Personal Hero: Billy Joel

Billy Joel understands my pain. Not one song can cheer me up when I have the blues the way that Billy’s songs can. His appreciation of the human experience is evident in “This is the Time to Remember” and his awareness of the plight of others can be heard in “Allentown”(one of my personal favorites, I love the way the beginning of the song starts with the whistle and strong downbeat). His sense of humor is evident in “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and his spirituality glows in “River of Dreams”. If possible, in my lifetime I would like to see Billy Joel in concert (he was recently in LA and Blondie and Karaoke Queen saw him and said he was incredible) and maybe experience some of his tremendous energy up close and personal.

“You’re only Human (Second Wind)” could probably be my theme song. The music is whimsical, but the topic serious and there are more time then I can count where I have been at the end of my proverbial rope and something whispers in my ear,
” Sometimes you just want to lay down and die
That emotion can be so strong
But hold on
Till that old second wind comes along”
and I have to smile to myself because I know it’s true. Joel has been through much worse things then I have, he understands that you cannot be at your best 100% of the time and that part of being human is having the hope that things will get better. That just around the corner the clouds will lift, everything won’t be so horrible or so serious, and if you are patient, the bad times will pass. If you are ever feeling bad, having a day where you just can’t seem to accomplish what needs to be done, or having trouble finding your focus, or feeling stable put on this song and you won’t feel quite so alone. Heck put on most any Billy Joel song and just the music will put you in a better frame of mind, never mind the lyrics.

“I Go to Extremes” is a song that could be biographically about me. I'll leave it to you dear reader to seek out the song and figure out why I think it applies to me.