#double fantasy

Just in case you needed a reminder that this masterpiece of a demo exists, I made this.

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So, "I'll Be Back" came into my head, especially these lyrics: I thought that you would realise That if I ran away from you That you would want me, too But I got a big surprise Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh

And it got me thinking, how many times did John run that play, before Paul decided he'd been tested enough? Because it sounds like John's saying, "I pulled away so you would come after me...." It's a way. I guess, to make their lover demonstrate how much they need one, or a manipulative way to make someone "prove" their love. "I'll ignore you, I'll put you at a distance, I'll pretend I'm not interested, I'll pretend I want someone else, and you will chase me and do the work of winning me back and we will be so, so happy! Until the next time I play this game..." John wrote the song in 1964. What if the whole time he'd been with Paul, he'd been running this little test of his affections -- "running away" to Stu, "running away" to Brian, "running away" to the suburbs, "running away" to the acid and heavy drug use. And what if Paul took it for years, either patiently, unconditionally, waiting for John to come back or doing whatever it took to "want me too" (fighting with Stu, going out to pick John up from Weybridge...) because he loved John and knew that John was insecure about people staying, not abandoning him. He was sensitive to the hurt child, and he loved to make kids feel safe. And what if John, seeing his own musical output dwindling, mostly because of drugs and depression, while Paul was writing one giant hit after another, and bossing around the group that JOHN formed, Lennon once more felt insecure; he watched Paul's musicianship grow and his production capabilities grow and thought (quite wrongly), "he doesn't need me anymore; I'm less important to him than I was..." "I know... I'll test it. I'll "run away" again! I'll take heroin and say Yoko is the most creative artist I've ever seen and my new muse and partner! And he'll come after me again, and I'll know he loves me!" And what if Paul finally ran out of patience with the test, ran out of patience with the "chase me to prove you love me" game. Because it almost seems like when John "ran away" to Yoko, Paul finally said, "no, that's enough. I'm not chasing you. If you're telling me she's more important to you than me, well, you can have it, then. Here is my line. I've been your partner for all these years, and now she's "your partner"? Go on, then..." What if Paul thought, "this time, you chase me, son...you show me you love me, for a change, and grow up a little." And John, all up in his own head, just never received the message? How tragic is that?

I almost feel like "Jealous Guy" is the apology for that -- John finally getting it through his head that Paul never meant to work without him, never wanted to work without him, never stopped loving him, but was tired of the test, of being tested and tested, pushed and pushed, again and again. That maybe Paul had dared him to see it, and then lost the dare? John finally saw it, but WAY too late, singing to Paul in 1971:

I was feeling insecure

You might not love me anymore

I was shivering inside I was shivering inside

I didn't mean to hurt you I'm sorry that I made you cry Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you I'm just a jealous guy

I was trying to catch your eyes Thought that you was trying to hide...

They were so competitive musically and in every other way. Paul was making friends beyond the Beatles; he was exploring new music; he was learning about art and becoming a serious collector. He was living the sort of urban, intellectually-stimulating life that John had always thought would be his, and John was in suburbia with, "a wife you like but don't love, and a kid you love but don't like..." Paul was also making gay friends -- if John wore Brian like a badge as his special gay friend, Paul had "Groovy Bob" for a special gay friend. And John was a jealous guy, "feeling insecure/shivering inside." He was "trying to catch [Paul's] eyes" and "thought [Paul] was trying to hide" because that's what Paul would do, and no one knew that better than John. And maybe Paul had begun to try to hide from John -- didn't want to show his own pain. And so he went full-bore with Yoko and shattered Paul's heart, and then went all the way into a public murder of his partner's music/talent/capabilities -- music/talent/capabilities that John recognized the first time they'd met and always admired. The guy he had called "extraordinary," who was daring to make music without him. With a new partner...his own wife! Which John seemed to mind, even though he did the same.

And eventually, John wrote that he really did understand what he'd done (how he'd set Paul up to be disparaged and hated by the press, how he'd created a narrative that he couldn't completely walk back, how he'd not been able to see anything clearly because of drugs and his own mental illness and depression and the confusions of fame and their own Northern Men relationship), singing in 1973 (too late, so, too too late):

I am only learning To tell the trees from wood

I know what's coming down And I know where it's coming from And I know and I'm sorry, yes I am But I never could speak my mind

And I know just how you feel And I know now what I have done And I know, and I'm guilty, yes I am But I never could read your mind

I know what I was missing But now my eyes can see I put myself in your place As you did for me

Today, I love you more than yesterday Right now, I love you more right now

I know what's coming down I can feel where it's coming from And I know it's getting better all the time As we share in each other's mind

Today, I love you more than yesterday Right now, I love you more right now

Ooh, no more crying Ooh, no more crying Ooh, no more crying Ooh, no more crying Simply tragic stuff. "I never could speak my mind/I never could read your mind/I know what I was missing because I put myself in your place..." Fuck, this is heartbreaking stuff. And if you take these three songs into consideration, together, it almost seems like all of that heartbreak -- this weight of loss that Paul has been carrying since 1969 -- all started because John couldn't believe Paul loved him, couldn't trust in Paul's love, because his childhood had made it almost impossible for him to believe in it without testing, testing, testing to see if it was true. Maybe his "long weekend" was him trying to get Yoko (or Paul) to chase after him, too. What a tragic figure and a tragic, tragic story.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. These poor, troubled men. After John reclaimed some of his mind and spirit post-piloting a boat through the squall, he sang to (by all indications) Paul: Why don't we take off alone? Take a trip somewhere far, far awayWe'll be together, all alone again Like we used to in the early days... But if John had thought to rekindle something with Paul, if he had (as is said) decided to divorce Yoko, he may still have not been happy. Paul had a slew of kids and a happy marriage by then. He would not have been the same Paul of yore, he had new responsibilities and was probably very unlikely to leave Linda (who'd saved him when he wanted to die) and the kids, who he adored. Could John, newly revitalized, have lived with something incidental? Or would he have eventually become cranky and bitter and go public with it, again? Sadly, we will never know. It's nice to fantasize about. But it's a double fantasy, for sure...

A Double Fantasy is a flower. And Paul always did love flowers.

Sad, sad, sad...

Reminds me of Just Another Day, which Paul could have written about tragic John in his Dakota Hermit days) Sometimes he feels so sad. Alone in his apartment he'd dwell

Til the man of his dreams comes to break the spell...

Just so sad. I wish I could go back in time and crash these two idiots' heads together and just make them freaking TALK to each other about their feelings, especially about all their sense of loss and loneliness. Just talk, without all the angst.

Because we really, really love to see them happy.

If you’re a fan of Billy Joel’s music, chances are you also enjoy listening to The Beatles. Joel himself is a big Beatles fan, and that Lennon/McCartney influence is prominent in many of his songs, but stylistically, both artists are very different.

You don’t see Billy Joel featured in lists of ‘artists that sound like The Beatles’. But sometimes the influence pokes through…and I’m here to break it down.

Sometimes that Beatles itch needs scratching, and Billy Joel is the way to go.

If you don’t know me already, I’m Angelina — a multi-instrumentalist, music composer, lover of all things retro, and a thriller author. I write posts like this about retro pop culture, so come along for the journey. If you’re into 70s and 80s music, movies and The Beatles…I think you’ve found your new favourite writer.

Today’s hot topic: Billy Joel!

I’m still a fairly new fan of Billy Joel. I was one of those people who only knew Piano Man and Uptown Girl, but after listening to The Stranger front to back, I fell in love with the Piano Man himself. And as a long-time Beatles fan, it amazed me to discover some of Billy’s tracks have that Lennon and McCartney sound I love.

So here are five Billy Joel songs so Beatley you’ll want to sit on a cornflake.

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#5 — You Can Make Me Free (1972)

I love Cold Spring Harbour. It is an incredible debut album with some amazing hidden gems that tend to get overlooked. The whole album has a distinct McCartney influence that’s hard not to hear, not only in the lyrics, but the melodies and how they’re sung.

You Can Make Me Free stands out for its vocals. Not only does Billy sound like Paul McCartney, but the instrumentation is very Beatles-sounding. When I hear this track, I automatically think of Let It Be. Both songs have a similar piano accompaniment, use an organ and have tone-alike guitar solos. And it makes sense. Joel recorded the tracks from Cold Spring Harbour just one year after Let It Be was released.

The melody itself is very McCartney-esque. It reminds me a lot of We Can Work It Out and Pipes Of Peace. And those raspy vocals at the end of the final chorus pay tribute to Oh! Darling and I’ve Got A Feeling. For another example of McCartney’s raspy vocals, check out Monkberry Moon Delight.

I also hear a Lennon influence, especially with that light rasp; it reminds me of Twist and Shout and You Can’t Do That.

The lyrics are optimistic and whimsical, like McCartney’s ballads, his ‘granny music’, such as When I’m Sixty Four and Martha My Dear.

“I can take to the skies, I can soar like a bird,” also rings bells for me. The mention of birds is not exclusive to The Beatles, but it reminds me of Blackbird and Bluebird.

So if you’re looking for a piano-driven, mellow vocal, optimistic track that sounds like Paul McCartney abandoned his bass for the piano, You Can Make Me Free is the way to go!

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#4 — Scandinavian Skies (1982)

Ah, The Nylon Curtain…where to start? I love this album, but it doesn’t get the love it deserves. Scandinavian Skies is so Beatles-sounding it could pass on The White Album or Magical Mystery Tour.

This is a fairly popular observation, especially when you consider the context. Joel recorded this album between 1981 and 1982, and Lennon was assassinated in late 1980. While working on The Nylon Curtain, Joel was in the Beatles zone:

“I was thinking about the great Beatles albums, especially Sgt. Pepper’s. I had those kinds of aspirations for this.”

And he drew inspiration from their unique recording techniques.

“I want to make a good headphones album and use exotic instrumentation and layering the way The Beatles did.”

So it’s no surprise that Scandinavian Skies sounds like that.

The track begins with a mellow, experimental soundscape and voiceover. It is familiar to any Beatles fan, featured in tracks like You Never Give Me Your Money and Rain. As well as those consistent quarter-note piano chords familiar to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.

Scandinavian Skies is melancholic, like many tracks from The White Album tracks such as Dear Prudence, Happiness is a Warm Gun and I’m So Tired. As for the orchestral instrumentation, this track resonates with The Long and Winding Road and A Day In The Life.

Instead of sounding like McCartney, Joel sounds like Lennon, especially the part: “I could play the blues all night…” where the ahhs are a signature of many Beatles tracks. And the solid beat in the chorus sounds like I’m So Tired: “You’d say I’m putting you on…”

The lyrics have political undertones. The Nylon Curtain leans into state-of-the-nation themes, especially tracks like Allentown and Goodnight Saigon. And any Beatles fan is familiar with political music, for example, Give Peace A Chance and Revolution.

Many believe Billy Joel is a pop artist who makes easily-digestible songs for the mainstream audience, but Scandinavian Skies shows that he can make complex, experimental music too. These songs tend to be appreciated more by musicians, so for my fellow musicians, this song features around twenty-two chords. Most songs feature four.

Above all, this track sounds like I Am The Walrus. When the staccato strings come in, when the drums accent them, when the song picks up, the resemblance is uncanny. It mirrors the part: “Sitting in an English garden…” Especially how it descends, like in Blue Jay Way.

I can also hear Lennon’s solo music, specifically from Double Fantasy, like I’m Losing You.

The setting itself is no stranger to The Beatles. Think about songs like Back in the USSR and Norwegian Wood. Even the way this song is written. It sounds like Lennon lyrics: “Who could say what was left and where was right?”

Can you tell who Billy Joel’s favourite Beatle is?

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#3 — She’s Always a Woman (1977)

I love this song. I have a feeling I may start every section like this, but I really do. She’s Always A Woman is the perfect combination of Beatles — the lyrics are very Lennon and the instrumentation is very McCartney.

The style of piano playing is very resonant of Paul’s music, such as Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road. The fingerstyle acoustic guitar reminds me of She’s Leaving Home and I’ve Just Seen a Face, as well as the acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, for some Harrison influence.

Let’s take a look at the plethora of chords and how often they change. She’s Always A Woman features around twenty chords. That is very Lennon. Think of songs like It Won’t Be Long and I Want You (She’s So Heavy). The frequent use of diminished and seventh chords seals the deal. Even that D Major to D Major 7th right before the chorus matches the pre-chorus in This Boy. These chord variations appear everywhere in She’s Always a Woman. That’s what makes it so Beatles-sounding.

The flute in the chorus reminds me of Fool On The Hill and the way Joel’s voice sounds, smooth and bright like McCartney’s, makes the resemblance uncanny.

And how about those non-lyric vocals? Specifically the ‘mmms’ during the chorus, which sound like I’ve Just Seen a Face and Words of Love. I know this is a common adlib not only used by The Beatles, but it sure does sound familiar.

The lyrics are almost identical to Girl. The only difference is She’s Always a Woman is more in denial, disregarding all the wrong his woman does because she’s only a woman, which makes her perfect. It delivers a powerful message about rose coloured lenses and how personal affiliations can water down facts. Whereas Girl tells a story about being trapped in a relationship but enjoying it too much to leave, so the protagonist is left with conflicting feelings. With both songs aligned like this, the inspiration is clear.

Listening to She’s Always A Woman feels like a mellow diss track. And us Beatles fans are familiar with this. It’s a bit of a stretch, but you could say it resonates with How Do You Sleep? and Too Many People.

And now, another song about relationship struggles. That alone is very Beatles.

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#2 — Through The Long Night (1980)

If you think Through The Long Night doesn’t sound like early-Beatles, you’re simply wrong. Billy Joel heard Yes It Is and wrote this song inspired by it. Once you hear it, you can’t unhear it, especially with those multi-layered harmonies, the lyrics about past heartbreak, and the synth.

Many of Joel’s Beatles-sounding songs pay tribute to mid-to-late Beatles, but rarely early Beatles, which is interesting. After all, it was early-Beatles performing on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 that first inspired Billy Joel:

“That one performance changed my life. Up to that moment, I’d never considered playing rock as a career…This is what I’m going to do — play in a rock band.”

Listen to the melody in the verse. It is deliciously simple, like many of McCartney’s hits, and he even sounds like him, especially in the chorus, “Long, long time ago,” where Joel climbs up the scale. That’s where Paul’s vocals sit most comfortable. You could even say the vocal harmonies sound like Girl.

The short lyrical phrases are similar to early-Beatles tracks, which were often written around the title phrase, for example, A Hard Day’s Night and Can’t Buy Me Love.

The themes of sleeping remind me of the niche lullaby-sounding Beatles tracks like I’m Only Sleeping and Golden Slumbers. Whether or not this is intentional, the influence is clear.

The brass instruments make the song sound like Penny Lane and any track from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Or rather, any one of McCartney’s ‘granny’ songs. I’m sensing a pattern here…

And now, the most Lennon-sounding song I’ve ever heard.

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#1 — Laura (1982)

Man…this sounds so damn Lennon. If you can’t hear it, you don’t know The Beatles. Laura is conversational, bitter and yearnful. That alone is very Lennon. Think of songs like How Do You Sleep? and Gimme Some Truth. Additionally, the storytelling style reminds me a lot of Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite! and Girl.

Those experimental sounds are incredible, especially the effect-heavy guitar parts, which remind me of I’m Only Sleeping and Rain. It easily passes as a track off The White Album, along with Scandinavian Skies. It’s a track that comes from a deep emotional place of frustration, and I love it.

Listen to the part: “Laura loves me even if I don’t care (ahh)” and tell me it’s not four Beatles in a trench coat. The backing vocals are very early-Beatles, for example, Twist and Shout, and even late-Beatles, like Because. And the I Am The Walrus influence is obvious here, like in Scandinavian Skies.

Something else I’d like to point out: John Lennon and Paul McCartney both had trauma related to their mothers, and Laura is about the straining relationship between a mother and son, how someone close to you knows how to push your buttons. The best lyrical examples: “How can she hold the umbilical cord for so long?” and “Sometimes I feel like this Godfather deal is all wrong.” The themes of familial control and longing to get through to somebody are also found in Julia and Dear Prudence.

Even the title has similarities with Beatles tracks. A woman’s name. Other examples to feature a woman’s name: Lovely Rita, Michelle, Sexy Sadie and Mrs. Vandebilt.

Let’s not forget about the chords. The Beatles were known for experimenting heavily with song structure and instrumental composition. So does Laura, which features around twenty chords, and almost none of them are vanilla chords. That’s very interesting for any music enthusiast.

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The best thing about music: it is subjective. There’s something out there for everybody. Billy Joel is a fan of The Beatles, and so are you, I assume, if you’re reading this. It’s always a treasure to discover a new favourite song, so I hope I have given you some great new recommendations, or I’ve convinced you to re-listen to these awesome tracks.

This is my favorite trend and my favorite cover among all the solo work of all the ex-beatles (I think the second is ram)