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Suggest pagesOnly the Good Die Young
| "Only the Good Die Young" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Billy Joel | ||||
| from the album The Stranger | ||||
| B-side | "Get It Right the First Time" | |||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1977 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:55 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Billy Joel | |||
| Producer | Phil Ramone | |||
| Billy Joel singles chronology | ||||
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"Only the Good Die Young" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 pop rock album, The Stranger. The song was controversial for its time, with the lyrics describing a boy who tries to convince a Catholic girl who is a virgin to have sex with him.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Song information
The girl's name, "Virginia," is a play on "virgin." The boy/narrator believes that the girl is refusing him because she comes from a religious Catholic family and that she believes sex before marriage is sinful.[2] He sings, "You Catholic girls start much too late,/ but sooner or later it comes down to fate./ I might as well be the one." Perceived as "anti-Catholic", the song was banned by many radio stations.[2] "When I wrote 'Only the Good Die Young', the point of the song wasn't so much anti-Catholic as pro-lust", Joel told Performing Songwriter magazine. "The minute they banned it, the album started shooting up the charts." In a 2008 interview Joel also pointed out one part of the lyrics that virtually all the critics missed – the man in the song failed to get anywhere with the girl, and she kept her chastity.[3]
[edit] Demo version
A demo, included in the box set My Lives, features a slower, reggae version of the song. Joel uses a church organ in the song, aiding the general theme of the song. Joel has stated publicly that he changed the reggae beat to a shuffle beat at the request of his longtime drummer, Liberty DeVitto, who hated reggae music.[4]
[edit] Track listing
[edit] 7" single (1977)
- "Only the Good Die Young" – (3:54)
- "Get It Right the First Time" – (3:32)
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart[5] | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[2] | 24 |
[edit] Pop culture references
- Def Leppard referenced this song in their song "Only the Good Die Young"
- On the October 5, 2010 episode of Glee, the song is covered by the character Puck (Mark Salling).[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Sagert, Kelly Boyer (2007). The 1970s. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 177. ISBN 0-313-33919-8.
- ^ a b c Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 242. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
- ^ Interview with Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 2008
- ^ YouTube: Billy Joel tells how "Only The Good Die Young" came to sound the way it does crediting Liberty Devitto
- ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.4602a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=o44utr2skf3ci9l36vl9mglvm5
- ^ Malkin, Mark (September 29, 2010). "Hallelujah? Glee Has a Spiritual Awakening". E! Online. E!. http://eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b203006_hallelujah_glee_has_spiritual_awakening.html. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
