Billy Joel - Prelude / Angry Young Man Lyrics

I grew up on Long Island. I think Billy Joel wrote half his songs about my Dad. 😂

The real reason Boomers look down on music since the 70s. The music's not bad. The lyrics are weak as fuck.

Eminem and Yakko Warner: I can sing super fast!
Billy Joel: hold my beer

Me in a nutshell

Billy you can't just write songs about my entire existence like this.

Ah well. Here's to me and my fellow dullards that want to be angry young men forever. Cheers.

I want this to be a 2020 candidate song.

if I were a presidential candidate it would totally be mine. Perhaps stupidly I take the descriptions in this song as badges of honor personally.

Liberty on the drums, tho ...

Welp. Guess I got to make some changes. Called out.

We all know someone who is like the guy described in the song. I certainly do

"The koala music"

Billy Joel en pija

Love the song, love the album, but that intro-- does he have twenty fingers?

I had no idea Billy had prog songs??? Say whaaat? Btw..prog fan here. This impressive stuff is aplenty in that genre.

isn't all billy joel prog?

@Lily I wasn't taught that, just taught he was classic rock. So if it's true, awesome. That explains why I'm liking it all.

He probably came up with that starting bit to show off his chops.

In 2016 had the great privilege of meeting Billy after his warm up at Wembley, thanks to my daughter Kelly and his tour manager. They say be careful when you meet your heroes. I can confirm before I met him I thought he would be funny, thoughtful and happy. He was all those things and couldn't do enough so that each member of my family got in the "pictures" as he called them. Down to earth and apart from his love of Hendrix we could be twins. This song alone proves that Billy is the greatest songwriter of all time. When you add it to the huge list of thought provoking music he has produced he has no equal. Just my opinion of course but If I won the lottery I'd go and live with him.

This could be a Genesis tune with different vocals, bass

I think this song is about me. Shit.

Masterpiece no one Like Bill.

Mr. Joel - currently a prognosticator of current events.

Billy's best album hands down

Heard this at his MSG concert earlier this year, very underrated song and the house went nuts when he started it. 👍🏼

The despair and the apathy of the mid-to-late 1970s is captured in this song.

A dentist I used to go to told me an amusing story how when he was growing up in Hicksville, Long Island inthe mid-1960s, and he was about 9-10 years old, there was this shitty, lousy garage rock band that used to practice on his street all the time. People on the street would bitch and moan and occassionally threaten to call the cops on them. However, he remembers his mother saying sometimes 'that piano and keyboard kid isn't bad' or 'that singer has a nice voice' - the kid playing the keyboard and (sometimes) doing the singing in question being Billy Joel...

This would be my song if I wasnt so sober.

a musical geinius ( my personal theam song )

This song resembles me

Safran ahmed No, you resemble the song.

The angry young man or woman has always been the same. Mad that someone ELSE didn't make the world perfect before they arrived in it. "Boring as hell" sums it up nicely.

"How many layers of enlightened centrism are you on?"

Joel: "yes"

I'd say I'm a casual fan of Billy Joel. I definitely think he doesn't get enough credit compared to Elton or Rock Wright for his skills. He seems on another level (and I honestly like the other guys better).

I think hes number 9 best seller of all time

Cat Man I didn't mean general popularity. I meant that he is a shredder on the keys and, as a casual fan, I don't hear that often.

@nworbrelytthefirst a lot of his songs have an excellent piano solo somewhere in there

0:00 when your seen by a jazzy guardian

like, the thought police are starting to say, my cause is "just" but if I don't agree with your cause, your an "angry young/old man". Think about it.

Satan loves "indifference"

What is that supposed to mean you twat

in other words, why is the subject of this song, as good as it sounds, a jerk, simply because he believes in something. maybe its a good cause. Just (justice, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) anger...

Because he is an insufferable self righteous snob who won’t listen or compromise and thinks everyone else is an idiot.

a great artist, BJ. however, I ll always and its believe in causes. and its just freedom. Endowed by our Creator. Guaranteed under the Constitution. Just Anger is sometimes well, simply Just.

0:40 - 1:01 .................doesn't sound angry to me. That's HAPPY music from this angle.

There's a certain joy to be taken in being doggedly stubborn in your convictions no matter how frustrating it gets.

God put me on this earth to be an angry young man and i will bloody deliver.

Why is this video under the title 'Dad Rock'? It is Billy Joel not DadRock.

“Life went on no matter who was wrong or right”


Lyrics a lot of us could’ve or can learn from

So true, Pump.

I agree, but I also think life probably won't go on much longer. Still, it was inevitable from the moment our ancestors banged two rocks together to make a tool. We were always going to change the planet into an uninhabitable hell hole. Getting angry and throwing your weight into causes won't change the outcome.

A masterpiece on every level.

Liberty DeVitto!!!

The ANGRY YOUNG MAN always makes for GOOD song material. I would rather be an inspirational, soul stirring, conscience pricking ANGRY YOUNG MAN, than just a man who does what he is told without questioning authority. I do not know how much it is true, but I read that Gandhi did not advice a child to give up smoking till he gave it up himself.

Mixed feelings, for sure, about the lyrics. Some of them I agree with...some of them, much too resigned and cynical. Still, a very well written song (of course, it's BILLY JOEL)

Who says music in the key of C is boring?

Sam Talley Yeah... who does?

Thank you Billy Joel,

-An Angry Young Man

Jim Hawking he’s talking about himself

My GOSH this is my theme song

This song is for Bernie and all the Bernie Brigadiers.They will all be as angry and bitter as he is.

I can't decide what's more of a masterpiece- - the lyrics or the music. I love this... just as relevant today.

Saw him play at Univ of Dayton Field house around '76. Crowd of about 500, 4 encores! Still have my vinyl.

Billy Joel iam stunned this guy creates music with a perfection of classical music his band is badass just incredible for pop music

LEGENDARY

But then again... ( * listens to "The Downeaster Alexa" * ) ...seems the older man found that causes aren't quite so "pointless" after all.

I dedicate this to Donald Trump.

Lol nice!

"He refuses to bend he refuses to crawl
And he's always at home with his back to the wall"

Can't dedicate a song you didn't make, Richard, but good choice on who to dedicate to. If you did make the song that is.

#FuckTrump

I wanted the Prelude section to go on for about 5 more minutes.

Same here!

There's a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
He's always at home with his back to the wall
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross
And he likes to be known as the angry young man
Give a moment or two to the angry young man
With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand
He's been stabbed in the back, he's been misunderstood
It's a comfort to know his intentions are good
And he sits in a room with a lock on the door
With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor
And he likes to be known as the angry young man
I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight
I once believed in causes too
I had my pointless point of view
And life went on no matter who was wrong or right
And there's always a place for the angry young man
With his fist in the air and his head in the sand
And he's never been able to learn from mistakes
So he can't understand why his heart always breaks
But his honor is pure and his courage as well
And he's fair and he's true and he's boring as hell
And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man
There's a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
He's always at home with his back to the wall
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross
And he likes to be known as the angry young man

I think he refuses to call

@Cat Man No, it's definitely refused to crawl.

Billy Joel is the Grand

I'd like to get a producer or a musician from the grunge era and re-do Billy songs. Leave Billy's voice and piano, but drop the synth and acoustic guitars etc. and grunge the hell out of his songs. His lyrics and music would be so bloody great grunged up.

best album e v e r.

Virtuosity and irritation together. hey, it was the 70s, what is there to complain about, after all?

Does anyone know the meaning/symbolism of the cover art? Are these people somehow related with the songs?

yep - miami 2017 is the grandmother and grandchild, ive loved these days is the couple, james is the guy with the books, the angry young man is the black guy, all you wanna do is dance is the girl with the headphones, guy with the bag is say goodbye to hollywood and billy joel is in a new york state of mind ... not sure about summer highland falls though

yes. also, yes!

When a Billy Joel song reminds you of Che Guevara.

That may be the stupidest thing I've ever read in Youtube comments. I think I'm dumber for having read it.

+JudyGurl: To say that it's the stupidest thing you've ever read in YouTube comments is saying something, given the limitless potential for stupidity here.

Never before have I seen such an impassioned defense of moral cowardice.

Yep, username checks out.

1.5 speed... you'll thank me later

1.25 is better

One of Jeremy Corbyn's favourite songs I heard on the radio the other day

One of the fastest and most intricate piano intros in rock.

Foreplay by Boston takes the cake though for keyboard intros. All in all, to decide which song I like more, I'd still say this, but especially the LIVE version from Shea.

He looks like Tim Curry there.

"I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage.
I've found that just surviving is a noble fight.
I once believed in causes too; I had my pointless points of view.
And life went on no matter who as wrong or right". Sums up a lot of us as we grow older.

luminozero
I think you're making the assertion that Billy himself is this guy who has given up on causes, when in all likelihood the "angry young man" is this long-existing archetype that he is channeling for the song. You'll notice he was never the steel worker in Allentown, the soldier in Goodnight Saigon, etc.

Martin Noah God forbid I should end up like that

Martin Noah - yes it does....

luminozero - check the lyrics again at age 64.... ;-)

Yep. All that ranting and raving and striving for a cause amounted to zero change. I'm retired.

If DragonForce had a member who played piano, I'd imagine it'd sound like the intro to this song

Anyone wanna tell him?

excellent

When you think about it, this song also explains where terrorists come from...

How does someone play such an amazing intro on the piano so perfectly?

He eventually gets it right but he admits himself he's messed up this song live more times than he's got it right ;)

With no bone in his left thumb!! The man's a musical genius.

To some extent it's a gift. Same as mastering any other instrument.

It's called editing he can play it pretty well but not 100% perfect studio editing existed back then not as good as now but you can cut a bad part and fix it

Just raw talent

Billy Joel just indirectly roasted me

@h. I am a member of a that group.

He can't roast. He may be a musical GOD, but he's simultaneously the king of ugly shitty ties 😂😂😂.

@pappagetti 2009 fax

Until he met Christie! How about a pair of pink sidewinders and a bright orange pair of pants?

My 6 month old baby sister loves this song so much

She knows what's up

his best

I was fortunate to see Billy Joel perform this song for his 'Storm Front' tour (I believe it was back in '90), and to my pleasant surprise they included this song (one of my favorite of his) within the set list. Standing four rows from the stage, it was amazing to watch the rapid-fire way he pounded out the notes. Which must be rough on his fingers, because you'd see him give a deep huff of "here we go!" every time. Still, a fantastic song all around.

Christopher Lansdowne I was at Maple Leaf Gardens for that tour. Great stuff.

I was fortunate enough to see him at The Spectrum Fall of '77 for The Stranger Tour just before he became a Rock Star.

Same tour for me. Storm Front at Wembley Arena, London. There was a few nice surprises there. Billy the Kid got rolled out, as did Miami 2017.

playing that trill with your thumbs while playing the other notes with your pinky and 4th finger is a real experience. I'm so impressed that he has the balls to do it at a live performance.

I'm pretty far right-wing. I consider myself fascist-lite. I'm pretty nationalistic. However, this song intrigues me and reminds me of a young man, perhaps living in the early 20th century. With ideals of Social equality and a classless society. When Karl Marx first appeared on the book shelves. This young man is preaching to Unions and the working class, but always ends up being beaten down by Pinkertons and cops, and his Unions always dissolving. It's quite historically romantic in a way.

I dont know quite...but you sound like a funny dude

Hm. Are you aware that fascism destroyed most Europe? That it means Power though violence? Is that what you want - to be dominated by someone who is simply stronger than you? ...? Good luck.

"Is that what you want - to be dominated by someone who is simply stronger than you?"That is what Progressivism is all about. Government Uber Alles.

+livingstranger: No.  You are sick.

The Lyrics are about every pretentious Leftie Loser in the World.

@stink fistula Just leave people alone. Problem solved.

That is just a point of view. Billy Joel has done his bit to immortalize such souls and it would be wrong to say that he did it just to gain popularity, since they clearly have a place in his heart. But a leftist with right leanings is only a seeming contradiction.Perhaps you are right, God should be in charge of the affairs of this world and not man, since god is clearly more than able, more than eager and more than able to help and to act on his own, and although man is god's creation; man is at best a flawed creation that god made on an off day and certainly not the cream of god's creation and a willing co-laborer working hand in hand with god to see god's kingdom come to rule and to reign. God can magically transform this world and he does not need the active and the willing participation and the involvement and the cooperation of man. God can just take over and possess the spirit of man and compel him and force him and bully him and beat him and cow him into submission by making man his puppet. God is a totalitarian dictator who always says my way or the high way. A familiar portrayal of god from a conservative right-winger. So what else is new.

@Ricardo Velasco Let's all start a pointless argument over a song we all like....and you say you're not angry?

Can it.

Joel is anti-Trumpler. Just saying.

Had the album and others and luckily saw him in concert 1978 at Market Square Arena- Indianapolis.  New York State of Mind, with the house lights dimmed and a giant mural of NYC  lit up behind him, is what I really recalled, never having heard the song before the concert.  Fantastic! Great use of Moog  here.

I read a great review once with him where he's said in the years since he greatly regretted using the Minimoog all over that album and that it makes the songs sound dated and gimmicky. He said at the time he was rolling in dough and the minimoog was the new hot thing so he bought one and then he tried to find every excuse to shoehorn it into every song simply because he owned it and wanted to use it.

I love this song so much!

It sounds like Kansas asked Billy Joel to sing one of their songs, with him playing acoustic piano.

Reminiscent of Kansas? A bit, it sounds more like Billy Joel subbing for Rick Davies in a Supertramp song. Or, sub a flute for the harmonica and synthesizer, Jethro Tull( Jethro Tull has a few songs with long piano intros). Defineitely a prog rock song, though, Mr. Joel could do it all

That is spot on. No One Together especially sounds like this, although this came out several years earlier.

I can hear a bit of a Kansas vibe,with the chord changes and timing changes.

Very accurate assessment!

This also has some vibes of Andy Pratt's "Avenging Annie" which is also very prog and reminds me of Kansas 'though in 1973 Kansas hadn't released an album yet.

Love it

his all time best Progressive Joel

Scenes from an Italian Restraunt counts too right?

Oh billy is great is one of my favorite rock star he was rock and roll ,progressive rock soul rock jazz pop rock soft rock.he is complete.

This is actually one of my favorite Billy Joel songs.

This is my favorite Billy Joel song.

actually

It's one of mine too. And there was a time before I took up guitar that Billy Joel was my hero, and I made it a point to buy every album he recorded. But oddly enough I have never owned a copy of Turnstiles.

Which is really strange, because I actually had a cassette copy of Cold Spring Harbor, but never got Turnstiles!

It is one of mine too. I love the piano, drums, everything about this song.

It was my favorite for a long time. Right now it’s The Stranger

AAAAAAA!  This is the song!  I heard this on the radio a few days and it took me FOREVER to figure out which one it was; all I heard was the crazy piano solo, and saying, "It's that Billy Joel song with the crazy piano solo" is like saying, "It's that Death Metal song where they roar the lyrics."

I didn't find the memory I was looking for, but the song is very wise and true.  A long time ago, I was an angry young woman, but in time, I learned to stick to my own fights and leave others to theirs, unless they ask for my help.

I heard this song for the first time yesterday at the grocery store I work at, and at first I was afraid it was completely instrumental so I wouldn't be able to look up the lyrics. :P But then I was relieved when I heard lyrics.
At least you knew who it was; I had no idea. XD

so in other words... it took you a few days to figure out which one it was? Lol

This is my favorite story.! when you liked a song and you hve no idea how to find it!. I love Billy Joel since I was in High School and since then I have been discovering new music. First I spent hours in the internet cafe, dowloading all I could, discovering new songs, loving his music and I remembre the first time I heard this song, was when I bought the disk it was in. I loved it. Now I have all his music on spotify

To be fair, this has easily the longest instrumental prelude of any BJ song (Ballad of Billy the Kid being the 2nd?)

Sounds too slow! Heard them do this much more up tempo in concert.

+Steve Grieve you can change the speed to 1.25 lol

+chrizles it really does help it haha

DUDE! That's awesome. I think that's so cool!

If it's any consolation, you've got at least one fan from the generation after you. 15 year olds can still be hip and with it ;)

Same here I'm turning 16 this month and this is one of my favourite BJ songs.

14 and I absolutely love this