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Billy Joel - The Longest Time

Billy Joel - The Longest Time Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: An Innocent Man
Released: 1983

The Longest Time Lyrics

Oh, oh, oh
For The Longest Time
Oh, oh, oh
For the longest
If you said goodbye to me tonight
There would still be music left to write
What else could I do
I'm so inspired by you
That hasn't happened for the longest time

Once I thought my innocence was gone
Now I know that happiness goes on
That's where you found me
When you put your arms around me
I haven't been there for the longest time

Oh, oh, oh
For the longest time
Oh, oh, oh
For the longest
I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall
And the greatest miracle of all
Is how I need you
And how you needed me too
That hasn't happened for the longest time

Maybe this won't last very long
But you feel so right
And I could be wrong
Maybe I've been hoping too hard
But I've gone this far
And it's more than I hoped for

Who knows how much further we'll go on
Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone
I'll take my chances
I forgot how nice romance is
I haven't been there for the longest time

I had second thoughts at the start
I said to myself
Hold on to your heart
Now I know the woman that you are
You're wonderful so far
And it's more than I hoped for

I don't care what consequence it brings
I have been a fool for lesser things
I want you so bad
I think you ought to know that
I intend to hold you for the longest time

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

The Longest Time

This song would be considered "next-to" a cappella - it contains only one actual instrument, that being a bass guitar. Everything else is voice, finger snaps and claps.

The song is a tribute to the Doo-Wop sounds of the '50s that Joel loved, complete with lyrics about being crazy in love with a girl. The song began, however, as a classical piano piece Joel was working on, which is also how is song "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" came about.

Joel did all the vocal tracks himself, which required him to cover a lot of range. The original plan was to bring in a vocal group to sing it with him, but that didn't work out. Joel's producer Phil Ramone told Billy that their best option was for him to do it all himself.

On the TV show Family Guy, this song was used in a flashback to discuss the invention of singing. It showed several cavemen sitting around grunting, until they all spontaneously break out into this song.

The song got a lot of airplay in Philadelphia, where Joel was always a very popular artist. It was even played on Soul stations there, and the song became a favorite of the guys who would later form the vocal group Boyz II Men. When Howard Stern hosted a Billy Joel town hall special in 2014, Boyz II Men performed this song. They explained that when they were going to high school, most of the selections for acapella groups were much older songs, but this one was "the most contemporary song we could sing and still be cool."

In the music video, directed by Jay Dubin, Joel sits alone after his high school reunion, class of '59, and recalls the good old days with his doo-wop group. Fans have been wondering about the janitor in the clip for years. Was he an old-school doo-wop star making a sly cameo? Dubin told us the answer , along with an unfortunate reminder of black stereotypes in the '80s:

"No, that's all bulls--t," he said of the rumors. "This is how that guy gets hired: There was this black guy who got us all this talent on one of the other music videos, I think 'Tell Her About It.' I remember he used to come in the office all the time saying, 'Hey, you got any work for me?'

[Producer] Jon Small said, 'No, but I need an older guy who looks like a janitor.' He said, 'No problem.' He gets on the phone: 'Uncle Willy? you want to be on TV?'

'Yeah, Uncle Willy'll do it.' He says to Jon, 'How much?' Jon says, 'A hundred dollars.' He says, 'Uncle Willy, I'll make you fifty dollars!' He took fifty and gave Uncle Willy fifty. That's all I remember about that. [Laughing]

Who the guy was, I have no idea. Was it racist? Absolutely. Back then, 8 out of 10 janitors at the local schools were black. They wanted to do that.

All I had to do was make sure the pictures looked good, he was in sync, and it was edited well. That was all I had to do. It was easy."

This is the only song with the word "Longest" in the title ever to chart on the Hot 100.