Songs in the Attic es un álbum de Billy Joel, publicado en 1981 por Columbia. El disco incluye 11 canciones, entre ellas «Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go out on Broadway)», «Summer, Highland Falls», «Streetlife Serenader» y «Los Angelenos».
Sobre el álbum
El álbum en directo Songs in the Attic es un proyecto único y fundamental en la carrera de Billy Joel. Con este trabajo, el artista decide rescatar y reivindicar las canciones de sus primeros cuatro álbumes, que en su momento no tuvieron la producción ni la repercusión que merecían. De esta manera, Joel y su potente banda de directo reinterpretan estas joyas ocultas con la energía y la fuerza de sus conciertos, dándoles una nueva vida y una nueva justicia.
El disco funciona como una perfecta introducción a su primera etapa para el público masivo que lo descubrió con "The Stranger". "Songs in the Attic" no es un directo al uso, sino una cuidada selección que demuestra la increíble calidad de su cancionero inicial. Es una obra esencial que mira al pasado para revalorizarlo y que captura la arrolladora potencia de Billy Joel sobre el escenario.
Listado de Canciones
- Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go out on Broadway)5:05
Letra
Seen the lights go out 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 I've seen the lights go out on Broadway I saw the ruins at my feet You know we almost didn't notice it We'd seen it all the time on 42nd Street They burned the churches down in Harlem Like in that Spanish civil war The flames were everywhere But no one really cared It always burned up there before I've seen the lights go out on Broadway I saw the mighty skyline fall The boats were waiting at the Battery The union went on strike They never sailed at all They sent a 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 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 - Summer, Highland Falls3:03
Letra
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 But 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 Our reason coexists with our insanity Though we choose between reality and madness It's either sadness or euphoria How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies Perhaps we'll help 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 - Streetlife Serenader5:17
Letra
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 Angelenos3:48
Letra
Los Angelenos All come from somewhere To live in sunshine Their funky exile Midwestern ladies High-heeled and faded Drivin' sleek new sports cars With their New York cowboys Hiding up in the mountains Laying low in the canyons Goin' nowhere on the streets With their Spanish names Makin' 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 Goin' nowhere on the streets With the Spanish names Makin' 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 Way2:44
- Everybody Loves You Now3:10
Letra
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 your 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 - Say Goodbye to Hollywood4:25
Letra
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. [Chorus] Say goodbye to Hollywood Say goodbye my baby. Say goodbye to Hollywood, Say goodbye 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. [Chorus] Moving on is a chance that you take every time you try to stay together. Say a word out of line and you find that the friends 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. [Chorus] Moving on is a chance that you take every time you try to stay together. Say a word out of line and you find that the friends 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. - Captain Jack7:16
Letra
Saturday night and you're still hangin' around Tired of living 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 dyed jeans And you stare at the junkies and the closet queens It's like some pornographic magazine And you smile 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, and you'll be smilin' Oh yeah Your sister's gone out, she's on a date 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 Ah but still your fingers gonna pick your nose After all,... 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, and you'll be smilin' So you decide to take a holiday You got your tape deck and your brand new Chevrolet Ah, there ain't no place to go anyway What for? So you got everything, ah, but nothing's cool They just found your father in the swimming pool And you guess you won't be going back to school Anymore. 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, and you'll be smilin' 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, Why you've got to keep in style and feed your head Well you're 21 and still your mother makes your bed, And that's too long 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, and you'll be smilin' 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, and you'll be smilin' - You're My Home3:07
- The Ballad of Billy the Kid5:28
- I've Loved These Days4:35