We're going wrong we're gaining weight
We're sleeping long and far too late And so it's time to change our ways But I've loved these days "I've Loved These Days" is Billy's goodbye to the decadent Seventies, or at least to a decadent Los Angeles as Billy returned to the reality of New York. While the elegiac music of "I Loved These Days”;sounds like a wistful goodbye to happy times, the lyrics betray a somewhat more cynical view of a life centered around "satin sheets" and "fine cocaine." Although not as harsh as his earlier "Los Angelenos," Billy's "I've Loved These Days" reflects an uneasy ambivalence toward the indulgent "me" generation of the 1970s as epitomized by the Los Angeles lifestyle. He did love those days, but was happy to say goodbye to Hollywood and get back into a New York state of mind.
Jim Beviglia writes an excellent review of the song in American Songwriter in 2012. He writes: "The song is essentially one man’s farewell to a lifestyle that is as alluring as it is unsustainable. The narrator is aware of the wayward and transitory nature of this type of living, acknowledging that 'We’re going wrong' and that 'We know it’s all a passing phase.' As wallets get lighter and bellies get fatter, the messier side of life is kept at arm’s length for as long as possible: 'We hide our hearts from harder times." It's unusual (and welcome) that a relatively obscure song like this from 1976 would be reviewed in 2012. American Songwriter is superb in that regard. Billy discusses "I've Loved These Days" in a 1981 interview.
Billy discusses "I've Loved These Days" on SiriusXM radio in or about 2016.
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I've Loved These Days
Now we take our time so nonchalant And spend our nights so bon vivant We dress our days in silken robes The money comes the money goes We know it's all a passing phase We light our lamps for atmosphere And hang our hopes on chandeliers We're going wrong we're gaining weight We're sleeping long and far too late And so it's time to change our ways But I've loved these days Now as we indulge in things refined We hide our hearts from harder times A string of pearls, a foreign car Oh we can only go so far On caviar and cabernet We drown our doubts in dry champagne And soothe our souls with fine cocaine I don't know why I even care We get so high and get nowhere We'll have to change our jaded ways But I've loved these days So before we end and then begin We'll drink a toast to how it's been A few more hours to be complete A few more nights on satin sheets A few more times that I can say I've loved these days I've Loved These Days
(Recorded July 1980, Horizon, Chicago, IL, Turnstiles) Hello Jimmy Carter, Goodbye Gasoline. It was fun growing up in the great spoiled bratdom of America. Hello Ronnie Reagan, El Salvador, here we come! (From Songs In Attic liner notes) "So before we end and then begin, we'll drink a toast to how it's been" (Inside cover art from the LP).
Billy Joel (1976). Photo by Michael Putland.
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Videos
"I've Loved These Days" from Songs In The Attic (1981) (audio only).
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"I've Loved These Days" from a 1977 concert at CW Post (Long Island) (audio only).
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"I've Loved These Days" from Live at Carnegie Hall in 1977 (audio only).
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"I've Loved These Days" from a 1977 concert at Nassau Coliseum (audio only).
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"I've Loved These Days" from 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert (1999) (audio only).
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"I've Loved These Days" from a 2014 concert at Madison Square Garden (audience shot).
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