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I was drawn to boxing because I got beat up as a kid. I was the kid with the piano books in a New York neighbourhood.
Billy Joel -
We all end in the ocean. We all start in the streams. We're all carried along, by the river of dreams.
Billy Joel
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The piano sounds like a carnival and the microphone smells like a beer. And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say, man, what are you doing here?
Billy Joel -
There's a deep-seated paranoia that Americans have about not being Americans or something.
Billy Joel -
Out of respect for the things that I was never destined to do, I have learned that my strengths are a result of my weaknesses, my success is due to my failures, and my style is directly related to my limitations.
Billy Joel -
I would say the songs that have different lyrics. I always write the music first, and there's a couple of songs on this box set that have different lyrics from what ended up on the final recording.
Billy Joel -
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true. When will you realize... Vienna waits for you.
Billy Joel -
I sold my house to Jerry Seinfeld.
Billy Joel
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If I'm gonna be losing it, I might as well be doing it right.
Billy Joel -
I compare songwriting to childbirth. How many kids can you have before your uterus explodes?
Billy Joel -
'Our parents' generation had it a lot tougher than we did. They had to live through the Depression, World War II, and then they had to, you know, try to pick up the pieces of their lives and bring up their children. And, it was a great example for us. I guess we grew up with a certain amount of the ethics our parents had, which is, you know: work hard, make your own way, be independent.
Billy Joel -
I always hated my hair, so now it's going away.
Billy Joel -
If you want to know what life is like in the Soviet Union, go to your local department of motor vehicles.
Billy Joel -
Some people stay far away from the door if there's a chance of it opening up. They hear a voice in the hall outside and hope that it just passes by.
Billy Joel
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Working too hard can give you a heart-attack.
Billy Joel -
I don't want clever conversation, I never want to work that hard, I just want someone I can talk to, I want you just the way you are.
Billy Joel -
Some people sleep all alone every night Instead of taking a lover to bed Some people find that it's easier to hate Than to wait anymore.
Billy Joel -
Some love is just a lie of the heart, the cold remains of what began with a passionate heart.
Billy Joel -
I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. What I do, in my opinion, is by no means extraordinary.billy
Billy Joel -
I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
Billy Joel
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Why should I worry, why should I care? And even when I cross that line, I got street savoire faire.
Billy Joel -
You just sit home and masturbate. The phone is going to ring soon, but you just can't wait.
Billy Joel -
Every time I've held a rose, It seems I only felt the thorns.
Billy Joel -
I know how big business works. I don't trust it.
Billy Joel