Thursday, October 06, 2005

THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF ALL

DID EVERYBODY GO REVIEW BILLY JOEL'S "THE LONGEST TIME"?

CHRIST, that song is good. I find the changes (and the lyrics) leading into the chorus to be especially moving; "What else could I do?/ I'm so inspired by you." Honestly, I should be singing those words to BJ, not him to me.

I was vibing so hard on this song that I felt connected to the Ur-Vibe. Some people call this cosmic consciousness. Can you imagine feeling so great about a song that so many people find lame? THIS must be how NOISE DUDES feel about 20-minute raucous, feedback jams. I've been FASCINATED and EXCITED by noise music but it's never given me a heartwarming endorphin rush like POP MUZIK. However, I am CONFIDENT that it has had EXACTLY this effect on other people. Therein lies the Ur-Vibe, also known as the Uber-Vibe, the Over-Vibe, etc...

This Ur-Vibe doesn't mean that WE ARE ALL ONE. Our differences are clear. Like two drops of water in the ocean, we are separate, but we are also both PARTS of the SAME thing: HUMANITY.

Woah, speaking of humanity, my friend Wes Man just sent me a pic of some sweet T-Shirts he's been making. I guess positivity isn't dead after all!



Isn't that awesome? It's based on a dream he had about an ASTRONAUT SLAMDUNKING. Travelling, indeed! E-mail Wes about getting your own shirt at: sirmiles [at] gmail.com
I'm sure he'll make you a shirt for dirt cheap...



OK, back to Billy Joel:

When I tapped in to the Ur-Vibe, I was compelled to GOOGLE "billy joel longest time best song ever." In the process, I started to understand the Internet more than ever before.

Quite a few of the hits came from NON-BILLY JOEL message boards:

ON THE LACROSSE FORUMS, the Internet's Finest Lacrosse Community, someone started a thread "What song are you addicted to right now?":

One user, the mysterious NRVLC, names "The Longest Time".

Other users express dismay/confusion at their own tastes:

LaXDaVe: "Mike jones is a huge fag who says his name over and over again like he cant remember it, but yet I still listen to his stuff...whats up with that?"

Sycamorelax concurs: "Back Then- Mike Jones... I listen to Mike Jones even tho hes gay."

mclax: "the piano man-billy joel.. i listen to it like crazy idk why"
EDITOR'S NOTE: idk means I DON'T KNOW for all you narcs

Over on the GovTeen forums (I'm not sure what GovTeens are but I'm pretty sure they are some kind of teens):

"Greatest song ever?"

sugardawg45328: "I have tons of favorites, but since I can only nominate one... I'm trying to decide between For the Longest Time by Billy Joel (though the best version is the one Rockapella sings) or Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. Hmm...

I think I'll have to go with Good Riddance because I like the guitar part a lot too."

searhorse gives "The Longest Time" a shout-out on the OFFICIAL BRUCE WILLIS FORUM.

WOAH, people really love Message Boards. These online communities have transcended their petty topics to become BONAFIDE FAMILIES.

More interesting: Why do lacrosse players think Mike Jones is gay?
LOOKS LIKE THE BILLY JOEL ANALYSIS IS GONNA HAVE TO BE A MULTI-PARTER.

Let's finish today with some biographical information on BJ:

-Billy Joel is from Levittown, Long Island, New York, a planned suburban community built between 1947-1951 by Joseph Levitt.



I think this quote sums up Levittown and, to some extent, Modern America:

"After the Cape Cod style was built out, Levitt began construction on the California Ranch style..."
- from WIKIPEDIA

FINAL THOUGHT:

In "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), Billy Joel sings "Cadillac-ac-ac-ac-ac..." Does this predict Animal Collective and their rhythmic syllable experiments? Is A/C a synthesis of BJ and PW?

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

yo, Ez -

I fucking love "The Longest Time", I sang it as an audition piece for 'jazz choir' in high school! New Providence High!!!! Annie Reeds was in the choir, but NOT the jazz choir. BJ's hits (volumes 1 AND 2) were some of the first songs I ever listened to when I was a kid, 'piano man' was the first song I learned to play on the piano (I STILL REMEMBER MOST OF IT) - basically, I have a huge soft spot for the guy. and I actually got to see him perform LIVE at this fancy party a year or two ago that my g/f got me invited to at this fancy new hotel, I had to rent a tux and everything and it was definitely one of the classiest nights of my life. I met I.M. PEI, the architect, and saw BJ, the music legend! sadly he did not play "the longest time", but he DID play "just the way you are", which is seriously almost as good

and FYI I was born in Ridgewood hospital, but spent the first few months/almost a year of my life at my parents' house in Glen Ridge! then my 'rents moved to VA for awhile before we came back to NJ, this time New Prov (like 86 or so?) - so I don't really remember Glen Ridge, but it was my first home!

best
John.

2:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dued

i heard a legend that billy j played piano on the demo of the shangri-las 'remember (walkin in the sand)'

where will da cycle end??

space!

10:58 AM  
Blogger ezrakoenig said...

Is Jazz Choir like regular Chorus with costumes and hand movements?
That's awesome that you got to see BJ.
I heard he's really short.

11:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

jazz choir = hand movements, NO COSTUMES (do tuxedos count?)

BJ = really, truly, short!!!

12:16 AM  

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