#tone in these opening lines: chauffeured limousines and designer clothes quickly giving way to the seedy detail of the coke spoon in the
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mariocki · 3 months ago
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Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 225/?
Billy Joel - Big Shot (1978)
"Well, you went uptown riding in your limousine,
With your fine Park Avenue clothes;
You had the Dom Pérignon in your hand
And the spoon up your nose.
Ooh, and when you wake up in the morning
With your head on fire
And your eyes too bloody to see,
Go on and cry in your coffee
But don't come bitchin' to me."
#favourite lyrics#billy joel#big shot#1978#52nd street#the opener to Joel's 1978 album (and getting a single release the following year) this catty little number marked a significant moment in#the singer singwriter's career. 52nd Street would be Joel's first album to top the Billboard 200‚ won a handful a grammys and was one of#the first albums ever released on CD a couple of years later. Joel had wanted a slightly new sound to differentiate the album from his#previous studio efforts‚ and hired a slew of talented jazz musicians to help him craft something different. this isn't perhaps the track#that shows the clearest growth in his sound‚ but its swaggering‚ sneering‚ heavy in your face delivery and spiky guitar are a hell of a way#to open an album. Joel has variously claimed to have been inspired by a meeting with Bianca Jagger or that there's no truth in that rumour‚#depending i suspect on his mood when asked; he's also admitted to a certain amount of autobiography to the lyrics‚ and i buy that#personally (it's very easy to read a kind of self hating monologue to the mirror kind of vibe into the song imo). a sly take down of social#poseurs and the nouveau riche of late 70s New York (later lyrics name drop Elaine's and Halston)‚ i particularly like the quick switch in#tone in these opening lines: chauffeured limousines and designer clothes quickly giving way to the seedy detail of the coke spoon in the#nose. there's little sympathy from Joel who strikes a provocative vocal style‚ particularly for the chorus which is enunciated so clearly#it could almost be being spat out. Big Shot was the second single from 52nd Street and was‚ like the album‚ a commercial success#peaking at number 14 (his third highest charting single at this point). afaik it didn’t have a uk release tho‚ alas
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