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Johnny New
MUSIC
Final Project

Billy Joel
[Music is] an explosive expression of humanity. Its something we are all touched by.
No matter what culture were from, everyone loves music- Billy Joel. Billy Joel is a New York
born musician who wrote songs that nearly everyone in America has heard, like Piano Man
and Uptown Girl.
William Martin Joel/ Billy Joel was born in the Bronx, New York City. His parents were
Martin and Rosalind Joel. Martin, Billy Joels father was an accomplished classic pianist. Billy
Joels mother though was the one that pushed him to start the piano. He began learning the piano
at age 4 and by age 16 he had all but conquered the instrument. After an inspiring show by The
Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. Billy Joel choose a life of music. He dropped out of high school
to try his luck at creating his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, in 1970. This album did not
do so well. Billy Joel thought he would have a better chance to make it big in Los Angeles, so he
moved. While in Los Angeles Billy Joel worked as a lounge pianist at The Executive Room.
From this experience Joel would later write one of his most famous songs Piano Man.
With Piano Man becoming a top 20 single in 1974. Joel started to create new songs and
new albums, and gaining popularity worldwide. Columbia records signed Billy Joel. He created
many masterpiece type songs in his career including the two that I would like to talk about in
depth. One being Only the Good die young and the other Its still Rock n Roll to me.

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Only the Good Die Young was a song written about Billy Joels high school crush;
Virginia Callahan who ended up dying her senior year of high school. The song was extremely
controversial at the time it was released. The song is at its bare bones having sex before
marriage. This song just added to the fear of Rockin Roll by the older generation. A majority of
people took the song as an anti-catholic ballad, and radio stations were pressured to take it off air.
Some of the lyrics in the song go as such
You Catholic girls start much too late,
But sooner or later it comes down to fate.
I might as well be the one
Billy was talking of sex of course, and trying to convince this girl to have sex with him. So one
can see why the song was not taken kindly. Joel responded to the claims of his song being antiCatholic by saying, When I wrote the song Only the Good Die Young the point of the song
wasnt so much anti-Catholic as pro-lust. Later in a 2008 interview Joel felt it necessary to point
out that in the song the boy gets nowhere with the girl and she keeps her chastity.
The other song that I would like to talk about is Its Still Rock n Roll to me. This is
song I would consider a protest song to some of the new genres of music that were coming out
during the 70s. Like punk, funk and new wave music. Joel in the song is stating that he will not
change his style in order to stay popular. The song is a dialogue between two characters. One is
presumably Joel and the other a manager that wants Joel to change his style to stay popular.
Whats the matter with the car Im driving?/ Cant you tell that its out of style. The first part is
Joel and the response is by the manager. This song according to the Billboard five hundred was
#1 for two weeks and stayed in the top ten for eleven.

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From a musical stand point both of these songs are a great example of Rock n Roll. You
can tell the influence Joel had from Rock n rolls root genres like Country, Folk, gospel and
Rythym and blues. All of these styles are used to create rock music. Meaning you should be able
to find all these styles in Billy Joels songs and I believe you can. An aspect of each of these
styles can be found in the songs that I chose to talk about. From the folk genre that featured
many protest songs, Its still Rock n roll to me is a protest song by Billy Joel protesting the
new genre of music. Country music talks about subjects like love and death which are the main
focuss in Joels Only the Good Die Young. Gospel music is a little bit harder to find in Joels
music. The subject of Catholicism is talked about in Only the Good die Young, but also Joel
holds one syllable for many notes, which originated in Gregorian chants, some of the first gospel
music we know about. What Joel takes from Rhythm and blues is the some of the instruments
that he feature like a piano, guitar, drums and a bass. Ultimately Billy Joel is one of the great
musician/ lyricists of our time. I believe his music embodies Rock n roll, from his lyrics to his
style, Billy Joel is one of the greatest classic Rockers America can call their own.

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Johnny New IV
Music Listening Guide
12/1/16

Only The Good Die Young

0:00- 0:12- Piano intro
0:12- 0:40 enter drums, guitar and voice, first verse type A
0:40-0:54- Chorus #1
0:54-1:21- Second Verse type A (same beat just different lyrics)
1:21-1:34- Chorus #2
1:34- 1:59- First verse type B beat quickens vocals become forte
1:59-2:12 Third verse Type A
2:12- 2:27- Chorus #3
2:27- 2:40- Saxophone solo accompanied by piano
2:40- 2:52- Second verse Type B
2:52- 3:03 Fourth Verse Type A (with a slightly different piano accompaniment
3:03-3:23- Chorus #4 With end notes held slightly longer
3:23- 3:56- Outro (continued oooos)

Its Still Rock n Roll to me

0:00-0:07- Intro Drum on off beat
0:07- 0:20- Verse 1 a call and response to himself and his agent

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0:20- 0:28- Verse 1 cont. Guitar is introduced with simple chord progressions
0:28- 0:35- Chorus #1
0:35-0:46- Verse 2
0:46-1:05- Chorus #2
1:05- 1:24- An interlude with much more forte small drum solo at the end
1:24-1:44- Verse 3
1:44- 1:53- Chorus #3
1:53- 2:09- Saxophone solo with guitar accompaniment
2:09- 2:33- Verse 4
2:33- 2:45 Chorus #4
2:45-2:56- Outro single guitar chord on high distortion

Shes Always a Woman

(A sung poem)
(After every verse type A and b a short chorus of shes a always a women to me is played
signifying start of another verse)
0:00- 0:07- Intro on piano
0:07- 0:29 A lyrical intro with just piano played softly
0:29-0:54- Verse 1 Type A on guitar, piano still playing
0:54- 1:27-Verse 1 type B Ooos introduced before a new stanza of lyrics
1:27- 1:49 Verse 2 type A
1:49- 2:02- a shortened interlude with only the humming of the verse behind a guitars picking
pattern

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2:02- 2:34 Verse 2 type B
2:34- 2:58 Verse 3 type A
2:58- 3:09- Humming half a verse
3:09- 3:21- Outro

Vienna
0:00-0:16- Intro simple piano melody
0:16-0:58-Verse 1
@0:45 instruments pick up singing becomes forte
0:58- 1:08- Chorus #1
1:08-1:53- Verse 2
@ 1:40 instruments pick up singing becomes Fortissimo
1:53- 2:00 Chorus #2
2:00- 2:19- Accordion Solo

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