Billy Joel Album

I seen the lights go out on Broadway.
I saw the Empire State laid low.
And life went on beyond the Palisades.
They all bought Cadillacs and left there long ago.
They held a concert out in Brooklyn
To watch the island bridges blow.
They turned our power down,
And drove us underground,
But we went right on with the show.
Oooh. Oh Oh Ooh.

I seen the lights go out on Broadway.
I saw the ruins at my feet.
You know we almost didn't notice it.
We'd see it all the time on 42nd Street.
They burned the churches up in Harlem,
Like in that Spanish Civil War.
The flames were everywhere,
But no one really cared:
It always burned up there before.
Ooh. Oh Oh Ooh.

I seen the lights go out on Broadway.
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
The boats were waiting at the Battery.
The union went on strike:
They never sailed at all.
They sent the carrier out from Norfolk,
And picked the Yankees up for free.
They said that Queens could stay.
They blew the Bronx away,
And sank Manhattan out at sea.

You know those lights were bright on Broadway,
But that was so many years ago:
Before we all lived here in Florida,
Before the Mafia took over Mexico.
There are not many who remember;
They say a handful still survive
To tell the world about
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive.

They say that these are not the best of times
But they’re the only times I’ve ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own
Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lover’s eyes
And I can only stand apart and sympathize

For we are always what our situations hand us
It’s either sadness or euphoria

So we’ll argue and we’ll compromise
And realize that nothing’s ever changed
For all our mutual experience
Our separate conclusions are the same
Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
A reason coexists with our insanity

And though we choose between reality and madness
It’s either sadness or euphoria

How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies
Perhaps we don’t fulfill each other’s fantasies
And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives
With our respective similarities

It’s either sadness or euphoria

Oh…!

Streetlife serenader
Never sang on stages
Needs no orchestration
Melody comes easy

Midnight masquerader
Shoppin' center heroes
Child of Eisenhower
New world celebrator

Streetlife serenaders
Have such understanding
How the words are spoken
How to make the motions

Streetlife serenaders
Have no obligations
Hold no grand illusions
Need no stimulation

Midnight masqueraders
Workin' hard for wages
Need no vast arrangements
To do their harmonizing

Los Angelenos
All come from somewhere
To live in sunshine
Their funky exile
Midwestern ladies
High-heeled and faded
Driving sleek new sports cars
With their New York cowboys

Hiding up in the mountains
Laying low in the canyons
Going nowhere on the streets
With the Spanish names
Making love with the natives
In their Hollywood places
Making up for all the time gone by

Los Angelenos
All come from somewhere
’cause it’s all so easy
To become acquainted
Electric babies
Blue-jeaned and jaded
Such hot sweet schoolgirls
So educated

Tanning out in the beaches
With their Mexican reefers
No one ever has to feel
Like a refugee
Going into garages
For exotic massages
Making up for all the time gone by

Hiding up in the mountains
Laying low in the canyons
Going nowhere on the streets
With the Spanish names
Making love with the natives
In their Hollywood places
Making up for all the time gone by

Los Angelenos
All come from somewhere
It’s so familiar
Their foreign faces

She's got a way about her
I don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without her
She's got a way of pleasin'
I don't know why it is
But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway

She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She's got a way of talkin'
I don't know why it is
But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere

She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me and I get turned around

She's got a way of showin'
How I make her feel
And I find the strength to keep on goin'
she'sgot a light around her
And everywhere she goes
A million dreams of love surround her everywhere

She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me
I get turned around

She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know what it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She's got a way about her
I don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without her anyway

Baby all the lights are turned on you
Now you're in the center of the stage
Everything revolves on what you do
Ah, you are in your prime; you've come of age

And you can always have your way somehow
But everybody loves you now

You can walk away from your mistakes
You can turn your back on what you do
Just a little smile is all it takes
Yeah, you can have your cake and eat it too

Loneliness will get to you somehow
But everybody loves you now

Ah, they all want your white body
And they await your reply
Ah, but between you and me and the Staten Island ferry
So do I

All the people want to know your name
Soon there will be lines outside your door
Feelings do not matter in your game
Yeah, 'cause nothing's gonna touch you anymore

So your life is only living anyhow
And everybody loves you now

Close your eyes when you don't want to see
Stay at home when you don't want to go
Only speak to those who will agree
Yeah, and close your mind when you don't want to know

You have lost you innocence somehow
But everybody loves you now

Ah, you know that nothing lasts forever
And it's all been done before
Ah, but you ain't got the time to go to Cold Spring Harbor
No more

See how all the people gather 'round
Hey, isn't it a thrill to see them crawl?
Keep your eyes ahead and don't look down
Yeah, and lock yourself inside your sacred wall

This is what you wanted; ain't you proud?
'Cause everybody loves you now

Bobby's driving through the city tonight
Through the lights in a hot new rent-a-car
He joins the lovers in his heavy machine
It's a scene down on Sunset Boulevard

Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby

Johnny's taking care of things for a while
And his style is so right for troubadours
They got him sitting with his back to the door
Now he won't be my fast gun anymore

Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby

Moving on is a chance that you take
Anytime you try to stay together
Whoa
Say a word out of line
And you'll find out that the friends that you had
Are gone forever
Forever
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last
Some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again

Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby

Moving on is a chance that you take
Anytime you try to stay together
Whoa
Say a word out of line
And you'll find out that the friends that you had
Are gone forever
Forever
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last
Some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again

Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Say Goodbye to my baby

Saturday night and you're still hangin' around
You're tired of livin' in your one horse town
You'd like to find a little hole in the ground
For a while...

So you go to the village in your tie-dye jeans
And you stare at the junkies and the closet queens
It's like some pornographic magazine
And you smile...

But Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push 'n' you'll be smilin'
La da da, Oh yeah, yeah

Your sister's gone out, she's on a date
And you just sit at home and masturbate
Your phone is gonna ring soon, but you just can't wait
For that call...

So you stand on the corner in your new English clothes
And you look so polished from your hair down to your toes
But still your fingers gonna pick your nose
After all...

But Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push 'n' you'll be smilin'
La da da, Oh yeah, yeah

So you decide to take a holiday
You got your tape deck and your brand new Chevrolet
Ah but there's no place to go anyway
And what for...

You've got everything but nothing's cool,
They've just found your father in the swimming pool
And you guess you won't be going back to school
Anymore...

But Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push 'n' you'll be smilin'
La da da, Oh yeah, yeah

So you play your albums and you smoke your pot
And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot
Oh, but still you're aching for the things you haven't got
What went wrong...

And if you can't understand why your world is so dead
And why you've got to keep in style and feed your head
Well, you're twenty-one and still your mother makes your bed
and that's too long...

But Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push 'n' you'll be smilin'
La da da, Oh yeah, yeah
Yeah, Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Yeah, Captain Jack will get you by tonight

When you look into my eyes
And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul
It always comes as a surprise
When I feel my withered roots begin to grow
Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home

When you touch my weary head
And you tell me everything will be all right
You say, "Use my body for your bed
And my love will keep you warm throughout the night"
Well I'll never be a stranger and I'll never be alone
Whenever we're together, that's my home

Home can be the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Indiana's early morning dew
High up in the hills of California
Home is just another word for you

Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home

If I travel all my life
And I never get to stop and settle down
Long as I have you by my side
There's a roof above and good walls all around
You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome
I need you in my house 'cause you're my home.
You're my home.

From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and West of the Rio Grande

Well he started with a bank in Colorado
In the pocket of his vest a Colt he hid
And his age and his size
Took the teller by surprise
And the word spread of Billy the Kid

Well he never travelled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
Well he never had a sweetheart
And he never had a home
But the cowboys and the ranchers knew his name

Well he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
And the law just could not seem to track him down
And it served his legend well
For the folks they love to tell
'Bout when Billy the Kid came to town

One cold day a posse captured Billy
And the judge said, "String 'im up for what he did."
And the cowboys and their kin
Like the sea came pourin' in
To watch the hangin' of Billy the Kid

Well he never travelled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
Well he never had a sweetheart
Tho' he finally found a home
Underneath the Boot Hill grave that bears his name

From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island
Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and West of the Rio Grande

Now we take our time, so nonchalant,
And spend our nights so bon vivant.
We dress our days in silken robes,
The money comes, the money goes,
We know it's all a passing phase.

We light our lamps for atmosphere,
And hang our hopes on chandeliers.
We're going wrong, we're gaining weight,
We're sleeping long and far too late.
And so it's time to change our ways...
But I've loved these days.

Now as we indulge in things refined,
We hide our hearts from harder times.
A string of pearls, a foreign car,
Oh, we can only go so far
On caviar and Cabernet.

We drown our doubts in dry champagne,
And soothe our souls with fine cocaine.
I don't know why I even care,
We get so high and get nowhere.
We'll have to change our jaded ways...
But I've loved these days.

So before we end, and then begin,
We'll drink a toast to how it's been-
A few more hours to be complete,
A few more nights on satin sheets,
A few more times that I can say...
I've loved these days.