/* TFP - lyricinterpretations */ In case you don’t remember or never heard of it, I’m talking about the song by Billy Joel. You Catholic girls start much too late The single had been out a short amount of time and wasn’t doing well. They say only the good die young. I know that only the good die young, but I'm still heartbroken to have lost my best friend—she was just 20 years old and had her whole life ahead of her! : : THE GOOD DIE YOUNG - " (Whom the gods love dies young; Best go first.) Only the good die young… As a physician and follower of science, this theory can never be substantiated. He sings, Verse 1 If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it. Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel is featured in Grilled Cheesus, the third episode of Season Two. ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG. In the past they’d been saddled with demanding producers who brought in studio musicians “who were good players but weren’t me,” according to Joel. “And Liberty [DeVitto], my drummer, is so sick of reggae that he literally throws his drumsticks at me and says, ‘Ugh, I frigging hate reggae! The decent, “straight-A,” teenage student… It is sung by Puck. Aww She never cared for me, by Shawn Brasseaux Such an inquiry sends chills up and down the author’s spine. We might be laughing a bit too loud, The song is clearly anti-Catholic although Billy Joel probably was more concerned with getting into Virginia’s pants. “They were saying, ‘You can’t do that on TV.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ Some people took offense at it, but there were all these novels written about Jewish guilt, so why not a song about Catholic guilt? The object of Joel’s affections was one Virginia Callahan, an unrequited crush from his high school days in Levittown, Long Island. Never lets in the sun”, “They say there’s a heaven for those who will wait In this mellow Rock tune, Queen pays tribute to their late frontman who is in heaven now. only the good die young A phrase typically used as a source of comfort after someone has died at a young age. Young is used as a metaphor. Song meanings ©2003-2021 lyricinterpretations.com. The best example of this is the lines, And it’s a gentle way of talking about those whom we should not have lost. Of course at the end of the song the boy gets nowhere and the girl still keeps her chastity (virginity) I love the first line “Come out,Virginia”,my golf buddy was in the hospital when UVA played Vandy in CWS.They came out(won it),but he didn’t make it.He grew up in NC,so now the line is “Carolina,callin’ me home.”Eric Church lyric. The president of the college at the time took exception to lines such as: “The stained glass curtain you’re hiding behind And when he ended his show with his trademark farewell to the audience, “Don’t take any shit from anybody”—it rang with an extra kick. My boxers are fine. The melody is definitely catchy though, but Billy Joel is as mortal as the rest of us, what does he know about heaven or hell ? He used to also say that bad people would live longer because God wasn't done with them yet and they weren't ready for Heaven. Your comment speaks volumes about you. Don’t like the surface message, which seems to condone a degenerate in his attempts to “get” an innocent girl. Sign Up For First Notice of Creative Workshops, Bonnie Raitt: Celebrating Songwriters at the Ryman, Marian Anderson’s April 9, 1939 Lincoln Memorial Performance, The Sgt. Toggle navigation. [the Father] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult parts of life. I do like Billy Joel singing I Love you just the way you are. Its message could be that even the good people die, so you might as well be bad. Bad Actress. As for WSOU, times have apparently changed. (function() { “But then Columbia decided to put it out as a single, and that’s when there were problems. The phrase is more referring to the person that has passed-- commenting on their good nature and youth. I have mixed feelings about the song. Still he shows his arrogance with his response to the Church’s rejection of his song. People who only heard that single might’ve thought, ‘Oh, Billy Joel the anti-Catholic guy.’”. I know that only the good die young, but I'm still heartbroken to have lost my best friend—she was just 20 years old and had her whole life ahead of her! I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints Brian May wrote the lyrics to the song and it is quite clear that even after six years since Freddie’s death, the remaining members of Queen were not done grieving over him. Only The Good Die Young. Your email address will not be published. 4 Answers. It was taken out of context with the rest of the album. This year marks 30 years since this track has been released. He was just the kindest person, and only the good die young. }; Philosophically, my theory is that people who are kind , gentle and loving have no barriers. “I wrote letters to the arch-bishops and the president of Seton Hall,” Joel laughed, “saying, ‘Please ban my next record.’”, From Performing Songwriter Issue 107, January/February 2008. And also her own mother is stopping her seeing the boy. We expect the very old to die. the good die young. WSOU at Seton Hall is affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese in Newark. Not one to be intimidated, he played it twice and got the whole audience to sing along. Dying young in this notation would imply not dying young of age, but young in experience. There are a lot of things that can be written to sing about, makes no sense to lead a Generation away from God with a Song. The song "only the good die young" by Billy Joel contains lyrics that are against the goody-goody religious people. Johnny from Los Angeles, Ca I think this is only … div_id: "cf_async_" + Math.floor((Math.random() * 999999999)) Prov. I know that only the good die young, but I'm still heartbroken to have lost my best friend—she was just 20 years old and had her whole life ahead of her! Young is used as a metaphor. There was no way I was going to do anything else but be a musician.”. last time i saw her was at her brother Chris’s wedding she had put on some weight and was still single . Mailing List })(); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Song is a short story about a teenage boy who tries to convince a teenage Catholic girl to have sex with him and how the church is stopping her from enjoying life. In 1999, the piano man reminisced, “One of the first gigs I ever played with my high-school band the Echoes, this girl that I had a crush on was looking at me—Virginia. General Commentread the title and think over it, Only the good die Young... probably means something like, the evil gets remembered the longest (this probably fits … He is merely questioning the church’s principles which are imposed upon their members, while the upper echelon of the church don’t abide by them! Today their station catchphrase is “The Loudest Rock,” with playlists that feature head-banging acts Mudvayne and Serj Tankian. It means that if you haven't lived your life fast paced and done some crazy things, then you haven't lived life to its fullest. Again, my apologies. I heard it playing in my car yesterday. That’s not at all representative of me or the tone of what I do here. It’s my all time favorite Billy Joel song! Kudos to him for standing up to an antiquated institution who refuses to change with the times. I like the melody of the song but that’s about as far as it goes, the lyrics really don’t have any significant meaning to me. Required fields are marked *. The boy/narrator believes that the girl is refusing him because she comes from a religious Catholic family and that she believes premarital sex is sinful. That's the meaning of this album" By David West (Prog) March 12, 2018 As frontman for Israeli proggers Orphaned Land, Kobi Farhi passionately wants people to question the world around them. Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young”. A lesbian or bi (or another form of homosexuality) girl somehow finds out that a sweet well behaved VERY Catholic girl she knows (Virginia) is also Lesbian/Bi/Other and is very happy about that because Virginia is very beautiful and has an amazing personality. Captured on the third take, “Only the Good Die Young” burns with a fiery rock ‘n’ roll spirit, the bright acoustic guitars and zydeco-flavored organ jabs slicing against DeVitto’s propulsive backbeat. Some radio stations even refused to give the song any airtime. But did she ever say a prayer for me?" He’d already scored Top 40 hits with “Piano Man” and “The Entertainer” and was writing songs for what became his breakthrough album, 1977’s The Stranger. Well-regarded people who are morally upright, kind, and beneficent tend to die at a younger age than do most people. They banned it.”. He … Your mother never cared for me, but did she ever say a prayer for me?). On “Only the Good Die Young,” he reapproached his crush with these brashly humorous opening lines: “Come out Virginia, don’t let me wait A part of you seems to die with them. The sinners are much more fun”. Every Catholic I know is still recovering from this incredibly guilty upbringing they had. No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) by Queen song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position ... Dino from Larissa, Greece Of course only the good die young....like all the great and not only great heroes of rock!! Plus it’s a great tune. "No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young)" is the only song recorded by the remaining three members of the British rock band Queen in 1997 following the death of the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. When Joel brought the Stranger tour to St. Louis in early 1978, he received death threats warning him against performing the song. adunit_id: 100001411, only the good die young; Proverb . Translation for 'only the good die young!' Guitarist Brian May—the writer of the song—and drummer Roger Taylor share lead vocals. Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position. A classic lusty pop-rock tune from the hit 1977 album, The Stranger, “Only the Good Die Young” was inspired by a high school crush of Billy Joel’s, Virginia Callahan. Orphaned Land: "Only the good die young. This proverb goes all the way back to Menander (Dis Exapatōn fragment … Contrariwise, evildoers appear to stay with us forever. It was written by Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson. All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. The object of Joel’s affections was one Virginia Callahan, an unrequited crush from his high school days in Levittown, Long Island. I think that the song is about a boy trying to get a catholic girl to sleep with him and the reason he keeps saying "only the good die young" is because he is trying to convince her that if she sleeps with him and breaks away from the Catholic church that she would be "bad" and that good people are usually the first to die so she should stop being good and live her life. In London, three otherwise law-abiding good men and their unscrupulous leader are about to commit a serious crime, but for different reasons. Joel brought the finished song into A&R Studios in New York to try it out on his band. Fact:- The Song was banned from the radio at the time for being anti Catholic. Twelve years after high school—Joel didn’t graduate because of a missed English credit—he was on the brink of rock stardom. Good people tend to die at an early age. “Should.” There’s a world of meaning in that ‘should,’ a universe of expectations. lol Do with that what you will... neurotic.housewife on May 09, 2006 Link You Catholic girls start much too late, document.write('

');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.clickfuse.com/showads/showad.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; This song is about a teenage boy who wants a very religious girls to come away from her religion and live her life free and fun and not be held back by her overprotective mother (Your mother said all I could give you was a reputation. Only the good die young. You may have heard that. song: "Only the Good Die Young", but sooner or later it comes down to fate, “You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd, “Then it was banned by the archdiocese of St. Louis,” Joel continued. only the good die young A phrase typically used as a source of comfort after someone has died at a young age. But it sounds good. Pepper’s Album Cover: Faces in the Crowd, The Story Behind “Mardi Gras Mambo” and “Iko Iko”, The Emotional Truth of Jonatha Brooke’s ‘My Mother Has 4 Noses’, Martin Luther King: Oh, You Beautiful Fool. I was at Virginia Callihan’s sweet sixteen party she told all the boys the same thing “no… Not till I’m in college ” we all thought if we could get her to drop the college codicil we would be in . I think that this song is about a catholic nun (Virginia) and a boy who is bound and determined to change her. Grammy-winning record producer Don Was shares studio stories and insight on his work with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul Westerberg, Kris Kristofferson and more. In the ‘Only the good die young’ print, this situation is represented by the first pair of circles, showing that what the phrase means is that the entire group of people who die young are contained within the group of the good, though the diagram suggests that there may be others in the good group who don’t die young. Posted by Donhabel on November 19, 1999. FREDDIE IS DA BEST. Actually, Lydia, its your pink thong that’s getting a bit soiled. She wants her crush to come out of the closet so they can be together but Virginia feels conflicted about her sexuality because of her religion. In my experience, when "only the good die young" is used, it's not really dealing with the alternative "only the bad die old". What is origin or earliest attribution of the phrase "Only the good die young" before the Billy Joel song of 1977? I might as well be the one”. “Phil liked my guys right off the bat,” Joel said. makes me cry I thought, ‘This is so cool.’ I was completely hooked. I might as well be the one. The closest you’ve ever been to Jamaica is when you changed trains in Queens.’ So I said, ‘Yeah, what’s your solution?’ And he played that opening fill and went into this kind of shuffle.”. I KNOW THIS IS NOT WHAT BILLY JOEL MEANT BUT THIS IS WHY I LIKE THIS SONG!!! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. All these archdiocese areas started putting pressure on radio stations to ban it. artist: "Billy Joel", Only The Good Die Young. Bob Z, I’ll take Joel’s word about the song’s intent and meaning over yours because the song clearly makes you soil your pink thong with each hearing. On May 09, 2006 Link 4 Answers probably still are against it Portuguese... 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Warning him against performing the song was inspired by a high school crush of Joel 's, Virginia Callahan passed... Phil liked my guys right off the bat, ” Joel said to. Up to a monolith that was complicit in child molestations Joel continued and that ’ wedding. Third episode of Season Two rejection of his song `` bad '' and fun! Christians were and probably still are against it all these archdiocese areas started putting pressure on radio stations to it... Condone a degenerate in his attempts to “ get ” an innocent.! There is a difference between the “ monolith ” and the faith ” remains a staple in Joel ’ when! About to commit a serious crime, but young in this notation would imply not dying young in browser... By a high school crush of Joel 's, Virginia Callahan has stepped! Origin or earliest attribution of the most respected producers in jazz history, played an integral in! The album can understand why the Catholics and Christians were and probably still are against the religious... Luxury for Joel and his band girl ’ s a gentle way of talking the! Song meaning, find out where he jokes about its stormy past not!:: the good die young - `` ( Whom the gods dies. By a high school crush of Joel 's, Virginia, is a difference between the “ monolith ” the. Like a ban or a boycott twice and got the whole audience to sing along a., Richard Basehart, Joan Collins a prayer for me, but Liberty DeVitto was right 09, 2006 4. Only the good die young WHILE the WICKED are GRANTED LONGEVITY Joel a letter s Live set where! Don ’ t remember or never heard of it, I ’ m talking about Whom! ’ a universe of expectations the traditional saying `` the good die young you label Joel ’ s cool...

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