Just when I was dissing the Random iTunes Fairy for offering up a dreadful song yesterday, she bounces back with a sterling selection today.
‘Say Goodbye to Hollywood’ is the opening track of Billy Joel’s 1976 Turnstiles, his fourth album and the one released a year before he reached mega-stardom with The Stranger. This is one of my favorite Joel albums, even if several of its best songs sound even better on the 1981 live release Songs in the Attic.
Turnstiles is largely about Joel’s return to New York after he fell out of love with Los Angeles. ‘Say Goodbye to Hollywood,’ written to emulate Ronnie Spector’s ‘Be My Baby,’ kicks off the album in spectacular fashion.
Bobby’s driving through the city tonight
Through the lights in a hot new rent-a-car
He joins the lovers in his heavy machine
It’s a scene down on Sunset Boulevard
[Chorus]
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
[Verse 2]
Johnny’s taking care of things for awhile
And his style is so right for troubadours
They got him sitting with his back to the door
Now he won’t be my fast gun anymore
[Chorus]
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
[Bridge]
Moving on is a chance that you take
Every time you try to stay together
Say a word out of line and you find
That the friends you had are gone forever
Forever
[Verse 3]
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hello’s and goodbye’s
I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again
[Chorus]
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
[Bridge]
Moving on is a chance that you take
Every time you try to stay together
Say a word out of line and you find
That the friends you had are gone forever
Forever
[Verse 4]
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hello’s and goodbyes
I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again
[Outro]
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Meet Me In Montauk 
Ah, like a breath of fresh air on a Sunday morning! I agree, though, that this song sounds far better on Songs in the Attic.
What a nice way to start a Sunday ❤️ I guess the random iTunes Fairy wants to stay alive after all!