It's his worst song ever. Lyrics are what? He's a musician claiming to have found happiness and criticizing someone who has to face the daily grind and climb. Emotive? Arrogant. He has never seemed happy either. Takes a lot of booze to do that. Maybe he needs to work like James. This song never made it big because people resent its implications. The stupid Left Bank sentiment you find in this song is pretty hokey.
Second that! I tend to prefer his early stuff up to ‘The Stranger’ - such terrific piano playing and writing. Turnstiles, which James features on, is my favourite BJ album.
😆 lol Billy mocked this lyric in recent decades... He said at a college talk/ interview at a school when they asked him to play this song "'I don't know why I was so judgmental, telling people what to do and giving advice back in those days"
One of the best and most true lyrics ever written. Live your life not someone else's expectations. "James, you've been well behaved You've been working hard But will you always stay Someone else's dream of who you are?"
Billy is Pop Music. He's just a different generation. I've met jazz and other sophisticated music lovers who don't like Billy - he experimented with sounds that some older folks or just certain people didn't like.... adding rock, combining it with Jazz, etc.
LJ It’s funny, people into pop don’t like billy because he was too sophisticated for them, and sophisticated music lovers don’t like him because they think he’s “just another pop artist”
This song seems to have been written for me. Ever since my wife’s stroke twenty years ago I’ve been working sixty hour weeks to meet family obligations and going to school part time to get ahead and finally write my masterpiece while caregiving. Now I’m 65 and just graduated while everyone else is retiring and I have no retirement nest egg built up so I’ll have little time to work on my magnum opus in my final years either. I plan to see Billy Joel in Tampa with Sting in February. Maybe he’ll sing this for me.
Well, as a 54 year old who grew up listening to Billy (my dad would play him all the time) I would say this whole album (Turnstiles) should be required listening for everybody in our culture before age 10.
God, Billy is just...so damn good. How can anybody write a song so layered, so emotionally sophisticated, and then performed with such tenderness? and that band! Brilliant. Just so subtle, with Liberty Devito on the drum kit as always, with four and five part vocal harmonies. It makes me want to weep. We all have a James in our lives, don’t we?
Quite frankly, some of us are or were the James from this song. This song made me realize, almost 40 years ago, I was living my life to satisfy others, "living up to expectations." It was only then that I started to live for me.
James, we were always friends, From our childhood days And we made our plans, And we had to go our separate ways. I went on the road- You pursued an education. James, do you like your life, Can you find release, And will you ever change- Will you ever write your masterpiece. Are you still in school- Living up to expectations, James You were so relied upon, everybody knows how hard you tried- Hey, just look at what a job you've done, Carrying the weight of family pride. James, you've been well behaved, You've been working so hard But will you always stay, Someone else's dream of who you are. Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody, James. I went on the road, You pursued an education, James How you gonna know for sure, everything was so well organized. Hey, now everything is so secure, And everybody else is satisfied. James, do you like your life, Can you find release And will you ever change, When will you write your masterpiece. Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody, James.
I’m in high school right now, and I’m so proud that you and I can both say that Billy Joel’s fantastic music defined our adolescent years; decades apart.
@@tomkurtz3848 I came to say the same thing! I'm in my last year of high school and I love the idea that what got my parents generation through their teenage years is the exact same as what's getting me through too.
Never seen him so much in the Zone, in his own musical head. His performances are fabulous, but this view of BJ is stunning, as is this particular song. NY boy forever! Thanks
When the "The Stranger" was released I almost went out and bought it but I decided to wait until there was a way to watch and listen to music from the comfort of your computer.
Although there was a lot of great music to follow, I considered the Turnstiles album some of his best work. James, Angry Young Man and Miami 2017 where my favorites on the album. Of course the follow up album The Stranger was his breakout album followed by many years of great music.
I think I got Turnstiles as a Christmas present in 1980, on vinyl obviously. I played it non stop for weeks. An album that changed my life, especially James.
@@seanscanlon9067 personally I think one of his most soothing songs is "This is The Time." While it isn't a soft song like "And So it Goes" or "Where's The Orchestra," I think the almost ethereal sound of the song is just very comforting
WOW! I had forgotten about this gem!…man, I just can’t remember EVER hearing something from Billy that I didn’t like. Want a big reel-to-reel loop of everything from Cold Spring Harbor up to the latest recorded…Graduated HS in ‘70 and all of his music just fits into what I was trying to grow into…everyone a lifes’ masterpiece.
This is his less known song you hear others of his well to do songs, like this is my life, uptown girl , your always a women to me, and piano man ect. This should be up there with the others, so awesome of a song. 🎶
One of the best BJ songs. Horribly horribly underrated. Right up there for me with Just the way youre...One day this brilliant song will resurrect and the world will appreciate this gift from Billy Joel
I was at 6 grade in the 80's and makes me really sad when my late uncle James moved to Australia for good. I cried a lot cuz he's like a father to me. Until now if I missed him I play this song on and on😢😢😢
oh my good the studio version is soooooooooooooooo much better! This is nice, but listen to the studio version on headphones and it will open up spaces and breath with life.
I miss him,he still cared about the audience back then. Wish I had never watched that 60 Minutes special on him when he said he no longer cared and was thinking of what he was going to do later. He said he had no emotions left when he sang, made me sad, his musical soul died :(
I think he was talking about having played a song like 'Just The Way You Are' thousands of times over the years. I'd imagine that TONS of writers/performers feel the same way. Billy's just the one that said it publicly.
Criminally underrated billy Joel song. This is song hooked me with my first listen to it. The lyrics are so powerful and emotive.
It’s my favorite
My favorita song .... Love the piano
LIVE VOCALS!! Nobody better than Billy Joel!
One of my favorites, along with a summer highland falls and Vienna Waits for You.
It's his worst song ever. Lyrics are what? He's a musician claiming to have found happiness and criticizing someone who has to face the daily grind and climb. Emotive? Arrogant. He has never seemed happy either. Takes a lot of booze to do that. Maybe he needs to work like James. This song never made it big because people resent its implications. The stupid Left Bank sentiment you find in this song is pretty hokey.
70's Billy can't be beat, even by him.
Agree
Second that! I tend to prefer his early stuff up to ‘The Stranger’ - such terrific piano playing and writing. Turnstiles, which James features on, is my favourite BJ album.
This cracked me the fuck up!!
I’ll say it over & over…. Billy Joel the best modern songwriter to ever step foot on this earth! I can back that up as well lol I can though
Yes, but also in 80’s he has been great
“Do what’s good for you or you’re not good for anybody.” Terrific lyric.
My favorite. As I said in another post “ words to live by”
@Jimmy Love this song!
@@KJ-nd6jl absolutely!!
😆 lol
Billy mocked this lyric in recent decades... He said at a college talk/ interview at a school when they asked him to play this song "'I don't know why I was so judgmental, telling people what to do and giving advice back in those days"
大好き💕。
One of the best and most true lyrics ever written. Live your life not someone else's expectations.
"James, you've been well behaved
You've been working hard
But will you always stay
Someone else's dream of who you are?"
Every song on that album can be described this way.
People into popular music are forgetting the pure greatness of a Billy Joel.
1stSaintsFan he's my fave and i'm into pop aye
1stSaintsFan lmao people into popular Billy Joel music are forgetting the greatness in his unpopular songs like this
Billy is Pop Music.
He's just a different generation.
I've met jazz and other sophisticated music lovers who don't like Billy - he experimented with sounds that some older folks or just certain people didn't like.... adding rock, combining it with Jazz, etc.
His fans know his greatness and I needed my fix, love this.
LJ It’s funny, people into pop don’t like billy because he was too sophisticated for them, and sophisticated music lovers don’t like him because they think he’s “just another pop artist”
Best composer of popular music of the 20th century: Billy Joel. There is no doubt for me.
This song seems to have been written for me. Ever since my wife’s stroke twenty years ago I’ve been working sixty hour weeks to meet family obligations and going to school part time to get ahead and finally write my masterpiece while caregiving. Now I’m 65 and just graduated while everyone else is retiring and I have no retirement nest egg built up so I’ll have little time to work on my magnum opus in my final years either. I plan to see Billy Joel in Tampa with Sting in February. Maybe he’ll sing this for me.
❤
Words to live by : “Do what’s good for you, or you’re not good for anybody “
Took 40 years to hear this for the first time. There is no justice in this world.
Well, as a 54 year old who grew up listening to Billy (my dad would play him all the time) I would say this whole album (Turnstiles) should be required listening for everybody in our culture before age 10.
В 38
Ужас
God, Billy is just...so damn good. How can anybody write a song so layered, so emotionally sophisticated, and then performed with such tenderness? and that band! Brilliant. Just so subtle, with Liberty Devito on the drum kit as always, with four and five part vocal harmonies. It makes me want to weep. We all have a James in our lives, don’t we?
My Son
Yes we do Johnny!
I named my son James. One of the reasons was this song.
Quite frankly, some of us are or were the James from this song. This song made me realize, almost 40 years ago, I was living my life to satisfy others, "living up to expectations." It was only then that I started to live for me.
My oldest son’s name….love him & this song.
His working class tie and his radical plans are clearly in view in this video.
😒😍😍
bless you
great song. incomparebol artist.
Smartie!
Yeah, sure looks like a working class tie he's wearing. It's got a slightly red tinge to it. :P
That was when Billy wrote his masterpiece.
Billy Joel dropping the hard questions. "Do you like your life?" That one could properly mess someone up if the answer isn't yes.
nothing beats Billy Joel and a Fender Rhodes. i can't believe it took me this long to find this song, it's absolutely incredible
“Do what’s good for you, or you’re not good for anybody”
Masterpiece!!
I have always felt I was James in this song. I have been working hard. For 30 years.
Одна из самых красивых песен!❤
James, we were always friends,
From our childhood days
And we made our plans,
And we had to go our separate ways.
I went on the road-
You pursued an education.
James, do you like your life,
Can you find release,
And will you ever change-
Will you ever write your masterpiece.
Are you still in school-
Living up to expectations, James
You were so relied upon, everybody knows how hard you tried-
Hey, just look at what a job you've done,
Carrying the weight of family pride.
James, you've been well behaved,
You've been working so hard
But will you always stay,
Someone else's dream of who you are.
Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody, James.
I went on the road,
You pursued an education, James
How you gonna know for sure, everything was so well organized.
Hey, now everything is so secure,
And everybody else is satisfied.
James, do you like your life,
Can you find release
And will you ever change,
When will you write your masterpiece.
Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody, James.
Sadhana Devi
Thank you
Awesome lyrics
I appreciate your effort that you made for sharing the lyrics of this fascinating and charming song of Billy Joel friendly and generously.
Probably in his top 10 songs. There was a time, long long ago, when his output was unrivaled.
Turnstile - one of my top 5 albums of all time. Every song a classic.
the best lyric in this song is "do whats good for you, or youre not good for anybody" ✊😌
This song speaks to me really deeply. Billy Joel, one of the last great American artists, thank you! and God bless you.
The Beethoven of the 20th century.
One of the best songs ever made
This is my favorite Billy Joel song. It's beautiful.
What a lovely melancholic pearl... This speaks to all of us who lost the trace of a school friend.
Billy Joel´s music was my theme music through my high school years in the late 70´s.
Jorgen Bernle it was my theme music through my hs years in the 90s. The 70s stuff. Because the music of my generation sucked.
me too
I’m in high school right now, and I’m so proud that you and I can both say that Billy Joel’s fantastic music defined our adolescent years; decades apart.
@@tomkurtz3848 I came to say the same thing! I'm in my last year of high school and I love the idea that what got my parents generation through their teenage years is the exact same as what's getting me through too.
I love this song in album Turnstiles.
I adore this song
I am a big Billy Joel fan, but have never heard this song until now. Really well written and very underrated.
Billy Joel is a truly great composer
True
can't believe this video doesn't even have over 500k views, definitely a hidden gem
“Do what’s good for you or you’re not good for anybody”... dude sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever be strong enough to do that.
Never seen him so much in the Zone, in his own musical head. His performances are fabulous, but this view of BJ is stunning, as is this particular song. NY boy forever! Thanks
A Master piece of Billy Joel, greatest song....
For sure, once I heard "Songs In The Attic"I went back and purchased all of his Pre-Stranger material.
SITA was a great live colleciton, I wore out that 8 track.
When the "The Stranger" was released I almost went out and bought it but I decided to wait until there was a way to watch and listen to music from the comfort of your computer.
porta You decided to wait 30 years?
Scott Harrison what about your brand new Chevrolet?
Terrific album - personally I prefer his early material - great performances by him and his band on SITA too.
Spent an entire summer at camp listening to this cassette every night, some nights I still do. 🥰
Although there was a lot of great music to follow, I considered the Turnstiles album some of his best work. James, Angry Young Man and Miami 2017 where my favorites on the album. Of course the follow up album The Stranger was his breakout album followed by many years of great music.
I think I got Turnstiles as a Christmas present in 1980, on vinyl obviously. I played it non stop for weeks. An album that changed my life, especially James.
The first billy Joel record I ever got was turnstiles and it was worth it
Summer highland falls is also very good.
Turnstiles is where his true sound really came into fruition and it fully bloomed on The Stranger and 52nd Street
I believe this is his best as a pianist. This album was also produced by Billy Joel, that’s why it has a different sound to it.
Remember this song having an amazing impact back in the 70's when I first heard...loving reconnecting with it....beautiful song
favorite song of my late husband. Sad to hear this song, remind me of him. Thank you Billy Joel.
This is probably the most soothing song Billy has ever made
And So It Goes, Souvenir and Where's the Orchestra?
@@seanscanlon9067 personally I think one of his most soothing songs is "This is The Time." While it isn't a soft song like "And So it Goes" or "Where's The Orchestra," I think the almost ethereal sound of the song is just very comforting
@@squilliamandsons2604 Yeah I can understand that and we all tend to take something from a song in many different ways.
One of my favorite Billy Joel songs.
WOW! I had forgotten about this gem!…man, I just can’t remember EVER hearing something from Billy that I didn’t like. Want a big reel-to-reel loop of everything from Cold Spring Harbor up to the latest recorded…Graduated HS in ‘70 and all of his music just fits into what I was trying to grow into…everyone a lifes’ masterpiece.
This is his less known song you hear others of his well to do songs, like this is my life, uptown girl , your always a women to me, and piano man ect. This should be up there with the others, so awesome of a song. 🎶
One of the best BJ songs. Horribly horribly underrated. Right up there for me with Just the way youre...One day this brilliant song will resurrect and the world will appreciate this gift from Billy Joel
My favorite Billy Joel song about James.
🤣
I remember my best friend, who died recently. Honest, sweet and kind man.
Underrated song.
Billy Joel is AMAZING. Unique
Wow that’s a beautiful song. BJ is so awesome.
I was at 6 grade in the 80's and makes me really sad when my late uncle James moved to Australia for good. I cried a lot cuz he's like a father to me. Until now if I missed him I play this song on and on😢😢😢
brilliant 🎉
We use to put our daughter to bed every night to this song and video. Now she is 19 and a huge fan of Billy. Love this song.
oh my good the studio version is soooooooooooooooo much better! This is nice, but listen to the studio version on headphones and it will open up spaces and breath with life.
That’s my song ❤
Same
Que musica sublime excelente compositor e cantor❤
Just adore "my Billy" as I call him... Always makes me smile! Cheers my love :)
CRYING. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH
such a GREAT song writer 💛
Amazing 🤩 song
One of my favorite Billy Joel songs by far.... Not sure how this is so unknown! amazing amazing amazing!
Simply splendid
I miss him,he still cared about the audience back then.
Wish I had never watched that 60 Minutes special on him when he said he no longer cared and was thinking of what he was going to do later. He said he had no emotions left when he sang, made me sad, his musical soul died :(
That's not actually what he said, but still.
I think he was talking about having played a song like 'Just The Way You Are' thousands of times over the years. I'd imagine that TONS of writers/performers feel the same way. Billy's just the one that said it publicly.
That's why the world so colourfull
My all time favorite song!
This song always brings back such memories!
My uncle JAMES just passed 4 days ago. Leaving behind a loving wife and 2 kids... BY BY UNCLE JAMES. R.I.P.
Sorry for your loss
@@christopherclark8788 it's ok
Love the beat, the arrangemet, the lyrics. I like that it doesnt it with the rest of the album tracks.
Billy eres mi cantante favorito con tus canciones tán románticas
Started listening to Billy's albums in full started with Turnstiles and Damn I love this songs melody!
He has always inspired me and made me feel good inside. I love everything I have ever heard from him. Honestly..
Sounds just like the recording! Amazing and genuine unlike nowadays artists.
Actually, even better
Artists from that time were truly talented, not manufactured by the music industry.
So true! Live back then meant no click track or auto-tune for vocals. You either sounded great or sketchy.
I love you billy
Love this song! Billy was (and is) so good live. And Turnstiles is SUCH a great album, just in general.
Bizanzibar...., Honesty is a bigger hit than his most honest song..
One of my favo Billy Joel songs... And that Fender Rhodes is one of a kind instrument! Excelent video... thnx!
perfect mixture of excellence; the music, the lyrics, the voice, the saxophone!
Haven't had such a cathartic musical moment in a long while. Thanks once again Billy!
wonderful composition
wonderful Voice. Love Billy joel
I like this song. Thank you.
RIP Ed Sciaky, a huge Joel fan and supporter.
Who was Ed??
@@前橋みき a terrific Philly DJ who basically introduced Joel to Philly.
Thank you, Billy Joel. You make my life live again.
2024, gentlemen? 🐸
Beautiful song,thanks Billie!!!!!!
Beautiful song....😭😍
Still my favorite Billy Joel song to this day, followed closely by Zanzibar
UMA DAS MUSICAS MAIS BONITAS DELE
AMO❤🎹
Gracias gracias gracias... La busque muchos años. Es que era pequeña cuándo la escuchaba así que no recordaba la letra. 💓
Who's still listening in January 2021... Where you're from... Please raise your thumbs up!
Indonesia 🇮🇩🇮🇩👍👍
This indicts me every time I hear it. His best.
underrated song.
This song reminds me of me and my twin sister. I went to school while she went to Europe to become a musician.
O james salvou sua vida!!!!!
Beautiful Beautiful
You are totally ripped in this clip! Dude! 👍🏼🎉
sweet and soft melody. thnx
Con profundo amor y admiración para mi hermano Jaime 🥰
Gracias al Padre y a nuestros padres por regalarnos un un excelente hermano 🙌
Great title and song Mr. Joel
Great music
The greatest musician in American history.
beautiful song my favorite