My Favorite Billy Joel Album for the Longest Time

My favorite Billy Joel song will always be The Longest Time, so this is always the album I turn to first when I'm in the mood to listen to Billy Joel. The album has several great songs on it, though I must admit I tend to skimp on the second side.

The four songs I tend to listen to least are Easy Money, a rockin' song about a man frittering his life away on the slot machines, Christie Lee, which tells the tragic tale of a man whose life was ruined because he fell in love with a woman who only cared about his sax, Leave a Tender Moment Alone, about the awkwardness of trying to figure out what to say when it seems that words would only ruin a perfect moment, and Keeping the Faith, in which the speaker revisits his youth and discovers that the present isn't that much worse than the past, after all.

The title track of the album is the second song on Side I, preceded by Easy Money. This engaging tune is very high on my list of favorite Joel songs. It has a nice beat behind it and terrific words...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... A terrific song about a man trying to prove to a woman who has been burned by her past relationships that he is different.

Next up is my all-time favorite, The Longest Time. There's just something about the barbershop, doo-wop harmony, I guess. I love this song. Incredibly catchy and just as capable as Mary Poppins' Spoonful of Sugar of making me wish I could snap my fingers. It's another one of those "I lost you a long time ago and now I've found you and I'm not letting you go again" songs...Who knows how much further we'll go on / Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone / I'll take my chances / I forgot how nice romance is / I haven't been there for the longest time. The tune is terrific, the lyrics are great, but I think it's really the style and atmosphere that push this one over the top to make it stand out for me above all of the excellent songs Joel has ever recorded.

This Night is a beautiful, sensual love song which has its roots in classical music. Just as Paul Simon borrowed from Bach to create one of his finest songs, American Tune, so Billy Joel dips into his extensive knowledge of classical music to find a chorus perfectly suited to his song from Beethoven. Forbidden romance is the subject at hand, and the speaker's determination to ignore all his rules for the time being and enjoy the night. This night / Is mine / It's only you and I / Tomorrow / Is such a long time away / This night can last forever.

Tell Her About It is a very peppy song, much closer in style to the first song on the track than to the more old-fashioned sounding middle three. It seems to be a father giving his son advice on how to treat his girlfriend. It serves as a nice reminder that we need to be told that we are loved and appreciated. Tell her about it / Tell her everything you feel / Give her every reason / To accept that you're for real / Tell her about it / Tell her all your crazy dreams / Let her know you need her / Let her know how much she means.

Then over to Side II, where Uptown Girl is the first cut. This is a great song, and another very high on my list of favorites. Not as doo-woppy as The Longest Time, but it's got a bit of that feel to it. This is a song about a downtown kid obsessed with a gal from the upper crust of society, sort of the opposite of The Leader of the Pack (shudder, shudder). Actually, both songs were covered by David Seville's gang, though it was the Chipettes who did Leader of the Pack and the Chipmunks who performed Uptown Girl. I much prefer the latter. Anyway, it's a super song, very catchy, and a Billy Joel classic. And when she's walking / She's looking so fine / And when she's talking / She'll say that she's mine / She'll say I'm not so tough / Just because / I'm in love / With an uptown girl.

And then Careless Talk, which shows how gossip can ruin a relationship. Both parties have heard all sorts of colorful rumors going around about what the other is doing, and the speaker is determined not to let the talk faze him. Careless talk / That's what you heard about me / Careless talk / That's what I heard about you / Everybody's telling lies / I don't even know why / Why can't people find / Something better to do...

I'm a fairly big Billy Joel fan, and this album will always stand out for me because it's the first Billy Joel album I remember listening to, and because it contains my favorite song. I highly recommend it.