One Final Serenade: Songs of Billy Joel
There is no official music video for "She's Always A Woman" which came out in 1977.
Here is a fan's video that is popular on YouTube. She's Always A Woman" © 1977 Sony Music Entertainment
Here is a fan's video that is popular on YouTube. She's Always A Woman" © 1977 Sony Music Entertainment
 Download "She's Always A Woman"
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you But she's always a woman to me "She's Always A Woman" is one of Billy's most well-known and most misunderstood songs. It is a complicated and beautiful ballad which reached #17 on the charts in 1977, the fourth single released from The Stranger album.
At first blush it sounds like a basic love song, but the lyrics belie a more subtle message. Billy has said that he was singing about his then wife, Elizabeth. She had become his manager at the time, and was known to be a tough, fierce, and determined negotiator, even selfish. She was instrumental in getting Billy's affairs in order after he had signed some bad contracts early in his career. He gave her credit for getting things back on track. (Note: There was a magazine article about this back then entitled "They Were Mauling Her Man" in Forbes or Business Week). The song basically says that while you may think she is a bitch, that she "kills with a smile" and "wounds with her eyes," to me (i.e., to Billy), she is always a woman. You may think she is a cruel and tough bird in negotiations, but to Billy she is always a woman. He acknowledges she may be like that, but he loves her . . . just the way she is.
As stated in Ideal Magazine in 1979: "Billy eloquently expresses his attitude toward his working wife in the beautiful 'She's Always A Woman.' He says: 'It's about a woman in a business situation. The point of that song is that she can be aggressive to you, but she's still a woman to me. No threat to my masculinity.'" The Ballad of Billy and Elizabeth, Ideal Magazine (1979) (formerly at piano-man.de). |
She can kill with a smile She can wound with her eyes. She can ruin your faith with her casual lies. And she only reveals what she wants you to see She hides like a child But she's always a woman to me. She can lead you to love She can take you or leave you. She can ask for the truth But she'll never believe you. And she'll take what you give her, As long as it's free. She steals like a thief But she's always a woman to me. Oh, she takes care of herself. She can wait if she wants. She's ahead of her time. Oh, and she never gives out, And she never gives in, She just changes her mind. She'll promise you more Than the Garden of Eden. She'll carelessly cut you And laugh while you're bleedin' But she'll bring out the best And the worst you can be Blame it all on yourself Cause she's always a woman to me. Hmmm, mmm, mmm Oh, she takes care of herself She can wait if she wants She's ahead of her time. Oh, and she never gives out And she never gives in She just changes her mind. She's frequently kind And she's suddenly cruel She can do as she pleases She's nobody's fool And she can't be convicted She's earned her degree And the most she will do Is throw shadows at you But she's always a woman to me Hmmm, mmm, mmm Vertical Divider
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The lyrics seem at odds with each other as sometimes Billy seems to criticize and sometimes seems to praise. We are accustomed to a ballad being all about pure love and idolization, but "She's Always A Woman" has a more complex and subtle message. Whether his lover is good or evil doesn't matter and is not the point, rather, he is saying that she is always a woman to him, good or bad, right or wrong. "She's Always A Woman" is not derogatory of women, quite the contrary, Billy is saying that a "woman" does not have to be cute, pretty, or demure, but can be strong, tough, even brutal, and still be a woman. And don't forget that Elizabeth is also the inspiration behind ballads like "She's Got A Way," "You're My Home," and "Just The Way You Are."
While Billy and Elizabeth ultimately divorced in 1982 that does not make the sentiment of the song any less authentic or sincere. In fact, it may reinforce it. "She's Always A Woman" is one of Billy's finest ballads in part because it is not just another silly love song (though what's wrong with that, I'd like to know) but more complex. |
Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress. Frida Kahlo (1926).
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As to the music itself, Billy has said that Gordon Lightfoot's acoustic ballads and vibrato were an inspiration for the song, such as Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind," Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and "Early Morning Rain" (Lightfoot should cover "The Downeaster Alexa"). Billy sounds like Lightfoot in this live performance of "She's Always A Woman" from the Stone Music Festival (Australia) in 2013, and covers "If You Could Read My Mind," here in an early recording. On the Sirius XM Billy Joel channel in 2016, Billy expressed his admiration for Lightfoot, and in 2017 SiriusXM got Lightfoot to record a reply in which he said the song "knocks him out." They have never met, but Gordon welcomed the chance to do so. The song is actually a briskly paced waltz, alternating between E flat major and B flat major. Well-known session musicians Hugh McCracken and Steve Burgh do a lovely job on the acoustic guitar, and the talented Richie Cannata plays flute, lending the song an ethereal quality. It's not clear if Steve Khan also played guitar on the song.
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Pink sings "She's Always A Woman" with Billy Joel on the SiriusXM Town Hall from 2016.
Billy discusses the influence of Gordon Lightfoot, the song's origin, and its meaning, from SiriusXM.
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The song made a remarkable comeback in 2010, charting again at #29 in the UK charts when Fyfe Dangerfield's (no relation to Rodney) abridged cover version of it was used in a commercial for the retailer John Lewis. The video for the commercial was a hit on YouTube with over half a million views. See below. Dangerfield later released a full version (below).
Pink, who is a big Billy Joel fan, walked down the aisle to this song at her wedding. She sang it with Billy on the Howard Stern program in 2014, a special Town Hall that aired on Sirius XM radio (listen to it here). She said: "I got to see my dad become happy when your songs came on, and we sang them together. It's changed my life." That's how I feel about my kids. They grew up seeing me happy when listening to or playing music, especially Billy Joel. His music will always be something special that we share. Tori Amos is another Joel fan and has also performed the song live. Her song and video for "Silent All These Years" is genius. As a joke, to keep the band loose, Billy has sung "she can ruin your face with her powerful thighs" instead of "she can ruin your faith with her casual lies." (From the Fred Schruers Billy Joel biography). |
Videos
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Live version from 1978, in Germany.
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Live version from 1987 in Russia.
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Live at Shea Stadium in 2008, after Billy says "get a pre-nup!"
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Billy discusses "She's Always A Woman" in 2008.
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This is Fyfe Dangerfield's music video for the song. Billy has praised Dangerfield's version.
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Fyfe Dangerfield's version was used in a commercial for the UK department store retailer John Lewis in 2010.
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The talented Gavin DeGraw, who opened for Billy in his 2015 tour, covers the song as bookend to another song.
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The John G. Smith Trio does a nice jazz version of "She's Always A Woman." They do a few other Billy Joel covers too, see YouTube channel.
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