Summer, Highland Falls
Song: Summer, Highland Falls
Album: Turnstiles (1976)
I could not have been more excited to listen to Turnstiles and it started off great with “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”, which now occupies the top spot on my personal list of favorite Billy Joel songs.
Now I’ve come to “Summer, Highland Falls” and I just can’t with this song. It’s not that I don’t like it, this is another good song but I don’t think I want to hear it anymore.
Hidden beneath this song’s pretty arrangement and breezy melody there is so much bleakness I can hardly stand to listen to it. Billy Joel tries to hide it but the repeated refrain “It’s either sadness or euphoria” gives the darkness away. It makes me want to sit down with Billy Joel and tell him that everything is going to be alright.
For years I’ve considered Billy Joel a gifted but lightweight songwriter. I dismissed any argument that claimed there was more to his work because I didn’t hear it but now I realize that I missed something that was hidden in plain sight.
At this point in my year of Billy Joel I have to admit that I’m also starting to empathize with the guy who is writing these songs. The question is: “Does this make me like Billy Joel?” I don’t know the answer to that yet but it certainly makes his music more interesting.
