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Billy Joel - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me

Billy Joel - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Glass Houses
Released: 1980

It's Still Rock And Roll To Me Lyrics

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 white 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

Writer/s: JOEL, BILLY
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

It's Still Rock And Roll To Me

In this song, Billy Joel was making a comment on musical styles and trends. At the end of the Disco era, the music press began touting the "New Wave" sound, which included bands like The Police and The Cars. Joel thought that this new sound was just a variation on Power-Pop that had been around since the '60s. He didn't have a problem with music, just the way it was being categorized. "I like it, but it's not particularly new," he said.

Around this time, Joel was often abased in the music press as a provider of middle-of-the-road dreck. Popular artists are often targets for journalist derision, but while most of these artists choose to ignore it, Joel responded in this song. The lines, "It doesn't matter what they say in the papers, 'cause it's always been the same old scene." and "There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine," were specifically written to attack the press that was bringing him down by pointing out that the only way to know what a band sound like is to listen to it.

"Sometimes the press gave me a hard time, and liked giving them a hard time back," Joel told Howard Stern in 2014. "In my neighborhood, somebody hits you, you hit them right back."

One of Joel's most popular songs, this was his first #1 hit on the Hot 100, spending two weeks at the top spot in July, 1980. The single was certified Platinum, which at the time meant sales in excess of 2 million.

Joel would score two more #1 hits in America: "Tell Her About It" and "We Didn't Start The Fire."

"Miracle Mile," as mentioned in the line "Should I get a set of white wall tires? Are you gonna cruise a miracle mile?" is a stretch of road (about a mile long) full of various stores in Manhasset, Long Island near where Joel grew up. (thanks, Nicole - Garden City, NY)

After he wrote this song, Joel says he realized that the chords were the same ones Bob Dylan used on "Lay Lady Lay."