Cast Your Vote! Star Wars or Billy Joel?

Your voice matters!

I know that some of my Star Wars posts leave many of my dear readers completely in the dark. However, some of you really get into them. And you really should all be watching Ahsoka.

That being said, I’ve had some entries in my head for awhile on the complex implications of various Billy Joel songs. I grew up on Billy Joel, and can recite almost the entire cannon of Billy Joel lyrics from memory. I have a freaky memory for dates and lyrics and basically anything I’ve ever heard (not seen, I can barely see as it is, check out my reading glasses!). Word to the wise: if you’ve done anything you don’t want to be remembered, don’t tell me about it. I’ll just assume the best.

I loved Billy Joel from when I was a kid, driving around Raleigh, NC with my mom blasting “Uptown Girl” at the top of the stereo. “While the Night is Still Young” filled my headphones while riding around Greensboro, NC with my dad and step-mother on weekends with them. I imagined settling down, but I knew even then that I would never “have a child someday.” Then when I got to high school, mostly thanks to my forever best friend Emy Johnson now Zener, I was introduced to even more Billy Joel. “Rosalinda’s Eyes.” “Zanzibar.” So many more.

Fast forward to Yale, where Joe now Joseph wrote amazingly brilliant alternative lyrics to Billy Joel songs. My favorite was “The Longest Speech.” Dave now David also wrote alternative lyrics… was “E-board Man” to the tune of “Angry Young Man” or another song?

“Blonde Over Blue” filled my brain in college, sophomore year in particular. “But in the darkness… I see your light turn on… you know my weakness… you know how I respond to…” “Your hands are cold, your eyes are fire.” And these days I identify more now than ever with the line, “I look and I write my book and I walk away with the wrong impressions. Don’t care cause I’ve done my share and I need some time for my own obsessions.”

My father and I share a love for Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby, and Katy Perry among many others. I think my dad would appreciate the Billy Joel analysis more than Star Wars.

Thinking back to my twenties… “It’s Just a Fantasy,” which I remember twirling around Brooklyn listening to when I had a crush on a guy I met at Emy’s wedding. Nothing ever happened. What ever happened to that guy? I hope he is well. Seemed like a nice young man. No doubt happily married with well-behaved children, hopefully with a cat, but he didn’t strike me as a cat person, which might explain why it’s just as well that nothing ever happened.

“All for Leyna.” It’s a good sign that I don’t listen to that one much anymore. If there comes a time when I put “All for Leyna” and “Layla” on the same playlist, it’s probably time to pick up a third job, get an MBA, or move promptly to a region heavily populated by polar bears.

“She’s Right on Time” was on a mix tape that a close friend made me when I left for Vermont to lead the campaign at Fletcher Allen in 2002. It had so many meanings when I came home to be the Director of Organizing at PASNAP, the professional nurses’ union of Pennsylvania. So many memories. So many meanings.

I could write a book of reflections on both Star Wars and Billy Joel. Which would you prefer? Please vote, and say why, in the comments.

Thank you for your support. Every time you open one of these emails, it’s like a little hug coming through the interwebs. Sending you hugs back.