I'm failing in school
Losing my friends Making my family lose their minds I don't want to eat I don't want to sleep I only want Leyna one more time "All For Leyna" is another femme fatale song by Billy (see "Stiletto"). It describes a young man's infatuation with a woman, Leyna, and is more about the effect she has on the young man, rather than about the woman herself. Even though she leads him to peril, he is still desperate for her. If you have ever been crazy in love or lust with someone, then you'll understand. Apparently, the song was inspired by a young woman who was a friend of someone connected with Billy's band or management, and had visited the recording studio or office one day stirring up lust among everyone in the band, as well as inspiring this song. It is an urgent and raw synthesizer-driven song, pure 1980s pop.
It is very much a teen angst song, the type of gnawing and painful angst a young teen feels when his love life is falling apart, and it seems like nothing else matters. Of course, it passes. Rolling Stone magazine did a look back on "All For Leyna" in March 10, 2020. See article "Flashback: Billy Joel Declares That He's 'All for Leyna.'" The article compares it to The Knack’s big hit "My Sharona" but erroneously states it was the lead single off Glass Houses (but it was only a single in the UK). While the song was originally selected to be a single in the US, it was ultimately not released as one. But a music video (below) had already been made. It reached #40 on the UK Singles Charts. 
Van Gogh's "Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear" (1889)
I refer to these songs as Billy's "femme fatale" songs:
|
She stood on the tracks
Waving her arms Leading me to that third rail shock Quick as a wink She changed her mind She gave me a night That's all it was What will it take until I stop Kidding myself Wasting my time There's nothing else I can do 'Cause I'm doing it all for Leyna I don't want anyone new 'Cause I'm living it all for Leyna There's nothing in it for you 'Cause I'm giving it all to Leyna We laid on the beach Watching the tide She didn't tell me there were rocks Under the waves Right off the shore Washed up on the sand Barely alive Wishing the undertow would stop How can a man take anymore There's nothing else I can do 'Cause I'm doing it all for Leyna I don't want anyone new 'Cause I'm living it all for Leyna There's nothing in it for you 'Cause I'm giving it all to Leyna I'm failing in school Losing my friends Making my family lose their minds I don't want to eat I don't want to sleep I only want Leyna one more time Now I'm in my room Watching the tube Telling myself she still may drop Over to say She's changed her mind So, I wait in the dark Listening for her, Instead of my old man saying stop... Kidding yourself, Wasting your time There's nothing else I can do 'Cause I'm doing it all for Leyna I don't want anyone new 'Cause I'm living it all for Leyna There's nothing in it for you 'Cause I'm giving it all to Leyna All for Leyna All for Leyna Billy Joel on “All For Leyna" from SiriusXM. Subscribe to SiriusXM.
Vertical Divider
Nelly Furtado, who became a Billy Joel fan when listening to Glass Houses as as young child, performed "All For Leyna" at the MusicCares benefit honoring Billy Joel in 2002. See photo below. She won the Grammy that year for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I'm Like A Bird."
|
