| "Only the Good Die Young" | |
|---|---|
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| Single by Billy Joel | |
| from the album The Stranger | |
| B-side | "Get It Right the First Time" |
| Released | 1977 |
| Format | 7" |
"Only the Good Die Young" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 pop rock album, The Stranger. The song was controversial for its time, with the lyrics describing a boy who tries to convince a Catholic girl who is a virgin to have sex with him.[1]
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Song information
The girl's name, "Virginia," is a play on "virgin." The boy/narrator believes that the girl is refusing him because she comes from a religious Catholic family and that she believes sex before marriage is sinful.[2] He sings, "You Catholic girls start much too late,/ but sooner or later it comes down to fate./ I might as well be the one." Perceived as "anti-Catholic", the song was banned by many radio stations.[2] "When I wrote 'Only the Good Die Young', the point of the song wasn't so much anti-Catholic as pro-lust", Joel told Performing Songwriter magazine. "The minute they banned it, the album started shooting up the charts."
The title of the song comes from Menander, a fourth century BCE poet: "Whom the gods love die young."
Demo version
A demo, included in the box set My Lives, features a slower, reggae version of the song. Joel uses a church organ in the song, aiding the general theme of the song. Joel has stated publicly that he changed the reggae beat to a shuffle beat at the request of his longtime drummer, Liberty DeVitto, who did not like reggae music.
Track Listing
7" single (1977)
- "Only The Good Die Young" - (3:54)
- "Get It Right The First Time" - (3:32)
Chart positions
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 24[2] |
References
- ^ Sagert, Kelly Boyer (2007). The 1970s. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 177. ISBN 0313339198.
- ^ a b c Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 242. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
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