Billy Joel’s “Songs in the Attic†is an album that has a song for every mood, from the melancholy teen ballad, “Captain Jack,†to the love-dovey “You’re My Home,†which also happens to be my parents wedding song and the first song I can remember singing. It was also an album that made some of Joel’s B-side tracks on several of his early albums feel all-brand new again, sung with a wild vigor and passion that his bland and boring studio versions fail to do.
Growing up, “Songs in the Attic†was a way for my father to tell a story. To Patrick Sr., a tough-looking Irish-man [If he was born in another era, he would have fit in perfectly with the cast of “Braveheart.], who liked his Jack Daniels and a good fist fight from time to time, the songs on this album were an escape; a way for him to show his twin boys that every seemingly brazen, callous-handed man, regardless of what they showed the world, had the ability to love and be responsible enough to help satisfy the emotional needs of his family.
Through my father, this album taught me that there comes a time when a boy becomes a man. In “Captain Jack,†Joel sings, “When you’re 21 and your mother makes your bed, now that’s too long;†a motto that thankfully has never become the case for me.
In “Summer, Highland Falls,†Joel doesn’t make excuses for himself or his relationships. “As we stand upon the ledges of our lives, with our respective similarities; it’s either sadness of euphoria.†The first time I heard this song, my father told me: “If someone ever asks you how things are going and you can’t answer right away with an honest answer, you know things have to change. And if you can answer honestly, you have the duty to either make things better or ensure that they continue to stay where you want them to.â€
If only this hulking brute told these tales to me, I could have passed them up, washed away like much fatherly advice tends to be. The fact that they were so well supported by Joel’s voice and ability on piano has cemented them into my mind for life.
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