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*SIDE 1*
“NO MAN’S LAND”
“THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA”
“BLONDE OVER BLUE”
“A MINOR VARIATION”
“SHADES OF GREY”
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*SiDE 2*
“ALL ABOUT SOUL”
LULLABYE (GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL)
TWO THOUSAND YEARS
“FAMOUS LAST WORDS”
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(“river of dreams” is the 12th studio album and last rock album by American singer-songwriter ‘Billy Joel’, released on 10 august 1993)
(i had just turned 9 years old)
(i was about to enter the fourth grade)
(i was being forced into a friendship with alex kenwell)
(against whatever weak will i could summon up back then)
(my third grade best friend was ‘michael pirigyi’)
(shane and i got into pearl jam and grunge music)
(via jeff taylor)
(alex forced me to listen to ‘river of dreams’)
(in retrospect, it’s a good album)
(but seemed the epitome of ‘lame’ at the time)
(i thought grunge was it)
(i hadn’t even discovered the beatles yet)
(although alex did turn me on to queen’s “bohemian rhapsody” during long limo rides into the ironbound section of newark)
(the titles are suspect)
(i’ll probably never listen to this album)
(just “river of dreams” from memory)
(for selfish nostalgic purposes)
(then he did his job! thanks billy!)
(i’ll try to record a new version)
(but pledge allegiance to your original in turn)
(the titles are too ‘self-conscious’ and ‘obvious’)
(none of them take me by surprise)
(paul mccartney already had a 1973 song called “picasso’s last words”)
(if joel actually never heard that song that would serve as a greater diss to “macca’s” original version)
(joel once referred to macca’s solo songs as “dopey”)
(in a backhanded compliment about how his voice was so good that he could pull off “those dopey songs”)
(in retrospect i agree)
(that was all of “red rose speedway” in 1972)
(billy joel started the fire again!)
(and brought some songwriting discipline to the table)
(since he came from the piano instead of the guitar)
(and he was an east coast secular jew with working class roots)
(he stopped recording new music as a performer after this album although he has subsequently released live albums, and composed the music for an instrumental album performed by “Richard Joo”)
(“River of Dreams” presented a much more serious tone from Joel than found in his previous albums, dealing with issues such as trust and long-lasting love)
(it was rumored that the themes of trust and betrayal, particularly certain lyrics from the songs “A Minor Variation” and “The Great Wall of China”, stem from Joel’s legal disputes with his former manager and ex-brother-in-law, ‘Frank Weber’, who reportedly embezzled millions of dollars from Joel and used dubious accounting practices to cover it up)
(same thing ‘allegedly happened’ to leonard cohen)
(are these stories designed to steer the public clear of any ‘greedy jews in rock are somehow “inauthentic”‘ sentiments?)
(we didn’t start the (jewish) fire, indeed!)
(we burned down the reichstag!)
(damn right we crucified christ!)
(more like a holocaust!)
(as one brave modern jew embraces every ‘jewish stereotype’ in world history)
(both the positives and negatives)
(and everywhere in between)
The album cover was a painting by Joel’s then-wife, Christie Brinkley.
(in 1993, Rolling Stone gave her the Top Picks award for ‘the best album cover of the year’)
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👈👈👈 ☜ *“STORM FRONT”*
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👈👈👈☜*“THE SONGS OF BILLY JOEL”* ☞ 👉👉👉
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥