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Careless Talk
An Innocent Man (1983) |
Let them stand where they fall They don't know us at all All that talking won't make a difference to me "Careless Talk" is a little ditty about gossip, no doubt inspired by the many tabloid articles that appeared about Billy and his dates particularly Elle McPherson whose career was just beginning to take off, and of course Christie Brinkley. The gossip surrounding Billy and Christie's romance was overwhelming, a topic Billy again covered in 1989's "That's Not Her Style."
In "Careless Talk," Billy sounds much like Sam Cooke with his smooth baritone ("What A Wonderful World" and "You Send Me") whom Billy was probably trying to emulate in the song. And there is more than a hint of Neil Sedaka as well. The song is a pleasant little tune and was the B-side to "Uptown Girl," which made a lot of sense thematically. "They don't know us at all."
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Words and Music by Billy Joel
Careless talk That's what you heard about me Jealous talk That's what I heard about you Everybody's telling lies I don't even know why Why can't people Find something better to do Careless talk I don't believe what they say I heard them talk They say you've been putting me down In the shadows on the phone They won't leave us alone They've been talking Ever since you came around Careless talk Telling you I'm doing wrong Jealous talk Follows wherever you go I'm aware of what you heard Every terrible word Everybody's making believe that they know All of the intimate things That we ever might have said In the heat of a passionate moment In a conversation shared For the ears of nobody else There are some things they'll never hear There are secrets I'll never tell Careless talk Going around on the streets Jealous talk I know how bad it can be Let them stand where they fall They don't know us at all All that talking won't make a difference to me Careless talk That's what they say about me Careless talk That's what they say about you Careless talk That's what they say about me Careless talk That's what they say about you Vertical Divider
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