Billy Joel: From “Goodnight Saigon” to “Christmas in Fallujah”
December 4th, 2007 | 11:15 am est |
Yesterday in the second hour of his Sirius show, Howard Stern debuted “Christmas in Fallujah,” the new song by Billy Joel. Joel called up his friend Stern over the weekend to ask him to play the song as a way to get the word out, which initially seems strange — after all, Joel is one of the biggest pop stars in America and apart from “All My Life,” this past year’s stab at Sinatra, he hasn’t written a new song in well over a decade. The thing is, he may have written a new song, but he hasn’t recorded it. He’s drafted in Cass Dillon to sing his new tune. Why would he do that? Because the song is “Christmas in Fallujah,” a protest song written from the view of a soldier in Iraq, so he wanted it to be sung by somebody closer to the age of an average soldier — hence, the drafting of Dillon to record the song.
Perhaps the lyrics do make sense coming out of the mouth of a 21-year old singer, but it’s also true that “Christmas in Fallujah” is a tough piece of work, the loudest rocker associated with Joel in years. Even if it’s credited and released — released today on iTunes — to Dillon, there’s no mistaking this as anything but a Joel song, as it shares its DNA with his 1982 Vietnam saga “Goodnight Saigon” in its winding narrative and shades of John Lennon. Similar to “Goodnight Saigon” this may be, but it’s different in how the bridge breaks into McCartneyesque melody, how the lyrics are angrier and cut closer to the bone, how there is a roiling grunge undercurrent to the guitars and how there are elements of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” laced through the arrangement to give it an appropriately Middle Eastern flair. Subtlety has never been Joel’s strong suit, either as a tunesmith or wordsmith, and “Christmas In Fallujah” is no exception: there are a couple of clumsy couplets which are redeemed by the immediacy of the music, which is as sweeping, dramatic and strongly melodic as Joel in his prime. In fact, the real impression that this consciously timely protest leaves behind is not that we need to withdraw from Iraq right now, but rather that it’s time for Joel to end his self-imposed retirement and deliver a comeback in this vein, which would function as a better final last word than River of Dreams.
Hear the song, see the video:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/017370.html
Really? It sounded formulaic, contrived, and pretty bland to these ears. I got the feeling that if it wasn’t associated with Billy Joel, Howard would have panned it… that he was doing a favor for a friend. Howard, Robin and Fred’s praise after the song sounded just as contrived…
Just me ‘pinion…
loved the video with the whole synchronization of Fallujah and Hooah - were they real Marines on stage!!
I hate to say it, but I think I agree with Pete. I’ve never been a fan of the style Cass Dillon seems to employ, but to me, the verses sound clunky, his whiny rasp gets annoying fast, and other than a refreshing change-up in the bridge, it lumbers on like some bland post-grunge track. Like Live with a Mellotron.
I agree with the sentiments expressed in the song, but if the video bob g posted is any indication of the official track, I’ll take “Shades of Grey” and “Goodnight Saigon” over this any day.
I’ll admit that Cass Dillon’s singing leaves something to be desired — I see why Billy Joel picked him, especially since he’s a Long Island native, but it’s not quite to my taste — but I prefer the grandiosity of “Christmas In Fallujah” to a lot of the meandering of River of Dreams, where it seemed like Billy was chasing after melody but never quite finding it. That said, yes, “Goodnight Saigon” is absolutely a better song — but what I like about “Christmas in Fallujah” is that it’s a reminder of Billy Joel’s strengths, and if he can keep building upon it, we might have a good comeback on our hands.
Pete — I’ll admit that Robin’s praise might have been a little forced, but I thought Fred’s praise was genuine, even if the playing the tune “24/7″ quip was pushing it a bit. But I’ll freely admit that I’m always predisposed to trust Fred.
I agree with Stephen. I trust Fred’s opinion very much. Howard, also, seemed to be genuinely surprised with the song. So was I.
Jefferson Pepper put out a CD and a song “Christmas in Fallujah” two years ago. Like Joel’s song, it’s also an anti-war piece told from the perspective of the soldier. Considering that the title’s combination of words is rather unusual, I find it a terribly interesting coincidence. Really.
But don’t trust me, check it out for yourself:
http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.asp?epk_id=41253
Who knows? Perhaps Billy Joel received some inspiration from the Jefferson Pepper title, but I don’t find the lyrics or tunes of the songs to be anywhere close to plagiarism.
And perhaps both were inspired by Christmas and the Fallujah/Hallelujah thing and one song didn’t lead at all to the other.