Saturday Morning Soundtrack: "Worse Comes to Worst" by Billy Joel (1973)

1973 was a pretty "anthemic" year. We have "Freebird," "Angie," "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," "Dream On," and a slew of hard rockin' Zep tunes to name a few. But we're going to think smaller this week as we look at a pop song from the Piano Man himself. (No, not that song, though I am a big fan of a bar room sing-a-long.) No, we're going to listen to a number that's a bit more laid back, my all-time favorite song by Mr. Joel. . . .

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Saturday Morning Soundtrack @ Youtube

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"Worse Comes to Worst" by Billy Joel (1973)

"I know something that they don't know
I know a woman in New Mexico"

                                                --Billy Joel, "Worse Comes to Worst"

Before stadium-filling-NYC-icon-pop-megastar Billy Joel there was troubadour Billy Joel--a baby-faced boxer from the Bronx who went out to California and wrote some of the sharpest and most nuanced music of the 70s. No one told a story in song like Billy Joel, and his debut album Cold Spring Harbor remains one of the all-time-best-albums-that-no-one-knows. (Even with the poor original mastering; don't get the 1983 remastered version where Joel added a bunch of bells and whistles.)

Oh, yeah, and Joel, well, he could play the piano like you wouldn't believe.

It wasn't until 1973's breakthrough album Piano Man with its eponymous title track that Joel really became a household name. Though less stripped down than Cold Spring Harbor, Piano Man is a great album filled with interesting characters and stories. From a lounge singer, to a runaway wife; from Billy the Kid, to a heroin dealer named "Captain Jack"; each and every song features an interesting cast and has a valuable story to tell. 

"Worse Comes to Worst" is a real genre hopper--there's elements of the Caribbean in there with its wa-wa guitar, bongos, and and farfisa organ; a little gospel with its soulful background chorus and bridge and choir accompaniment; plenty of good old-fashioned American rock and roll; and even shades of slide country. Because of this, it's a hard song to pin down.

Not unlike it's main character: a traveling guitar player who makes his living playing in bars and never stays in the same place for too long. This wandering bard takes a cavalier, laissez-faire attitude toward life. Money comes and it goes. So does his concept of a "destination." Day to day, and worse come to worst, our narrator finds ways around the obstacles that life throws in his way: "And if I don't have a car, I'll hitch / I've got a thumb, and she's a son of a bitch."

There's only one constant in this guy's life: a woman in New Mexico, who he knows (or at least believes) he can go stay with if he ever runs out of options. Sometimes, just having that solid and forbearing presence in the background--the kind of former lover, or even just friend, that you can call upon, perhaps even after many years incommunicado--sometimes that can be enough to grant a free spirit strength.

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So what do you think? Did I get it right or miss the mark? Please, feel free to weigh in using the comments below. And, if you would like to write a Guest Entry for the "Saturday Morning Soundtrack" series where you creatively respond to one of your favorite rock songs, don't hesitate to contact me with queries.