Fictional single cover, close-up from album cover
You take a piece of whatever you touch
Too many pieces means you're touching too much You never win if you can't play it straight You only beat me if you get me to hate
"The Great Wall of China" is about Billy's former manager and ex-brother-in-law, Frank Weber, who embezzled or mishandled (as alleged in a lawsuit) millions of dollars from Billy over a long period of time and betrayed Billy's trust. While being Billy's manager must have been a profitable and fun job, greed can apparently still get in the way. Billy reportedly eventually won a judgment against Weber and/or settled this and other related lawsuits (and there were reports that Weber filed for bankruptcy), though he did not recover everything he had lost.
In "The Great Wall of China," Billy vents the anger and disgust he had with Weber. In fact, the working title for the song was "Frankie My Dear I Don't Give a Damn" (Fred Schuers, Billy Joel, p. 221). Once you understand this background, the lyrics to "A Great Wall of China" makes more sense. The reference to the Great Wall of China is a metaphor to mean that they could have conquered the world together, so to speak. After all, Billy had performed in Cuba and Russia during the Cold War. Ultimately, Billy indicates that he lets go of the hate, stating "You only beat me if you get me to hate." Apparently Billy and many of his fans consider "Great Wall of China" to be one of his better songs. For me, lyrically and musically it is somewhat of a herky-jerky song. There is a great amount of vitriol behind the words and music, and while that may be cathartic, it does not always make for a good song in my personal opinion. Vertical Divider
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Words and Music by Billy Joel
Advice is cheap you can take it from me
It's yours to keep 'cause opinions are free Nobody knows about the trouble I've seen Nobody's perfect, mister, nobody's clean It costs too much and takes too long to find out too late Some words are not heard 'til after they're spoken Your role was protective, your soul was too defective Some people just don't have a heart to be broken We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China If you'd only had a little more faith in me In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright All the king's men and all the king's horses Can't put you together the way you used to be We could have been standing on the Great Wall of China You take a piece of whatever you touch Too many pieces means you're touching too much You never win if you can't play it straight You only beat me if you get me to hate It must be so lonely to think that you have only Somebody else's life to live if they let you I ain't too selective, but it don't take no detective To find out how fast your friends will forget you We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China Now all you're going to be is history Help yourself, it's all you can eat at the Empire Diner tonight You coulda had class, you coulda been a contender Charlie, you shoulda looked out for me You could have been standing, standing on the Great Wall of China This was not your calling, just look how far you've fallen I heard your story, man, you've got to be joking Keep things in perspective, this is my true objective Why tear this heart out if it's only been broken? We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China If you'd only had a little more faith in me In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum reminders will still shine bright All the king's men and all the king's horses Can't put you together the way you used to be We could have been standing on the Great Wall of China
Billy on "The Great Wall of China" from SiriusXM.
The Great Wall of China. Photo by Jakub Halun.
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