And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons And a good captain can't fall asleep "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" is at its core a folk song about the plight of Long Island fishermen in the 1980s and 1990s. In the tradition of American folk singers like Woody Guthrie, Peet Seeger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan, Billy crafted a powerful song about the working man, here, the Long Island fishermen who were seeing their way of life disappear due to regulations and the declining number of fish, as well as to gentrification of the island. As a native Long Islander and lover of the water, it was a cause very personal to Billy Joel. He has been a steadfast supporter and advocate of the Bay Men of Long Island. See video of Billy supporting the group.
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The Downeaster 'Alexa'
Well I'm on the Downeaster "Alexa" And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound I have charted a course to the Vineyard But tonight I am Nantucket bound We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone So I could own my Downeaster "Alexa" And I go where the ocean is deep There are giants out there in the canyons And a good captain can't fall asleep I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes I know there's fish out there but where God only knows They say these waters aren't what they used to be But I've got people back on land who count on me So if you see my Downeaster "Alexa" And if you work with the rod and the reel Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis And I still have my hands on the wheel Now I drive my Downeaster "Alexa" More and more miles from shore every year Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers And there's no luck in swordfishing here. I was a bayman like my father was before Can't make a living as a bayman anymore There ain't much future for a man who works the sea But there ain't no island left for Islanders like me. Billy discusses "The Downeaster Alexa" from a 1990 interview.
Billy on "The Downeaster 'Alexa,'" from SiriusXM radio in 2016
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Like Billy's other politically-informed songs such as "Allentown," "Goodnight Saigon," and "Leningrad," the story is told from a very personal perspective, in the first person. And the references in the song to actual places, nautical and otherwise, such as "Block Island Sound," "Gardiner's Bay," and "Islanders" juxtaposed against more mythical or religious lines ("giants out there in the canyon," "where God only knows," and "I am trawling Atlantis") help convey a sense of a life rooted in gritty realism but controlled by larger forces. Much of the fishermen's fate is beyond their control, but they keep working hard because there are bills to pay and "children who need clothes." And the last line "there ain't no island left for Islanders like me" is particularly poignant and hits you like a sudden wave.
Musically, the rhythm of the song, with its emphasis on the the first and third beat of a measure rather than the second and fourth beats in most popular, mimics a boat lurching in the sea against the waves. And the use of the accordion and fiddle, instruments often associated with folk music or "common" people's music ground the music in reality befitting the subject matter. The fiddle solo in particular also helps give the song a sense or urgency and the frenetic pace at which the work is done.
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'" is a perfect example of lyrics, music, and production all working together to complement each other and advance the theme of the song. It is one of Billy's most sublime and yet underappreciated songs. Recalling something Billy once said, I like to say it is Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" meets Procol Harum's "A Salty Dog" meets Bob Dylan, with an accordion and violin (Billy often plays Procol Harum's "White Shade of Pale"). But the song is quintessentially "Billy Joel" and may be the best song he wrote in his latter period from The Bridge to Storm Front to River of Dreams (1986-1993).
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'" is a perfect example of lyrics, music, and production all working together to complement each other and advance the theme of the song. It is one of Billy's most sublime and yet underappreciated songs. Recalling something Billy once said, I like to say it is Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" meets Procol Harum's "A Salty Dog" meets Bob Dylan, with an accordion and violin (Billy often plays Procol Harum's "White Shade of Pale"). But the song is quintessentially "Billy Joel" and may be the best song he wrote in his latter period from The Bridge to Storm Front to River of Dreams (1986-1993).
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Billy co-produced the recording of the song along with Mick Jones. Dominic Cortese plays accordion (he has played on several Billy Joel songs) and is joined by an uncredited violinist, which gives the song its folksy sound. The uncredited "World Famous Incognito Violinist" turned out be well-known classical violinist Ishtak Perlman. Perlman joined Billy onstage at Madison Square Garden in 2015 to perform the song. See videos page. A live version of the song featuring jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty was released on Billy's Greatest Hits III DVD in 1997. Ponty does an excellent job (I used to love his albums Open Mind and Individual Choice, especially the song "Modern Times Blues"). See video below.
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Click photo for a Newsday article. Photo: John Cornell.
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 Mindy Jostyn.
In 1990, Billy and his band also performed the song on the Rosie O'Donnell show and on Saturday Night Live (Season 15, Episode 3 hosted by Kathleen Turner) (see brief promo video here at 0:11). On the SNL performance, the late Mindy Jostyn nailed it with her violin solo and was later asked to go on tour with Billy. You can see some of it in the first video below, starting at 1:28. Jostyn joined the Storm Front tour, though the violinist on the concert video version on Live At Yankee Stadium is Lisa Germano. But you can see Jostyn play live in a Storm Front concert on this video at 41:43. She also plays guitar in the music video for "I Go To Extremes." Jostyn passed away in 2005.
The title of the song "The Downeaster Alexa" refers to a type of boat, Downeaster, and the name of Billy's boat, Alexa, which is named after his daughter Alexa Ray Joel. See photo, above right. Released as a single, the song reached #57 in 1990 on the US Billobard charts, but was an even bigger hit in Japan where it reached #6. |
Billy and either Lisa Germain or Mindy Jostyn perform "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" in a 1990 concert. From BillyJoel.com. Photo: Unknown.
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