Fun ain't easy if it ain't free
Too many people got a hold on me But I know something that they don't know I know a woman in New Mexico Billy heads south toward the border for "Worse Comes to Worst" which has a clear Latin or Mexican influence. The song features some light marimbas (?) and Latin percussion. It has a nice groove and is a funky and refreshing change of pace to the more serious and earnest songs on Piano Man.
In the song Billy writes about leaving the rat race where "too many people got a hold on me," and instead living a carefree lifestyle, well aware that such a life comes with its own obstacles and travails ("fun ain't easy if it ain't free"). But if worse comes to worse he has an escape, he "knows a woman in New Mexico" and he can always make a living playing in piano bars. The reference to a woman in New Mexico is a nod to Billy's wife's younger sister, Josephine, who lived in New Mexico at the time. The song evokes images of the Great American Southwest and the "clear skies we're under." I imagine Billy on a road trip to and through New Mexico, on his way to Southern California, looking at the Black Mesa mountains and clear blue skies like in these Georgia O'Keefe paintings below. New Mexico has always attracted artistic people, crafts people, and free spirits and free thinkers. |
Today I'm livin' like a rich man's son Tomorrow morning I could be a bum It doesn't matter which direction, though I know a woman in New Mexico, oh Worse comes to worst I'll get along I don't know how, but sometimes I can be strong, oh And if I don't have a car, I'll hitch I got a thumb and she's a son of a bitch I do my writing on my road guitar And make a living at a piano bar, oh Worse comes to worst I'll get along I don't know how, but sometimes I can be strong Lightning and thunder Flashed across the roads we drove upon Oh, but it's clear skies we're under When I am together, when I sing this song Worse comes to worst I'll get along I don't know how, but sometimes I can be strong Fun ain't easy if it ain't free Too many people got a hold on me But I know something that they don't know I know a woman in New Mexico Worse comes to worst I'll get along I don't know how, but sometimes I can be strong Worse comes to worst I'll get along I don't know how, but sometimes I can be strong Worse comes to worst I will get along I don't know how, but sometimes I can be strong Billy discusses "Worse Comes to Worst" on SiriusXM (audio only). He says it was an autobiographical about his trip across country to Los Angeles.
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When I was a kid, this was not one of my favorite songs from the album, but it has grown on me particularly after hearing live versions of the song. There are some very good live versions from the 1970s on bootlegs. The studio version is fine, but does not do the song justice. If you are a Billy Joel fan and thought this song was one of his weaker songs, find a live version of the song (like the YouTube video below, right) and give it another chance. The live versions are more funky, turning the song into an "LA reggae" as Billy once called it.
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An earlier demo version of the song can be found on the My Lives (disc one) collection from 2005, and is entitled "New Mexico." The lyrics are largely the same in the demo and in the final version of the song. "Worse Comes to Worst" was released as the second single from the Piano Man album and reached #80 on the Billboard charts.
"I got a thumb and she's a son of a bitch . . . " |
"I know a woman in New Mexico . . . "
Black Mesa Landscape by Georgia O'Keefe |
"Oh, but it's clear skies we're under, when I am together, when I sing this song." Ranchos Church (1931) by Georgia O'Keefe from WikiArt. This and Black Mesa Landscape (above) are two of my favorite paintings. The bold strokes of blue and earth tones capture the expansiveness of the American Southwest and "clear skies we're under" references in "Worst Comes to Worse."
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Studio version of "Worse Comes to Worst" from Piano Man. © 1973 Sony Music Entertainment
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This is a live funkier version of "Worse Comes to Worst" (audio).
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Demo version of "Worse Comes to Worse" which was entitled "New Mexico" and released years later on the My Lives compliation in 2005.
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Demo version of "Worse Comes To Worse" with more guitar, from 1973. Posted by Louis Colli on YouTube.
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