I love the song ‘For the Longest Time)–have since 1983– and have a blast when it comes on the radio in the car, I attempt to tackle the singing parst of every doo-wop singer in this Billy Joel joint. It’s an endeavor that takes breath support and more than a little ventriloquism skill.
The lyrics are so upbeat, so grateful, so purposely naive. This is someone who’s seen at all and still likes a girl enough to dive into the deep end once more.
As for the rhymes, they are as simple and pure as a children’s book by Margaret Wise Brown, author of ‘Goodnight Moon and The Color Kittens” (she chose her word for their sounds along with how they looked, acting like a musician as much as a storyteller)
Back to “The Longest Time.Our protagonist in this song is also picking his words carefully. No big words, just the kind that trip off your tongue. No entirely new thoughts, just timeworn phrases and expressions.
They work so well that it’s genius. “I’m that voice you’e hearing in the hall. And the greatest miracle of all…”
After that, I don’t even care that the rest of the sentence–the part where he tIt’s like, I don’t care that the next lines don’t really rhyme. They go, okay. You had telels us about the big miracle–peters out a bit when it comes to rhyming. Come on. The Piano Man had me at hello.
This is my favorite Billy Joel song, I think because it’s one of his songs that doesn’t carry an undercurrent of sadness, regret, that outsider feeling. It’s just a singalong jam. And you know exactly what would happen if you were driving home with your carpool group and this doo-wop delight came on the radio. You’d be scrambling to find out who’s gonna sing alto and who’s gonna tackle bass.
–Sarah Torribio
Listen to more songs of the day curated by Sarah Torribio HERE
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