All Together Now

The album 52nd Street by Billy Joel will always be an anomaly. On side 1 (for people who remember vinyl LPs), you will find some of his biggest hits that, in my opinion, are some of his worst and least listenable songs. On side 2, you will find some of his least known, yet very finest songs. Beautifully written songs, recorded with passion and diligence.

Readers of this blog, and those unfortunate to have to listen to my rants in person, know my feelings well. A previous blog post of mine begins with the admission that I am not the Billy Joel fan I once was. As of the writing of this article, Joel’s most recent album release was over 30 years ago, yet he continues to tour and fill major arenas resting on the laurels of his past. Billy Joel is an immensely talented and creative singer-songwriter. I wish he would do more, I know he could do more, but I digress.

The cover of 52nd Street shows Joel standing alone on a New York street (yes, it was 52nd street in midtown Manhattan) holding a trumpet in hand. Garbage lays on the street, the white brick wall behind him is grimy, and there is a rusty security gate right next to him.

And yet this is not the grimy, street-wise album one might expect based on the cover. Sure, the album starts with “Big Shot,” a gritty rock song in which Billy berates people who try to live lives out-doing everybody else. Then we have “Honesty” and “My Life,” perhaps two of the most cloyingly annoying songs in pop music history. I dislike these songs so much, I will not even honor them with a link to YouTube. All three of these first songs 52nd Street were major hits for Billy, making the album one of the best selling records of all time.

From hard rock, to syrupy ballad, to campy pop song, Billy then gives us “Zanzibar,” a sharp turn from everything that preceded it on side 1. An intriguing tale of a barfly working up the courage to ask a waitress on a date, because she serves him with a “secret smile.” The song has a unique time signature, and includes elements of rock, pop and jazz featuring a killer trumpet solo by the great Freddie Hubbard.

From there we have “Stilletto” (sneaks up on you out of nowhere), “Rosalinda’s Eyes” (check out the great percussion), and “Half a Mile Away” (eat your heart out Chicago!). And then, before the album ends with the genius “52nd Street” title track, we hear the masterful “Until the Night.”

Billy Joel was a child of the 1950’s and 1960’s, and “Until the Night’ beautifully showcases his love for doo-wop, soul and the great Phil Spector wall of sound style production. The song is not a carbon copy of anything else. It is sincere, it is heartfelt, and it is one of Billy Joel’s very finest recordings.

The song starts quietly, and immediately evokes the breathtaking opening lines of “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers. Just as in that classic, an entire story is told in just a few words. The piano exhales in low bass notes, with a light cymbal accompaniment.

“I never ask you where you go
After I leave you in the morning”

He is in love, and while he expresses his love and trust to her, he also expresses his doubt.

“We go our different ways to separate situations
It’s not that easy anymore

Today I do what must be done
I give my time to total strangers
But now it feels as though the day goes on forever
More than it ever did before“

While he is at work, he thinks of her. Where is she? What is she doing? The day goes on and on as he wonders how she spends her time.

The entire band falls in, and strings crescendo to the chorus.

“Until the night, until the night
I just might make it
Until the night, until the night
When I see you again“

Phil Spector never recorded a wall of sound quite like this. If he can just get through the day to see her again tonight, he knows he will be OK. This is everything. This is all he cares about. The music goes quiet again as we head into the next verse.

“Now you’re afraid that we have changed
And I’m afraid we’re getting older.
So many broken hearts, so many lonely faces
So many lovers come and gone

I’ll have my fears like every man
You’ll have your tears like every woman
Today we’ll be unsure, is this what we believe in
And wonder how can we go on“

Couples live their lives together. They grow, they learn and they hope. Maybe their dreams will intertwine, hopefully they will, but sometimes they won’t. In the dark we fear the worst. Can we make it? Are we there together?

And again, the music crescendos. He knows they can make it, he knows they will be together, if only he can get through the day. If only are together until the night.

“Until the night, until the night
I just might make it
Until the night, until the night
When I see you again”

The harmonies are so rich, and the orchestration is perfectly lush and dense. When the music is loud, it fills our brains and lungs, and when it quiets down for the choruses, we hear space, reflection and atmosphere. We can taste the dusk on our tongues. We can feel the chill of the evening air. The music now gets quiet again, quieter than before, as he finally heads home.

“When the sun goes down
And the day is over
When the last of the light has gone
As they pour into the street
I will be getting closer
As the cars turn their headlights on”

He has had his doubts and fears all day, but now he is almost there. Almost with her. If he can just get there, he knows that everything will be alright. He is steady. He is determined.

“As they’re closing it down
I’m gonna open it up
And while they’re going to sleep
We’ll just be starting to touch”

The music slowly builds and does his resolve. They are going to be OK, he just needs to get home. He knows he will need to leave the house again tomorrow, and his doubts and fears will return, but tonight everything will be OK.

“I’m just beginning to feel
I’m just beginning to give
I’m just beginning to feel
I’m just beginning to live
Before I leave you again
Before the light of the dawn
Before this evening can end
I have been waiting so long“

With every line, the music gets louder, and the singing gets more passionate. The saxophone belts out a solo and Billy wails in the background. We can hear Phil Spector, The Ronnettes, Bruce Springsteen, the Righteous Brothers. An entire history of rock and soul lives and breathes in this one song.

I am convinced that without the first three songs, the 52nd Street would have widely been recognized as a true masterpiece, one of the great albums of the rock and roll era. “Until the Night” is a perfect example of what Billy Joel can do, and maybe what he will do again.

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“Until the Night”
Written and Performed by Billy Joel
Released March, 1979