Every now and then my friend Jerry sends me a suggestion for a music post.  Now, for the most part he and I are not of the same mind when it comes to music, but every so often he hits on one that I like, too!  A couple of nights ago we were chatting via text messages when he suggested this song by Billy Joel.  At first I couldn’t really remember the tune, though the title rang a bell.  But when I listened, oh yes, I remember the song!  But I had no idea of its background, so curious, I headed to Wikipedia and SongFacts and found that this song was quite controversial back in the day!  According to SongFacts …

Many musicians join bands to meet girls, but few overachieve the way Joel did, dating models and even marrying one of them (Christie Brinkley). Virginia Callaghan was the first of these girls who thought differently of Joel after seeing him perform. Billy explained to Uncut in 1998: “I originally started in bands just to meet girls – it was round the time The Beatles first hit America – but I didn’t know you could actually make a living out of it. My first gig was in a church, about ’64 – we did Beatles songs, and this girl I had a crush on, Virginia Callaghan, who normally wouldn’t look twice at me, just stared at me through the whole gig. And I thought, ‘This is so cool!’ And then all these other girls were lookin’ at me as well. Then, at the end of the night, the priest comes up and gives us like 15 dollars apiece, which in ’64 was a fortune! Girls and money! Man, I was hooked.”

This didn’t do very well until church officials around the US heard it and condemned the song. The controversy was great publicity and sent the song up the charts. Joel recalled to the Metro newspaper July 6, 2006 about the controversy stirred up by this number: “That song was released as a single back in 1977, I think. It was not really doing very well, just languishing in the charts. Then it was banned by a radio station in New Jersey at a Catholic university. The minute the kids found out it was banned, they ran out in droves and it became a huge hit. If you tell kids they can’t have something, that’s what they want. I don’t understand the problem with the song. It’s about a guy trying to seduce a girl but, at the end of the song, she’s still chaste and pure and he hasn’t got anything. So I never understood what the furor was about. But I did write a letter to the archdiocese who’d banned it, asking them to ban my next record.”

Doesn’t it just figure … let this be a lesson, Governor DeSantis, that when you ban something, it becomes more desirable, more sought-after than ever!  The song, though, only charted in Canada (#18) and the U.S. (#24), and as far as I can find, never charted in the UK or elsewhere across the big pond!

Billboard described Only the Good Die Young as one of Joel’s “strongest and catchiest” songs, while  Cash Box said that “Billy grabs the fun with a rollicking, handclapping beat, raspy sax solo and racy piano licks.”

Earlier this year, Joel said of the song “It’s occurred to me recently that I’m trying to talk some poor innocent woman into losing her virginity because of my lust. It’s kind of a selfish song — like, who cares what happens to you? What about what I want?…But on the other hand, it was of its time. This was written in the mid-’70s, and I was trying to seduce girls. Why bulls— about it?”

Only The Good Die Young

Billy Joel

Come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one

Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done

Well, only the good die young
That’s what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young

You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain’t too pretty, we ain’t too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw, but that never hurt no one

So come on, Virginia, show me a sign
Send up a signal, I’ll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you’re hiding behind
Never let’s in the sun

Darlin’, only the good die young
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young

You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
Mmm, and a cross of gold
But, Virginia, they didn’t give you quite enough information
You didn’t count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
Oh-whoa-whoa

And they say there’s a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it’s better, but I say it ain’t
I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun

You know that only the good die young, oh, baby
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young

Said your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aw, she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
Oh-whoa-whoa

Come out, come out, come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one

You know that only the good die young
Tell you, baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the good
Only the good die young

Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Only the good die young
Only the good die young

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Billy Joel

Only the Good Die Young lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group