What it was like Growing Up in the Eighties (1980s)
  • Tue. Mar 19th, 2024

Billy Joel – 1980s Music Artist

Bill Joel’s best 1980s songs and their song lyrics.

William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. Commonly nicknamed the “Piano Man” after his first major hit and signature song of the same name as well as the similarly named 1973 album, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 12 studio albums from 1971 to 1993. Joel released his seventh studio album, Glass Houses, in 1980 in an attempt to further establish himself as a rock artist; this release featured “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (Joel’s first single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart), “You May Be Right”, “Don’t Ask Me Why”, and “Sometimes a Fantasy”. His next album, The Nylon Curtain, was released in 1982, and stemmed from a desire from Joel to create more lyrically and melodically ambitious music. An Innocent Man, released in 1983, served as an homage to genres of music which Joel had grown up with in the 1950s, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop; this release featured “Uptown Girl” and “The Longest Time”, two of his best-known songs.

Billy Joel – She's Always A Woman – in the 80s

Allentown – Billy Joel

Well we’re living here in Allentown And they’re closing all the factories down Out in Bethlehem they’re killing time Filling out forms Standing in line Well our fathers fought the Second World War Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore Met our mothers in the USO Asked them to dance Danced with them slow And we’re living here in Allentown But the restlessness was handed down And it’s getting very hard to stay Well we’re waiting here in Allentown For the Pennsylvania we never found For the promises our teachers gave If we worked hard If we behaved So the graduations hang on the wall But they never really helped us at all No they never taught us what was real Iron and coke And chromium steel And we’re waiting here in Allentown But they’ve taken all the coal from the ground And the union people crawled away Every child has a pretty good shot To get at least as far as their old man got But something happened on the way to that place They threw an American flag in our place Well I’m living here in Allentown And it’s hard to keep a good man down But I won’t be getting very hard to stay And we’re living here in Allentown


It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me – Billy Joel

What’s the matter with the clothes I’m wearing? “Can’t you tell that your tie’s too wide?” Maybe I should buy some old tab collars? “Welcome back to the age of jive. Where have you been hidin’ out lately, honey? You can’t dress trashy till you spend a lot of money.” Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout the new sound Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me

What’s the matter with the car I’m driving? “Can’t you tell that it’s out of style?” Should I get a set of while wall tires? “Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile? Nowadays you can’t be too sentimental Your best bet’s a true baby blue Continental.” Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk It’s still rock and roll to me

Oh, it doesn’t matter what they say in the papers ‘Cause it’s always been the same old scene. There’s a new band in town But you can’t get the sound from a story in a magazine… Aimed at your average teen

How about a pair of pink sidewinders And a bright orange pair of pants? “You could really be a Beau Brummel baby If you just give it half a chance. Don’t waste your money on a new set of speakers, You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers.” Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways It’s still rock and roll to me

What’s the matter with the crowd I’m seeing? “Don’t you know that they’re out of touch?” Should I try to be a straight `A’ student? “If you are then you think too much. Don’t you know about the new fashion honey? All you need are looks and a whole lotta money.” It’s the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways It’s still rock and roll to me

Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout the new sound Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me


The Longest Time – Billy Joel

Oh, oh, oh For the longest time Oh, oh, oh For the longest time If you said goodbye to me tonight There would still be music left to write What else could I do I’m so inspired by you That hasn’t happened for the longest time

Once I thought my innocence was gone Now I know that happiness goes on That’s where you found me When you put your arms around me I haven’t been there for the longest time

Oh, oh, oh For the longest time Oh, oh, oh For the longest I’m that voice you’re hearing in the hall And the greatest miracle of all Is how I need you And how you needed me too That hasn’t happened for the longest time

Maybe this won’t last very long But you feel so right And I could be wrong Maybe I’ve been hoping too hard But I’ve gone this far And it’s more than I hoped for

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

I had second thoughts at the start I said to myself Hold on to your heart Now I know the woman that you are You’re wonderful so far And it’s more than I hoped for

I don’t care what consequence it brings I have been a fool for lesser things I want you so bad I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time

CHORUS


We Didn’t Start the Fire – Billy Joel

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Brando, “The King and I” and “The Catcher in the Rye”

Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new queen Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUS: We didn’t start the fire It was always burning Since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire No we didn’t light it But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron Dien Bien Phu falls, “Rock Around the Clock”

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev Princess Grace, “Peyton Place”, trouble in the Suez

CHORUS

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, “Bridge on the River Kwai”

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, “Ben Hur”, space monkey, Mafia Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, “Psycho”, Belgians in the Congo

CHORUS

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

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

CHORUS

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline Ayatollah’s in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

“Wheel of Fortune,” Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz Hypodermics on the shores, China’s under martial law Rock and roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore

CHORUS

We didn’t start the fire But when we are gone Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on…

You May Be Right – Billy Joel

Friday night I crashed your party
Saturday I said, “I’m sorry”
Sunday came and trashed me out again
I was only having fun
Wasn’t hurting anyone
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a changeI’ve been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford-Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I’m insaneYou may be right
I may be crazy
Oh, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be rightWell, remember how I found you there
Alone in your electric chair
I told you dirty jokes until you smiled
You were lonely for a man
I said, “Take me as I am”
‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a whileNow think of all the years you tried to
Find someone to satisfy you
I might be as crazy as you say
If I’m crazy then it’s true
That it’s all because of you
And you wouldn’t want me any other wayYou may be right
I may be crazy
Oh, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
It’s too late to fight
It’s too late to change me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be rightYou may be right
I may be crazy
Hey, but It just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Oh, don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
You may be rightYou may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joel