My final pick for the upcoming Billy Joel anthology series is ‘Big Man on Mulberry Street,’ the epic, jazzy centerpiece of Joel’s 1986 album The Bridge. This is one of Joel’s best songs, so different than so much of what preceded it, yet still quintessentially him.
The song features one of Joel’s great characters, a small-time New Yorker with big-time dreams. This guy, with the right writing and acting, could be an incredibly rich character.
I’m very curious to see which songs actually get tapped for the series. I’ll be happy if one of my five suggestions makes the cut, though I promise not to take credit.
Which Billy Joel songs would you like to see turned into a TV episode?
Note: As with yesterday’s post, I have already featured the studio version of this song on the blog. Below is a version from Joel’s historic 1987 tour of Russia.
Why can’t I say what I mean?
Why don’t I stay home
And get myself into some boring routine?
Why can’t I calm down?
Why is it always a fight?
I can’t get unwound
Why do I throw myself into the night?
I’m on the outside
I don’t fit into a groove
Now, I ain’t a bad guy
So tell me what am I trying to prove?
Why can’t I cool out?
Why don’t I button my lip?
Why do I lash out?
Why is it I always shoot from the hip?
I cruise from Houston to Canal Street, a misfit and a rebel
I see the winos talking to themselves and I can understand
Why is it everytime I go out I always seem to get in trouble?
I guess I made an impression on somebody north of Hester and South of Grand
And so in my small way
I’m a big man on Mulberry Street
I don’t mean always
Only at night when I’m light on my feet
What else have I got
That I’d be trying to hide?
Maybe a blind spot
I haven’t seen from the sensitive side?
But you know in my own heart
I’m a big man on Mulberry Street
I’ve played the whole part
I’ll leave a big tip with every receipt
I’m so romantic
I’m such a passionate man
Sometimes I panic
What if nobody finds out who I am?
Another great pick. I’ll never forget when this song was used in “Moonlighting” with the fabulous dance scene with Bruce Willis and Cybil Sheppard.
So, to your question/challenge—here are my five offerings for the anthology:
1. Stop in Nevada. About a woman making the painful but right decision to leave her man.
2. The Entertainer. While Piano Man was Joel’s defining descriptive autobiographical story, this less popular follow-up single tells an even more interesting chapter of whether Joel can maintain that success and at what artistic compromise and cost
3. Souvenir. Also from Streetlife Serenade (the title track would also be a good anthology pick btw), this short song about memories and the passage of time felt sage beyond Joel’s age at the time, but poignant as he and we grow older.
4. Downeaster Alexa. Describing the changes Joel has seen on the shores of his beloved Long Island and the plight of the fisherman, the sea imagery would make for a great installment.
5. Keeping the Faith. A joyous look back on Joel’s youth in the 50’s and 60’s, with each verse serving up a descriptive vignette.
All great picks. I had ‘Downeaster Alexa’ and ‘Streetlife Serenader’ on my list before I cut it down to five. I’ll be very curious to see which songs the show actually uses.
For those not familiar with my picks or who may just want a refresher:
Stop in Nevada https://youtu.be/ri786Rt2KwM
The Enertainer https://youtu.be/ozDSk9XUkrc
Souvenir https://youtu.be/gizOUq-QDUg
Downeaster Alexa https://youtu.be/LVlDSzbrH5M
Keeping the Faith https://youtu.be/ph7oZnBH05s
I think all these choices are excellent! I’ve always been partial to Just the Way You Are so I would like to see it portrayed by a man who realizes that the woman he is with is the right one 😊 also he could be trying to keep her from becoming a man
Did you not watch Moonlighting?! As far as I’m concerned, this song has already had the perfect television treatment! 🙂
Summer, Highland Falls (A few good friends at a music festival contemplate the world, their lives,and the future):
They say that these are not the best of times
But they’re the only times I’ve ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own
Now, I have seen that sad surrender in my lover’s eyes
And I can only stand apart and sympathize
For we are always what our situations hand us
It’s either sadness or euphoria
So we’ll argue and we’ll compromise
And realize that nothing’s ever changed
For all our mutual experience,
Our separate conclusions are the same
Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
Our reason coexists with our insanity
And though we choose between reality and madness
It’s either sadness or euphoria
How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies
Perhaps we don’t fulfill each others fantasies
And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives,
With our respective similarities
It’s either sadness or euphoria
You May Be Right (just depict the relationship in the song):
Friday night I crashed your party
Saturday I said I’m sorry
Sunday came and trashed me out again
I was only having fun
Wasn’t hurting anyone
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change
I’ve been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I’m insane
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
Remember how I found you there
Alone in your electric chair
I told you dirty jokes until you smiled
You were lonely for a man
I said take me as I am
‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
Now think of all the years you tried to
Find someone to satisfy you
I might be as crazy as you say
If I’m crazy then it’s true
That it’s all because of you
And you wouldn’t want me any other way
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
It’s too late to fight
It’s too late to change me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
Famous Last Words (an author completes the final work of his life as he is dying):
Sitting here in Avalon, looking at the pouring rain
Summer time has come and gone, and everybody’s home again
Closing down for the season, I found the last of the souvenirs
I can still taste the wedding cake and it’s sweet after all these years
These are the last words I have to say
That’s why this took so long to write
There will be other words some other day
But that’s the story of my life
There’s comfort in my coffee cup and apples in the early fall
They’re pulling all the moorings up and gathering at the Legion Hall
They swept away all the streamers after the Labor Day parade
Nothing left for a dreamer now, only one final serenade
And these are the last words I have to say
Before another age goes by
With all those other songs I’ll have to play
But that’s the story of my life
And it’s so clear standing here where I am
Ain’t that what justice is for?
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn anymore
Stack the chairs on the table tops
Hang the sheets on the chandeliers
It slows down but it never stops
Ain’t it sweet after all these years
And these are the last words I have to say
It’s always hard to say goodbye
But now it’s time to put this book away
Ain’t that the story of my life
Rosalinda’s Eyes (pretty sure Billy has said this is about his mom? The show could just be the depiction of a woman standing by her music man:
I play nights in the Spanish part of town
I’ve got music in my hands
The work is hard to find
But that don’t get me down
Rosalinda understands
Crazy Latin dancing solo down in Herald Square
Oh Havana I’ve been searching for you everywhere
And though I’ll never be there
I know what I would see there
I can always find my Cuban skies
In Rosalinda’s eyes
When she smiles she gives everything to me
When she’s all alone she cries
And I’d do anything to take away her tears
Because they’re Rosalinda’s eyes
Senorita don’t be lonely, I will soon be there
Oh Havana I’ve been searching for you everywhere
I’ve got a chance to make it
It’s time for me to take it
I’ll return before the fire dies
In Rosalinda’s eyes
All alone in a Puerto Rican band
Union wages, wedding clothes
Hardly anyone has seen how good I am
But Rosalinda says she knows
Crazy Latin dancing solo down in Herald Square
Oh Havana I’ve been searching for you everywhere
And though I’ll never be there
I know what I would see there
I can always find my Cuban skies
In Rosalinda’s eyes
COMMENTS
Code of Silence (could be about any number of secrets, but I’m thinking a sexual assault – Cyndi Lauper would have to have a cameo in this ep, which I bet they will use):
Everybody’s got a million questions
Everybody wants to know the score
What you went through
It’s something you
Should be over now
Everybody wants to hear the secrets
That you never told a soul before
And it’s not that strange
Because it wouldn’t change
What happened anyhow
But you swore to yourself a long time ago
There were some things that people never needed to know
This is one that you keep
That you bury so deep
No one can tear it out
And you can’t talk about it
Because you’re following a code of silence
You’re never gonna lose the anger
You just deal with it a different way
And you can’t talk about it
And isn’t that a kind of madness
To be living by a code of silence
When you’ve really got a lot to say
You don’t want to lose a friendship
There’ s nothing that you have to hide
And a little dirt couldn’t hurt no one anyway
And you still have a rage inside you
That you carry with certain pride
In the only part of a broken heart
That you could never save
But you’ve been through it once, yo know how it ends
You don’t see the point of going through it again,
And this ain’t the place, and this ain’t the time,
And neither’s any other day
So you can’t talk about it
Because your following a code of silence
You’re never gonna lose the anger
You just deal within it a different way
So you can’t talk about it
And isn’t that a kind of madness
To be living by a code of silence
When you’ve really got a lot to say
I know you well enough to tell you’ve got your reasons
That’s not the kind of code you’re inclined to break
Some things unknown are best left alone forever
And if a vow is what it takes
Haven’t you paid for your mistakes
After the moment passes
And the impulse disappears
You can still hold back
Because you don’t crack very easily
It’s a time honored resolution
Because the danger is always near
It’s with you now
But that ain’t how it was supposed to be
And it’s hard to believe after all these years
That it still gives you pain and it still brings tears
And you feel like a fool, because in spite of your rules
You’ve got a memory
But you can’t talk about it
Because you’re following a code of silence
You’re never gonna lose the anger
You just deal with it a different way
But you can’t talk about it
And isn’t that a kind of madness
To be living by a code of silence
When you’ve really got a lot to say
Those are my picks. Thanks for allowing me to play along even though I’m tardy!