Billy Joel

Released: March 12, 1980

Songwriter: Billy Joel

Producer: Phil Ramone

[Verse 1]
Blackout, heatwave, .44 caliber homicide
The bums drop dead and dogs go mad
In packs on the West Side
Young girl standing on a ledge looks like another suicide
She wants to hit those bricks
Cause the news at six gotta stick to a deadline
While the millionaires hide in Beekman Place
The bag ladies throw their bones in my face
I get attacked by a kid with stereo sound
I don't want to hear it but he won't turn it down
Life is tough but it's just enough
To hold back the tears until it's closing time
I survived, I'm still alive
But I'm getting close to the borderline
Close to the borderline

[Verse 2]
A buck three eighty
Won't buy you much lately on the street these days
And when you can get gas
You know you can't drive fast anymore on the parkways
Rich man, poor man, either way American
Shoved into the lost and found
The no nuke yell we're gonna all go to hell
With the next big meltdown
I got remote control and a color T.V
I don't change channels so they must change me
I got real close friends that will get me high
They don't know how to talk and they ain't gonna try
I shouldn't bitch, I shouldn't cry
I'd start a revolution but I don't have time
I don't know why I'm still a nice guy
But I'm getting closer to the borderline
Close to the borderline

[Bridge]
I thought I'd sacrifice so many things
I thought I'd throw them all away
I didn't think I needed anything
But you can't afford to squander what you're not prepared to pay

[Outro]
I need a doctor for my pressure pills
I need a lawyer for my medical bills
I need a banker to finance my home
I need security to back my loan
It isn't new what I'm going through
But everybody knows you got to break sometime
Another night I fought the good fight
But I'm getting closer to the borderline
Close to the borderline

Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer/songwriter, producer, and composer who ranks as one of the most iconic and influential artists from the mid to late 20th century.

He is the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, wrote a total of 121 songs that achieved 33 Top 40 hits in the US, a 6-time Grammy winner out of 23 nominations, and one of the best-selling recording artists of all-time with 150 million albums sold worldwide.

Joel has since continued to tour and sells out in stadiums globally. He also delved into classical music composition, arranging an album, Fantasies and Delusions released in 2001, opened a motorcycle shop on his native Long Island, and is now regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Among his numerous accolades, he was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, bestowed with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2013, and awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress in 2014.

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