An Explaination Part 2

Oof sorry this took longer to write then I thought and I still am not sure it is any good.

So what exactly about Billy Joel’s music makes people hate it? I think it is the complete lack of irony in his music. He is direct and honest. With any of his songs you can guarantee he felt that way when writing it. When he wrote “Piano Man” he was just one more lonely person in a bar of losers at a dead end in life (at the time he was working at the piano bar to wait out a bad contract). When he wrote “Allentown” he was concerned about the working class of those steel and coal towns that were facing difficulties. The hipsters of today can’t believe that people can be so direct without being ironic. You can’t be a balladeer with out mocking the form. You need to be a Bruce Springsteen who hides his mockery of the working class and chest beating patriotism behind a sound and image that makes him THE working class hero. You need to be John Lennon’s “Imagine” and not Paul McCarthy’s “Silly Love Song” or George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”.

Romanticism is a big part of understanding Joel’s music. His music is not here to analyze but to just be understood upon listening. “River of Dreams” is a very religious sounding song and includes lines about the “Jungle of doubt” and Mountains of Faith”. Now these are not actual references they are just there to give the feel of spirituality. Joel is not a literary master like Nick Cave so he doesn’t try and be. It is not surprising that he writes his music first and then writes the lyrics (the exception being “We Didn’t Start the Fire” which is why the melody on that one is pretty much nonexistent).

Okay I need to take some time out here to address something that has been bugging as I do research about why people hate Billy Joel. Stop talking about “She’s Always a Woman to Me”, just stop! Have you ever actually listened to the song? You are trying to do it in a critical way and you say you don’t like it and that is fine but seriously stop calling it misogynist. If you are going to analyze the music that is very subjective and emotional but if you are going to start commenting on the lyrics it is time to show you actually understand what is being said. We live in a world were there are traits that are feminine and masculine, and a lot of these things are not based on society but on some preprogramming in our brains. This song is telling a woman who many consider a bitch that she isn’t; that she still can be successful without sacrificing her feminine traits for masculine ones. (I could write an essay on the way most feminist act and how they are actually hurting the cause of making feminine and masculine equal and are instead discarding feminine and making themselves masculine but this is about Billy Joel not that so lets move on).

Another thing I have heard against Billy Joel is how much they don’t like his voice. Well I find that a little hard to believe because he doesn’t have “a voice” he shapes his voice to the song he wants to sing. (Here is a great clip of him talking about how everyone is trying to sing like Ray Charles). He is a great interpreter of musical styles, as seen on the album An Innocent Man and the incorporation of Beethoven’s “Sonata Pathétique” into “This Night”.

His music is also a snap shot of his life and mind set something that makes him very accessible. It is fascinating and real instead of abstract and far away. I am going to mention a song of each of his albums and what they show us
On “Tomorrow is Today” he is a suicidal (was actually a suicide note he wrote) early twenty something that is deciding if it is worth it all
On “Piano Man” he is lounge player Bill Martin who keeps getting told he is to good to be here but knows this is the only way he can get out
On “The Entertainer” he is a traveling musician that knows what needs to be done to make it and has no illusion about how fickle fame is
Then you get to Turnstiles with “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” and “New York State of Mind” and you see this estranged son of New York ready to come home.
With “Vienna” we get a man who realizes that growing old isn’t something to be scared of as long as there is a place we can still be useful (inspired by him seeing an old woman sweeping the streets when visiting his Dad in Vienna and upon asking why this old woman was sweeping the street being told “She has a job and feels useful and needed”)
“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” again finds him thinking about his relevance and trying to stay up to date without sacrificing what he likes about music
On Nylon Curtain Billy Joel shows his sympathy for those he can’t fully relate to anymore but still wants to try and understand on both “Allentown” and “Goodnight Saigon”
All of An Innocent Man is nostalgic to the nth degree, recreating sounds of Joel’s youth by the likes of Frankie Valli and Smokie Robinson
The Bridge is Joel in a creative dry spell needing to bring on guest stars such as his hero Ray Charles on “Baby Grand”
“We Didn’t Start The Fire” is Joel looking over his life and realizing how much has happened since he was born
And Finally we have what I think is the most touching song Joel every wrote “Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)” a lullaby he wrote for his daughter Alexa after she asked him about death when Joel was putting her to bed.

This isn’t the best thing I have ever written, there was no way it could be. I am here to defend how I feel about Billy Joel’s music and I doubt I will ever be able to convince those that don’t like him to come over to my way of thinking. So who knows if this is convincing, or relevant, or even coherent but it is all I can do. Just do me a favor, before you judge Joel put on something besides his Greatest Hits. Listen to the second half of Glass Houses, 52nd Street or Cold Spring Harbor. Don’t judge after “Just the Way You Are” listen to “Falling of the Rain”, “Half a Mile Away”, “All for Leyna”, “Vienna” and “Lullaby”. If you still don’t like him then leave him but he is my favorite and expect to see his music show up here again.

An Explaination Part 1

“Some people hear my greatest hits and say they don’t like Billy Joel. If I only heard my hits I might not like Billy Joel either.”

-Billy Joel

Billy Joel is my favorite musician of all time. Just plain and simple I would rather listen to him then anything else and I get a bit of flack for it. So here I am to defend my love of his music; to defend the fan favorite and critically hated “Piano Man”.

Billy Joel was the first discography I ever completed. The first CD I bought with my own money was Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Vol III. So before I get into the more universal defense let me explain the special relationship I have with this music. Every person who listens to music intensely will have a story about the album or song that was their musical awakening. Mine was with Billy Joel. Growing up I mostly remember listening to music in the car, The Beatles 1 and the Once Upon A Song compilation are two of the ones that I remember being played the most regularly. Of all the CDs my favorite was Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Vol I & II. Now it wasn’t with these songs that I had that “AH HA” moment. It was after being a little sick of listening to the same CDs over and over I went looking through my parent’s collection and found their copies of The Stranger and Glass Houses.

First I decided to listen to The Stranger; it had more songs that I already knew so I figured I should finish it first. The first four songs I listened to again even though I had heard them hundreds of times on Greatest Hits Vol I. Then I got to the song Vienna and was very impressed, not blown away (this song would be come important to me later in my life) but very impressed. I finished up the CD and moved on to Glass Houses. Now this one had seven songs I didn’t know compared to the three on The Stranger.

I listened to the first four songs with only Sometimes a Fantasy (a ridiculous and fun song that is about phone sex) to distract from the songs I already knew. Then I got to track five, All for Leyna. I finished it and instead of proceeding to the next song I hit back and listened to it again, and again, and again, and again… My mind was blown and so much clicked. I all of a sudden was thinking about music in a whole different way. It was no longer a passive entertainment that I did while playing video games or while on a family trip. Before this people would ask what type of music I liked and I would say “I don’t know. I don’t really listen to music that much” this song changed all that. I was captivated the piano, by the bass, by the synth, by the singing (lyrics not so much it would take me years to realize my favorite song ever was about obsessing over a one night stand) just completely captivated by the music.

I have listened to every recording by Billy Joel and have not disliked a single one. I want the reader to understand why I am here to defend. I want those who will still hate Billy Joel after I expose you to some of his less known works that it is ok to still hate because I doubt most can love this music like I do. I want everyone to understand where I stand and that I will always be a champion for this music. I also want people to understand that just because I like all the songs doesn’t mean I think they are all great. I will be examining why others may be repulsed by his music while other are drawn to it.

So tune in Wednesday folks to see part two of my explanation of why I like Billy Joel

Show'em How It's Done: Hurt

Nine Inch Nails is just a bad band that fills most of their songs with needless noise, a fact that almost ruins their original version of Hurt. They also threw in a completely pointless and distracting "shit" just to put it in. It completely takes away my sympathy which the singer has been trying so hard to garner and makes him sound like someone who can't ever talk without swearing.

So I don't think anyone else will be surprised to hear that I think the best version of this song belongs to Johnny Cash. When Trent Reznor sings this song it doesn't sound sincere. I know it is because I know he had a lot of problems but that does not translate over to the song. In Cash's version I not only feel is pain and desperation but also his loneliness. The NIN version makes you want to just walk by and ignore this person who is having problems, they don't deserves your time all they are doing is complaining about how no one likes me as the play bad music. On Cash's version tough his deep voice and sorrowful acoustic picking makes you want to reach out and help him, but the backing strings and piano hits also makes him unapproachable which is all the more heartbreaking.

Some people say that you need sloppiness in music to keep it "real", "soulful", and "powerful". Well Johnny Cash sure proved that one wrong with this little cover.

Is It Classic?: Hotel California

Hotel California – Eagles
Best Song: Hotel California (duh)
Best song that isn’t Hotel California: Wasted Time


Oh boy is this album is a-not-so-great. Now it will always be considered in any list of great albums mostly by the virtue of the title track. While there is plenty of vile and hateful things that can be thrown at the Eagles’ music: sterile production, basic melodies, no innovations, too pretentious, ect. ect. if you hate this song you need to get your ears checked. The ultimate anthem of decadence and materialism there is no denying its biting power. The guitar duel at the end is amazing and the bass throughout it one of my favorite bass parts ever.

Too bad the rest of the album is no where as good. New Kid in Town is pleasant but not at all memorable. As for the two big rockers Life in the Fast Lane and Victim of Love... well neither is bad, in fact Life in the Fast Lane even kicks some ass. But they are so sterile that I can’t consider them first rate songs. There are only two other songs on the album that I think are worth even being included on an album with Hotel California. The ending epic Last Resort and Wasted Time; the former is saved by great orchestration that really helps the song reach its peak while the latter is almost ruined by hollywoodish strings that almost hide the great melody (but fail to in the end). Wasted Time also has one of the best vocal melodies on the record.

So while Hotel California will never really offend the listener it is not an album that can hold up to the greatest song on it. In fact I wouldn’t even call this the Eagles best album (you would be better of getting Take It Easy or Hell Freezes Over, or actually a greatest hits package it the best for them there Eagles).


Final Verdict on Reputation: Undeserved

Top 10 Tribute Songs

As of today I am changing Half Inch Speakers to Mon-Wed-Fri because of the spring semester.


There are many ways for a band to pay tribute to an artist they love. They can cover one of their songs, or can name check them in one of their own. But every now and then a band will go beyond those simple ways and will be inspired to write a song about the band/artist they idolize. These are my 10 favorites

10.) Lennon Song – Daniel Johnston

A very simple song that is an honest confession by Johnston about how Mr. Lennon’s music affected his life; very raw, very personal, very good.

9.) Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder took the event of Duke Ellington’s passing as an opportunity, not just to write a song for him but to write a song around him. There is very little talk about The Duke himself but the entire song is an anthem about the unifying power of music. Using horns that would make Ellington proud Wonder pulls another optimistic song out of his soul.

8.) S.R.V. – Eric Johnson

This song is completely instrumental. The fact that is still manages to evoke images of Stevie Ray Vaughan should make you realize how great this song it. It is actually done using Johnson’s usual echoing guitar tone and not one that is close to Vaughan’s. But the over all style of playing is SRV’s. The points where he stops, the licks he uses, and the over all pace all belong to Stevie.

7.) Harry’s Song – Ringo Starr

This song is a tribute to the late Harry Nilsson, a constant friend and collaborator to Ringo. It seems constantly performing songs written but Nilsson left it’s mark. This song would not seem out of place on a Nilsson record. A soft shuffle with some weird noise and an almost child-like naivety, this song is just smile inducing.

6.) Rock and Roll Heaven – Righteous Brothers

This is a song that is in tribute to all those performers that went to early. In the original version (read “best version”) they name check Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Otis Redding, Jim Croce, and Bobby Darin. There have been plenty of updates and such but the original gets the point across better then any of these.

5.) Looking For Bob Dylan – Wiser Time

This is the first tribute on the list for someone who isn’t dead (one of only 3 on the list). Wiser Time use plenty of allusions to Dylan’s songs and albums over a pleasant acoustic track. What makes this special is how they arrange these references. They make them flow as humble psycho lyrics that Bob himself would be proud of.

4.) Brian Wilson – Barenaked Ladies

Now there are two things that make this one of the best songs by the Barenaked Ladies: the bass line and the lyrics. The Bass line is just killer there is nothing really to say besides that. As for the lyrics, this isn’t a song about sunshine happy Beach Boys Brian Wilson. This is about creatively drained depressed Brian Wilson and, just like the music Wilson was writing at that point in his life, the upbeat music hides it well.

3.) Alex Chilton – The Replacements

Big Star is probably the best candidate for “greatest failure commercially but greatest success influence wise”. Their head man Alex Chilton is one of the reasons they are so influential with those hip alternative kids. The Replacements pay tribute in what is without a doubt there best song that has not a single note out of place in tribute to Big Star’s pop side instead of it’s weird one.

2.) Never Without You – Ringo Star

Second time Ringo makes the list (and if I was doing a top 11 list ‘Liverpool 8’ would be on here too). Ringo’s music is all based on nostalgia and nothing makes you wish for the good old days more then losing a friend. This one is to George Harrison with guest star Eric Clapton on guitar. This is a touching song from one friend to another about how George put all of himself into his music. “And your song will play on without you/ and this world won’t forget about you/ every part of you was in your song/ now we will carry on/ never without you”

1.) Real Good Looking Boy – The Who

There are so many songs out there that are about Elvis. Ones that cement him as the King and ones that tear him down as an overrated no talent hack; ones that pay tribute to his rockin’ voice while ignoring his cheesiness and visa versa. This song by The Who (well half of ‘em Keith and John were already gone [I might start calling them The Half Who]) is about what Elvis really was; a symbol and an inspiration. Daltrey’s vocal delivery definitely pays tribute to the power behind Elvis while the rollicking piano definitely harkens back to the gospel cheese Elvis loved so much. This is a song of adoration and eventually growing past that to being your own person.