Modern Woman and I had to Tell Her About It

She’s Always a Woman to Me

We Got it Right the First Time.  Everybody Has a Dream, and ours was made complete when we said, “I do”.

This is the Time we would cherish forever and I felt like the Big Man on Mulberry Street

We just kept Getting Closer

And while The Night is Still Young we declared, Leave a Tender Moment Alone!

And for The Longest Time

I was An Innocent Man 

We had A Room of Our Own and I was Shameless

She’s Got a Way to make me say, “You Look So Good to Me.”

I would play her: Nocturne, Just the Way You Are, and You’re My Home

Until The Night we became something like a Souvenir 

She packed her bags and went home and I did the same, The Great Suburban Showdown, hadn’t changed

A Minor Variation took something I thought would last for Two Thousand Years and cast Shades of Grey over my State of Grace  

When in Rome, I Go to Extremes and The Downeaster “Alexa”…

Well, She’s Right on Time 

This isn’t Easy Money, though, That’s Not Her Style

It’s All About Soul as I write, Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel) to send home to my daughter

All my Life A Matter of Trust made me question, “Where’s the Orchestra?”

I had to Say Goodbye to Hollywood, “All you Wanna Do is Dance, Everybody Loves You Now.”

But, Billy Joel, only You Can Make Me Free!

By, Tiffany Simar

6/4/13

References:

Cold Spring Harbor (’71)

Piano Man (‘73)

Streetlife Serenade (’74)

Turnstiles (’76)

The Stranger (’77)

52^nd Street (’78)

Glass Houses (’80)

The Nylon Curtain (’82)

An Innocent Man (’83)

Greatest Hits Volume I & II (’85)

The Bridge (’86)

Storm Front (’89)

The River of Dreams (’93)

Single (’07)

All were compiled for this piece on: 6/3/13