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​Sometimes A Fantasy

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                    It's just a fantasy
                    It's not the real thing
                    But sometimes a fantasy
                    Is all you need

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      The second track on 1980's Glass Houses, "Sometimes A Fantasy," continues the harder sound of the album.  It's a hard-driving, manic song with a staccato beat like many harder New Wave songs from that time.  The meaning of the song is straightforward, sometimes a fantasy about someone is just as good as the real thing.  In a nice bit of alliteration, Billy sings that while it would be better if his fantasy girl was here to hold him, "be better baby but believe me it's the next best thing."   Billy has said the song was inspired by phone sex services which were becoming popular at the time. 

     The music video for the song is one of the first of Billy's "acting" music videos in which he acts out a concept rather than just performs the song.  Apparently Billy himself came up with the concept of talking or singing into the telephone receiver.  Many fans did not recognize that the bearded "bad guy" in the video was also Billy.  The video was in heavy rotation on MTV back in the early 1980s. 

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Billy on "Sometimes A Fantasy" from SiriusXM.

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     The single version of the song was actually longer than the album version, featuring a longer guitar solo by David Brown (rather than fading away).  It can be heard here.  Toward the end of the single version Billy yells out, "I've got blisters on my blisters!" a reference to Ringo Starr screaming "I've got blisters on my fingers!" on The Beatles' "Helter Skelter."  "Sometimes A Fantasy" reached #36 on the Billboard charts in 1980, one of four top 40 singles from Glass Houses.
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     In 1987, during one of Billy's groundbreaking concerts in Russia, he had an onstage tirade while performing "Sometimes A Fantasy" and famously flipped over a keyboard.  Billy was  upset that the film crew or lighting personnel were lighting up the audience and inhibiting their participation in and enjoyment of the concert, as The New York Times reported.   But that didn't prevent his record company from making a great live music video from his performance many years later when A Matter of Trust: The Bridge To Russia was released.  See the video below (right).

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Embed from Getty Images

Billy and Christie at the Hard Rock Cafe NYC in front of a wall-mounted piano commemorating Billy's Russian tour and trashing of a piano while singing "Sometimes A Fantasy.  Photo:  Larry Busacca (1988) Getty Images.

Words and Music by Billy Joel

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I didn't want to do it but I got too lonely
I had to call you up in the middle of the night
I know it's awful hard to try to make love long distance
But I really needed stimulation
Though it was only my imagination

It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
But sometimes a fantasy
Is all you need

When am I gonna take control get a hold of my emotions
Why does it only seem to hit me in the middle of the night
You told me there's a number I can always dial for assistance
I don't want to deal with outside action
Only you can give me satisfaction

It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
But sometimes a fantasy
Is all you need

Sure it would be better if I had you here to hold me
Be better baby but believe me it's the next best thing
I'm sure there's many times you've wanted me to hear your secrets
Don't be afraid to say the words that'll move me
Anytime you want to tell them to me

It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
But sometimes a fantasy
Is all you need
It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing
It's just a fantasy
It's not the real thing

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Roy Lichtenstein's "Oh, Jeff...I love you, too...but..." (1964), one of his most iconic and well-known works.  The painting captures the changing times as modern communications and emotions meet up -- a break-up over the phone?  Then the 1980s brought sex over the phone as alluded to in "Sometimes A Fantasy," and the Internet and 2000s brought even more. 

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"Be better baby but believe me it's the next best thing"
Columbia Records publicity photo (1980)

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"When am I gonna take control get a hold of my emotions, why does it only seem to hit me in the middle of the night?"
Columbia Records publicity photo (1980)

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Videos
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The music video for "Sometimes A Fantasy" was quite clever, with Billy playing two characters.  He is almost unrecognizable as the "greaser" character with his beard and slicked back hair.  © 1980 Sony BMG Music Entertainment. 

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Demo version of "Sometimes A Fantasy"

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Long version of "Sometimes A Fantasy"

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Billy performs "Sometimes A Fantasy" live in Houston in 1979 before the release of Glass Houses in 1980.

Live version from 1981 (audio only)

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"Sometimes A Fantasy" from 1982's concert video Live From Long Island.  Bill has some nifty moves here.

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Billy performs "Sometimes A Fantasy" live in Russia in 1987 before a raucous and well-lighted crowd.  This was the 80s.

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