Billy Joel is America's composer, like Gershwin, Cole Porter. Irving Berlin, etc...He should have gotten a Grammy for this song alone. The Power of music is realized here not in showing off technical ability, or cranking the amp up on some heavy metal nonsense, or some intricate jazz solo, but in the content of the lyrics perfectly married to the melody, chord progressions, tone, real orchestra instruments and piano, and emotional theme. This is a masterpiece, and you would have to be dead between the ears not to hear that it is.
Billy is a gigantic talent. He's a prodigious pianist, a vocalist with superior range and inflection and an innate gift for melody but he gets slept on a lot in the modern day because of the shift in popular music.
I live just a stone throw away from Billy Joel's house and as I type this comment and have a drink, I toast Billy Joel in the direction of his house as a thank you for all he has done for the human soul through his music. He is our Beethoven and Mozart in Pop Music history for us New Yorkers as Gershwin was. Good night my friend as I enjoy the light water dance on the Long island Sound of New York.
This song - damn this song. I kept flashing back to my two kids ( and I am a grandpa) Those late nights early mornings. sleep interrupted and alone with either one and comforting them as well as I could. Now, this late in life - those moments are as special as they get
Billy said the closing measures of that song were the most challenging. The orchestra arranger / composer , Ira Newborn was blown away by what Billy ended coming up with. It’s not the first time Billy impressed Ira. He first met Billy as a child through a friend of Billy’s cousin. He told Ira that he’s got to met this kid and Ira came to Billy’s house where their was this old broken down piano with cigarette burns on some keys and even some keys that didn’t work at all. Billy was asked to play something and Ira asked him how he was going to play with those keys not working and Billy said “ I just play around them” and that’s exactly what he did and Ira was speechless and knew this kid was gifted!
Billy Joel wrote this song for his daughter Alexa Ray when she was 7, after she asked what happens when we die. His father was an absent Dad and Billy wanted to reiterate that he would always be in her heart. Just a beautiful, sentimental song. Perfection. Great reaction Harri. Thanks to you and Jamie A. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Years ago, I lived in the same town on Long Island, NY as Billy and Christy and met them once. My sister managed a shipyard were they kept their boat. She met them many, many times and said they were very down to earth and cordial. No pretenses. I think if they weren't going out on the boat the day we met, we probably would have had a few beers in town. Everyone there knew them both. A great writer and musician.
If you simply read the lyrics to this you would say "Wow, that is a really moving poem". When you just listen to the music you have to say "That is a really beautiful tune". The fact that he wrote both and did it many times on many songs is what sets him apart from most other artists.
I used to sing this song to my unborn daughter wham my late wife was pregnant.The album had just come out and I loved the story not knowing the actually meaning until Billy explained it in an interview later on.I think of those times and when my wife was alive!
And now that I have seen the whole video, let me heartily agree with you. Billy Joel has never received the respect he is due. Just a wonderful artist. I love his music. He has such heart.
Harri, you couldn't be more right about Billy not being able to be pigeonholed. 52nd Street was primarily jazz-rock fusion. Glass Houses was harder and edgier than most of his previous stuff. The Nylon Curtain was his homage to the Beatles and George Martin. An Innocent Man was his tribute to the roots of rock and roll from the '50s and '60s. River of Dreams explored his love of classical music (if one ignores the vocals, one can hear it well). Quite diverse styles.
Great reaction my friend. I have faith that Billy Joel will be remembered long after many more popular artists, because several of Billy's songs are looking to become standards of the American musical repertoire. Songs such as New York State of Mind and Piano Man, for instance.
It's interesting to me, how over the course his career, Billy has taken in so many disparate musical genres as influences in his own music. The early rock 'n' roll days were celebrated on the Innocent Man album, for instance -- and of course he's made no secret that McCartney was one of his biggest influences. But here, I hear a lot more influence of classical music, especially in the instrumental breakdown. And of course, he fully embraced that genre with his completely instrumental album, Fantasies and Delusions.
Jami A, you picked a very meaningful song for me. I have male/female twins, now 40 yrs old. I played this countless times with my daughter while drifting off to sleep (her, not me). My son always wanted our local Philly sports radio turned up in his bedroom. For me, Billy Joel is one of music history's finest songwriter, singers, and performers. Excellent presentation by our host, The Sultan.
In listening to this song it’s important to know Billy Joel’s heritage. To make it short he was trained in classical music. He has a great knowledge of Russian composers and the piano bridge is so drenched in Russian influence, it’s amazing.
Billy Joel singing Cohen’s “Light as a Breeze”. Because, yeah, one of Cohen’s many bests. Like Joel, we mostly know Cohen by the handful of songs everyone covers. But for both, some of their bests are never covered.
Got to check out Billy Joel Allentown music video…he is in the songwriting hall of fame the rock and roll hall of fame and is one of the top 10 selling artists of all time.
Although I'm mainly a Yes,Genesis, ELO, Supertramp etc listener, I've always loved Billy Joel. I sometimes think he may be America's finest songwriter..he brings a lot of emotion into everything he does. Great review Harri. I see that there's an interview with him on CNN on Sky Tv this saturday night/ sunday morning which should be worth watching.
Bonus points this song was a suicide letter...his 2nd suicide letter that turned into a song...tomorrow is today from his first album was also a suicide letter
I always cry because I remember my 2 wonderful daughters that had nobody in theirs lives because my brother and my parents wanted nothing to do with us. Just me and my wonderful wife grew them up to be wonderful wife's to their life partners. I thank Allah for having them in our lives
I am so thrilled to see this, because every time now that I watch your channel, then the song plays over and over all day and night, the last one was a sad one, so now I will be able to go on till I watch another. Thank you.
Very touching to know you would sing this to your daughter. As I listened I thought of my wife who is away on the other side of the world, I see her on Facetime in the morning before she goes to bed at night, I thought this would be a good song to send her. I wonder what instrument you will play to sing to your daughter? Do you play the piano?
Some reactors are better than others. More and more I have to say, you're on the top shelf of reactors on my list. You watch some and the lyrics or something, they struggle with and just don't get. You always get it. Very great taste in music as well. And your appreciating of a broad range of music, like other things, makes for a more interesting person than someone whose likes and ability to appreciate are limited to their very narrow preferences. Especially like your appreciation of Billy Joel, an American treasure. Especially in these days, where songs all sound about the same and no one can write a song substantive enough to tell a story, what looks like a generation of successors to Billy Joel and Gordon Lightfoot and others who can write songs that can actually tell a story, who are always on their game live--no autotune and stuff needed--the lack of their upcoming replacements, or what looks like that bothers me. But maybe you and other really, really good reactors reacting to the best stuff young kids don't know at all will inspire them to be passionate enough to develop a broad and deep understanding of music so they can do very diverse excellent music in all kinds of genres organically--and not be pretenders, cranking out "music" by way of software and other techno parlor tricks. Anyway, keep up the great work!
Wow I just watched an interview with Billy Joel today with Fareed Zakaria you should check out some of his interviews He told us his story as a little boy until now age 66= just to hear him explain why he did this song or who he wrote that for etc plenty of pics thru the years said some songs come to him in dreams!
Billy Joel is America's composer, like Gershwin, Cole Porter. Irving Berlin, etc...He should have gotten a Grammy for this song alone. The Power of music is realized here not in showing off technical ability, or cranking the amp up on some heavy metal nonsense, or some intricate jazz solo, but in the content of the lyrics perfectly married to the melody, chord progressions, tone, real orchestra instruments and piano, and emotional theme. This is a masterpiece, and you would have to be dead between the ears not to hear that it is.
Pure genius
Billy is a gigantic talent. He's a prodigious pianist, a vocalist with superior range and inflection and an innate gift for melody but he gets slept on a lot in the modern day because of the shift in popular music.
This song, along with’And So It Goes’ move me every single time. I adore Billy Joel.
How good is And So It Goes?
How many of you have a lump in your throat right now? Just Beautiful
I live just a stone throw away from Billy Joel's house and as I type this comment and have a drink, I toast Billy Joel in the direction of his house as a thank you for all he has done for the human soul through his music. He is our Beethoven and Mozart in Pop Music history for us New Yorkers as Gershwin was. Good night my friend as I enjoy the light water dance on the Long island Sound of New York.
This song - damn this song. I kept flashing back to my two kids ( and I am a grandpa) Those late nights early mornings. sleep interrupted and alone with either one and comforting them as well as I could. Now, this late in life - those moments are as special as they get
From Billy's final studio album, which is over thirty years old now...Billy is one of the premier songwriters of our lifetime.
a true billy tearjerker. if you don't feel this song you have no feelings. i used to sing this to my daughter when she was 6 or 7.
Billy said the closing measures of that song were the most challenging. The orchestra arranger / composer , Ira Newborn was blown away by what Billy ended coming up with. It’s not the first time Billy impressed Ira. He first met Billy as a child through a friend of Billy’s cousin. He told Ira that he’s got to met this kid and Ira came to Billy’s house where their was this old broken down piano with cigarette burns on some keys and even some keys that didn’t work at all. Billy was asked to play something and Ira asked him how he was going to play with those keys not working and Billy said “ I just play around them” and that’s exactly what he did and Ira was speechless and knew this kid was gifted!
One of his most beautiful songs. 😭
Billy Joel wrote this song for his daughter Alexa Ray when she was 7, after she asked what happens when we
die. His father was an absent Dad and Billy wanted to reiterate that he would always be in her heart.
Just a beautiful, sentimental song. Perfection. Great reaction Harri. Thanks to you and Jamie A. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
She now sing's on stage with him on occasion
Those last 2 verses always gets me 🥹
How can anyone listen to this and not be affected? What a beautiful combination of words and music!
This song always makes me cry because I can picture him singing this to Alexa and now with his younger daughters.
I agree. He is one of the best ever.
I agree with every word you have said about Billy - I've loved his work since I bought his first album and I still listen to him today
Years ago, I lived in the same town on Long Island, NY as Billy and Christy and met them once. My sister managed a shipyard were they kept their boat. She met them many, many times and said they were very down to earth and cordial. No pretenses. I think if they weren't going out on the boat the day we met, we probably would have had a few beers in town. Everyone there knew them both. A great writer and musician.
If you simply read the lyrics to this you would say "Wow, that is a really moving poem". When you just listen to the music you have to say "That is a really beautiful tune". The fact that he wrote both and did it many times on many songs is what sets him apart from most other artists.
One of my top 3 of his songs. The other 2 are And so it goes and Goodnight saigon.
I used to sing this song to my unborn daughter wham my late wife was pregnant.The album had just come out and I loved the story not knowing the actually meaning until Billy explained it in an interview later on.I think of those times and when my wife was alive!
Thanks to Jami A for all of these great Billy Joel requests! You and Harri are bringing back so many songs I haven’t listened to in years. 🌺✌️
Billy is a treasure of this planet.
Whatever he sings, wherever he sings about, Billy brings you along and embraces his presence with yours.
He is one of the very best musicians ever !
this was the father-daughter dance at my wedding, and i still can't hear it without thinking about my dad. its such a beautiful song.
In concert Billy always performs this song with River of Dreams as a two song set.
Watch the video. Beautiful.
And now that I have seen the whole video, let me heartily agree with you. Billy Joel has never received the respect he is due. Just a wonderful artist. I love his music. He has such heart.
.. certainly and humbly a masterpiece .. thank you a lot for choising this marvellous song an ofcourse rip mr Billy Joel.. bless
thanks 👍🙏👋
Harri, you couldn't be more right about Billy not being able to be pigeonholed.
52nd Street was primarily jazz-rock fusion.
Glass Houses was harder and edgier than most of his previous stuff.
The Nylon Curtain was his homage to the Beatles and George Martin.
An Innocent Man was his tribute to the roots of rock and roll from the '50s and '60s.
River of Dreams explored his love of classical music (if one ignores the vocals, one can hear it well).
Quite diverse styles.
Great reaction my friend. I have faith that Billy Joel will be remembered long after many more popular artists, because several of Billy's songs are looking to become standards of the American musical repertoire. Songs such as New York State of Mind and Piano Man, for instance.
My second favorite from Joel. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant is my go to when out in the garage.
It's interesting to me, how over the course his career, Billy has taken in so many disparate musical genres as influences in his own music. The early rock 'n' roll days were celebrated on the Innocent Man album, for instance -- and of course he's made no secret that McCartney was one of his biggest influences. But here, I hear a lot more influence of classical music, especially in the instrumental breakdown. And of course, he fully embraced that genre with his completely instrumental album, Fantasies and Delusions.
Jami A, you picked a very meaningful song for me. I have male/female twins, now 40 yrs old. I played this countless times with my daughter while drifting off to sleep (her, not me). My son always wanted our local Philly sports radio turned up in his bedroom. For me, Billy Joel is one of music history's finest songwriter, singers, and performers. Excellent presentation by our host, The Sultan.
In listening to this song it’s important to know Billy Joel’s heritage. To make it short he was trained in classical music. He has a great knowledge of Russian composers and the piano bridge is so drenched in Russian influence, it’s amazing.
That's our Billy.... what a precious soul.
Oh That song speaks to my soul every time I listen to it!
TY Harri !! Another masterpiece from my favorite Billy Joel album, River of Dreams♡
A BEAUTIFUL favorite of mine-makes me cry. So glad to watch your first hearing.
Yes, so amazing that I am currently learning it on piano.
Billy Joel singing Cohen’s “Light as a Breeze”.
Because, yeah, one of Cohen’s many bests.
Like Joel, we mostly know Cohen by the handful of songs everyone covers.
But for both, some of their bests are never covered.
This album, River of Dreams, has a lot of good underrated songs on it.
This is a beautiful one, love it.
Alright, Well said Sir. (New Subscriber) I have actually sang this to my Grand Daughters (all three). Thanks again, I'll be watching...
Tutti gioielli diversi quelli di Piano Man ... Il più brillante versatile talento nel campo musicale 🎹👏🎹👏🎹👏
Yes!!!! Nuff said...😎🍷🚬👍💪💕
i knew you would enjoy that one. he is really a brilliant songwriter/player, singer.
Billy wrote the words for this, Billy is also a classical pianist.Billy Joel’s ‘This Night’ uses the same melody as Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique.
Beautiful reaction Harri. Thanks! Couldn't agree more.
Got to check out Billy Joel Allentown music video…he is in the songwriting hall of fame the rock and roll hall of fame and is one of the top 10 selling artists of all time.
Such a stunningly beautiful and profound song.
Good one Jami. ✌️
Thanks Harri, I forgot all about this song, it’s beautiful
Although I'm mainly a Yes,Genesis, ELO, Supertramp etc listener, I've always loved Billy Joel. I sometimes think he may be America's finest songwriter..he brings a lot of emotion into everything he does. Great review Harri. I see that there's an interview with him on CNN on Sky Tv this saturday night/ sunday morning which should be worth watching.
Another song that I understand to be from father to daughter is Peter Gabriel's "Come Talk to me" from the Us album. A very worthy listen.
I used to sing this song to my youngest daughter every night as I was tucking her in to bed,
And now she sings it to her daughter,
Used to play this for my 2 kids a single mom my son and daughter a beautiful song 💓
Bonus points this song was a suicide letter...his 2nd suicide letter that turned into a song...tomorrow is today from his first album was also a suicide letter
My friend you can still sing to them
I always cry because I remember my 2 wonderful daughters that had nobody in theirs lives because my brother and my parents wanted nothing to do with us. Just me and my wonderful wife grew them up to be wonderful wife's to their life partners. I thank Allah for having them in our lives
Alexa Rae Joel is now a singer on her own. She has sung with her dad on stage.
He is revered but his peak was the 70s and 80s. I agree with you. I love this guys music
this is as close to any of the Beatles masterpieces as a song has ever got.
🎧♥️
I am so thrilled to see this, because every time now that I watch your channel, then the song plays over and over all day and night, the last one was a sad one, so now I will be able to go on till I watch another. Thank you.
The artwork was done by his then wife Chrissy Brinks and she was a model
I’ll be gone soon…for my children…💓💓💙💓
Very touching to know you would sing this to your daughter. As I listened I thought of my wife who is away on the other side of the world, I see her on Facetime in the morning before she goes to bed at night, I thought this would be a good song to send her. I wonder what instrument you will play to sing to your daughter? Do you play the piano?
Some reactors are better than others. More and more I have to say, you're on the top shelf of reactors on my list. You watch some and the lyrics or something, they struggle with and just don't get. You always get it. Very great taste in music as well. And your appreciating of a broad range of music, like other things, makes for a more interesting person than someone whose likes and ability to appreciate are limited to their very narrow preferences. Especially like your appreciation of Billy Joel, an American treasure. Especially in these days, where songs all sound about the same and no one can write a song substantive enough to tell a story, what looks like a generation of successors to Billy Joel and Gordon Lightfoot and others who can write songs that can actually tell a story, who are always on their game live--no autotune and stuff needed--the lack of their upcoming replacements, or what looks like that bothers me. But maybe you and other really, really good reactors reacting to the best stuff young kids don't know at all will inspire them to be passionate enough to develop a broad and deep understanding of music so they can do very diverse excellent music in all kinds of genres organically--and not be pretenders, cranking out "music" by way of software and other techno parlor tricks.
Anyway, keep up the great work!
Wow I just watched an interview with Billy Joel today with Fareed Zakaria you should check out some of his interviews He told us his story as a little boy until now age 66= just to hear him explain why he did this song or who he wrote that for etc plenty of pics thru the years said some songs come to him in dreams!
You should definitely check out Voces8 version of this song-acapella!!!!
HEY HARRI!😊 YOU GOTTA DO THE TITLE TRACK ( RIVER OF DREAMS ) 😊 FOR SURE, SAME ALBUM COVER YOU HAVE UP THERE.
He already did it.
@@jamishops I strongly suspect that you might have had something to do with that!
NEED MORE SELECTIONS HARRI : ALLENTOWN, DOWNEASTER ALEXA, NEW YORK STATE OF MIND, MY LIFE WELL THERE'S SOME MORE GOOD ONES!
He’s already done Downeaster Alexa and NYSOM.
@@jamishops I er, strongly suspect that you might have had something to do with that!
Copy and paste is a very handy feature.
Leave a tender moment alone .... Live a Wembley duet con Tielemans : HarmonicaMan
This was written for his daughter when he was going through a divorce.
If you like the sentiments of this, of a parent singing to/about their child, check out Tori Amos' Ribbons Undone.