Released: August 8, 1983
Songwriter: Billy Joel
Producer: Phil Ramone
[Verse 1]
If it seems like I've been lost in "let's remember"
If you think I'm feeling older and missing my younger days
Oh, then you should have known me much better
'Cause my past is something that never got in my way
[Verse 2]
Still I would not be here now if I never had the hunger
And I'm not ashamed to say the wild boys were my friends
Oh, 'cause I never felt the desire
Until their music set me on fire
[Chorus]
And then I was saved
That's why I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Verse 3]
We wore matador boots, only Flagg Brothers had them with a Cuban heel
Iridescent socks with the same color shirt and a tight pair of chinos
I put on my shark skin jacket, you know the kind with the velvet collar
And ditty-bop shades, oh yeah
[Verse 4]
I took a fresh pack of Luckies and a mint called Sen-Sen
My old man's Trojans and his Old Spice aftershave
Combed my hair in a pompadour like the rest of the Romeos wore
A permanent wave
[Chorus]
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Bridge]
You can get just so much from a good thing
You can linger too long in your dreams
Say goodbye to the oldies but goodies
'Cause the good old days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems
[Verse 5]
Learned stickball as a formal education
Lost a lot of fights but it taught me how to lose okay
I heard about sex but not enough
I found you could dance and still look tough anyway
[Verse 6]
I found out a man ain't just being macho
Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food, drank a lot of take home pay
I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl in a Chevrolet
[Chorus]
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Bridge]
You know the good old days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems
[Verse 7]
I told you my reasons for the whole revival
Now I'm going outside to have an ice cold beer in the shade
Oh, I'm going to listen to my 45's
Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the rock 'n' roll plays
When the memory stays
[Chorus]
I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Outro]
We were keeping the faith
We were keeping the faith
I'm keeping the faith
Oh, you know I will
If it seems like I've been lost in "let's remember"
If you think I'm feeling older and missing my younger days
Oh, then you should have known me much better
'Cause my past is something that never got in my way
[Verse 2]
Still I would not be here now if I never had the hunger
And I'm not ashamed to say the wild boys were my friends
Oh, 'cause I never felt the desire
Until their music set me on fire
[Chorus]
And then I was saved
That's why I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Verse 3]
We wore matador boots, only Flagg Brothers had them with a Cuban heel
Iridescent socks with the same color shirt and a tight pair of chinos
I put on my shark skin jacket, you know the kind with the velvet collar
And ditty-bop shades, oh yeah
[Verse 4]
I took a fresh pack of Luckies and a mint called Sen-Sen
My old man's Trojans and his Old Spice aftershave
Combed my hair in a pompadour like the rest of the Romeos wore
A permanent wave
[Chorus]
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Bridge]
You can get just so much from a good thing
You can linger too long in your dreams
Say goodbye to the oldies but goodies
'Cause the good old days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems
[Verse 5]
Learned stickball as a formal education
Lost a lot of fights but it taught me how to lose okay
I heard about sex but not enough
I found you could dance and still look tough anyway
[Verse 6]
I found out a man ain't just being macho
Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food, drank a lot of take home pay
I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl in a Chevrolet
[Chorus]
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Bridge]
You know the good old days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems
[Verse 7]
I told you my reasons for the whole revival
Now I'm going outside to have an ice cold beer in the shade
Oh, I'm going to listen to my 45's
Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the rock 'n' roll plays
When the memory stays
[Chorus]
I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
[Outro]
We were keeping the faith
We were keeping the faith
I'm keeping the faith
Oh, you know I will
- An Innocent Man (1983)
- Greatest Hits, Volume III (1997)
- We Didn’t Start the Fire
- Piano Man
- Vienna
- Uptown Girl
- The Longest Time
- She’s Always a Woman
- Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
- Just the Way You Are
- Only the Good Die Young
- Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
- New York State of Mind
- Allentown
- Honesty
- The Stranger
- Goodnight Saigon
- My Life
- It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
- Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
- And So it Goes
- Big Shot
- Captain Jack
- An Innocent Man
- Zanzibar
- The Downeaster “Alexa”