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Last of the Big Time Spenders
Streetlife Serenade (1974) |
When it gets down to desperation
You make the best of the situation I can tell, I've seen it through "Last of the Big Time Spenders" is a slow soulful song, slightly jazzy and yet also has a tinge of Nashville country due to the pedal steel guitar of Tom Whitehorse. Billy said on SiriusXM that back in the early 1970s he was influenced by country and country-rock of the time, such as by The Eagles or Charlie Rich. The "slip fingered" or "slip note" piano style on "Last of the Big Time Spenders" was influenced by pianist Floyd Cramer, known for helping create the Nashville Sound of the 1950s and 1960s. According to Billy, it was designed to emulate the pedal steel guitar.
But there's not much to the song, musically or lyrically. When Billy says that he had fragments of songs, but was not given enough time to flesh them out for Streetlife Serenade, he may have been thinking of this song. There is nothing wrong with the song, it's just seems incomplete, and not particularly emotional or interesting, other than an occasional clever turn of phrase. Still, many Billy Joel fans consider this to be one of his more underrated songs. 
The phrase "last of the big time spenders" is often used to sarcastically refer to someone who is stingy and does not spend enough. It is somewhat of an old-fashioned phrase that is not used much now. See Grammarphobia's explanation about this term.
Background photo: by Peter Cunningham/Columbia Records publicity photo (1974).
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Well if money makes a rich man
Then I might never make the grade I'll be a small time operator If I just get the landlord paid But if time is an indication Of the wealth that I never knew Then I'm the last of the big time spenders 'Cause I've been spending time on you It takes time to appreciate Lord knows that you can learn to hate it I believe, 'cause I've been there too When it gets down to desperation You make the best of the situation I can tell, I've seen it through, oh, oh, oh Though it seems like the days were wasted And the nights have been overdue Well, I'm the last of the big time spenders And I've been spendin' time on you Woo oo oo woo It's been so long since we got together In between it seems to take forever But I'm a dreamer, I'll be there soon It takes time to appreciate All of those that you can learn to hate I believe, I've seen it through, Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh You can call me the great pretender And in a way it might be true But I'm the last of the big time spenders And I've been spendin' time on you. "The Last of the Big Time Spenders" (audio only). © 1974 Sony Music Entertainment
"Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper (1942). The cover art for Streetlife Serenade by Brian Hagiwara calls to mind paintings by Hopper. Read about Nighthawks here.
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