Billy Joel - Ain't No Crime

Download "Ain't No Crime"

      Well now you tell me you need somebody
      For the rest of your life you might have
      somebody
      But you won't want 'em every day

Billy blends rock, soul, a bit of gospel in the raucous "Ain't No Crime," the third song from Piano Man. Well, it's a controlled raucous. "Ain't No Crime" is a fun and free-wheeling song with soulful vocals by Billy and some nifty piano grooves. The song's theme is that you are not always going to live up to expectations when it comes to love and life, but it's okay. Forgive yourself. It ain't no crime to be human, and stay out late and have a good time, because "it's good to get it on to get a load off your mind" and "it's just human nature, happens all the time."

The song sounds like something that Leon Russell or Joe Cocker might have done in the mid-70s. Billy used to affectionately imitate Cocker in his live act, as can be heard briefly in the YouTube video below from Billy's concert in the UK in 1978 (the lyrics in the live version are slightly different than the lyrics from the album). Billy did a great cover version of Joe Cocker's "The Letter" at the Mar Y Sol music festival in 1972 which you can hear on YouTube here. When Billy appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1977, apparently he and John Belushi did their Joe Cocker imitations backstage. See Belushi here with the real Joe Cocker. And recently Billy sang "With A Little Help From My Friends" in Cocker's' honor at one of his MSG concerts. See it here. It is so beautiful.

Back in 1989 at Stephan Talkhouse in Long Island, Billy went on stage with Liberty Devitto and Mick Jones to sing Joe Cocker's "Feelin' Alright." See it here, it's worth the watch.

Ain't No Crime
(Piano Man) (1973)

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You got to open your eyes in the morning,
Nine o'clock's comin' without any warning
And you gotta get ready to go.

You say you went out late last evening
Did a lot of drinkin', come home stinkin',
And you went and fell asleep on the floor.

And then your lady comes and finds you a sleepin'
Starts into weeping 'bout the hours you've been keepin'
And you better get your ass out the door.

Ain't no crime,
Yeah, it's good to get it on to get a load off your mind,
It ain't no crime,
Well, everybody gets that way sometime.
It ain't no crime.
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.

You got to open your eyes in the morning,
Nine o'clock's comin' without any warning
And you gotta get ready to go.

Well now you tell me you love somebody
And you'll love 'em forever, you may love 'em forever,
But you won't like 'em all of the time.

Well now you tell me you need somebody
For the rest of your life you might have somebody,
But you won't want 'em every day.

It ain't no crime,
Well it's just human nature, happens all the time,
It ain't no crime,
Well don't think twice about it get it off your mind.
It ain't no crime.

Ain't no crime,
Yeah, it's good to get it on to get a load off your mind,
It ain't no crime,
Well it's just human nature, happens all the time,
It ain't no crime.

You got to open your eyes in the morning,
Nine o'clock's comin' without any warning
And you gotta get ready to go.

And just as surely as the wind keeps blowin'
The grass keeps growin', you gotta keep goin'
And the Lord'll have mercy on your soul.

Billy discusses "Ain't No Crime" on SiriusXM radio, and says
that he was thinking of a Leon Russell song when he wrote it.

Videos

Live performance of "Ain't No Crime" from a 1978 concert on UK television (The Old Grey Whistle Test).

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