Lingering on Long Island with Billy Joel

Okay, so it’s not like he was there with me, just his music and a little park and boat ramp in Cold Spring Harbor that was named after him. And now I’ve had Billy Joel New York songs on my mind all weekend.

Here’s the story: Brian had a card tournament on Long Island on Saturday, our pup Eliot and I tagged along thinking we could do some sightseeing while he played. Even though I did some research beforehand, I gotta tell you, it’s not as easy as it used to be to just, as the Indigo Girls say, “Get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down,” and reviews online can be deceiving.

First of all, and this part I knew, most New York state parks do not allow dogs, but even Sunken Meadow State Park is confusing on the issue. Online it says that they are allowed on back trails only, not on the beach. Cool. I would have liked the shade, but when you pull up, the signs clearly say no dogs. Period. Only after getting home did I discover that one of the places I had thought of going to, Sagamore Hills, turned out to be one that allows dogs. Ah well, next time.

Cold Spring Harbor is a lovely little village, though I could never afford to live there. Eliot and I had a delicious breakfast at a shady sidewalk cafe (see above photo), and there’s a little beach there that allows dogs on leash. You just don’t want to park there without a permit. Because I am my father’s son, we parked for free by the woods just up the road where there were some very well tended and shady trails. Eliot did not like the water at the beach though, as he’s used to the river, and he kept barking at a piece of driftwood and wouldn’t get his feet wet.

When I saw it on the map, I was thinking, “Cold Spring Harbor, doesn’t Billy Joel have a song that mentions Cold Spring Harbor?” Well, turns out he does. It’s on his first studio album called, Cold Spring Harbor and was released in 1971. The album didn’t really pick up in popularity though until 1973 with the release of “Piano Man.”

For a Two-for-Tuesday feature, it seemed like “New York State of Mind” would be a no-brainer, but since we only drove through the city to get to Long Island, how about for our second song we play a tune that I played for Brian on the drive out? It’s one of my favorites and I think it’s highly underrated, only hitting number 57 on the top billboard 10. It’s called “Downeaster Alexa,” and it’s from his 11th studio album.

“Is that the name of a boat?” Brian asked. Yup, a downeaster is a style of fishing boat made for efficiency and safety at sea. And while this song is a fictional account of a fisherman trying to make a living, it’s inspired by the name of Billy Joel’s boat, which is named after his daughter Alexa.

First, a live recording of the Cold Spring Harbor tune, “Everybody Loves You Now.” And then from his 1989 album Stormfront, the song “Downeaster Alexa.” I think it’s important to note that three years after the release of Stormfront, Joel was cited for participating in a protest in support of local fishermen. I realize it’s a controversial issue regarding the preservation of striped bass, but it’s also about how hard it is for the working class to live in an area that has been overly gentrified.

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

Remember how we very loosely interpreted the theme of Halloween? We’re doing that with Thanksgiving this week. We had some “Gratitude” from Earth, Wind & Fire yesterday. And of all the things we could focus on, I chose food. Well, sort of. I considered “Pass the Peas” by James Brown and the JB’s, and “Vegetables” by the Beach Boys, but great as they are, especially the JB’s jazz jam, it felt just too on the nose for a theme.

So instead, I’ve planned some songs set in dinners, restaurants, coffee shops . . . Why not? We’ll conclude these four days with a special song that Jeff used to send out traditionally on Thanksgiving.

So, here’s Billy Joel with one of my favorites, a song that feels like several songs. It’s about Brenda and Eddie who kind of peaked in high school. But then again, it’s more than that. Have you ever wondered if the the couple at the Italian restaurant are in Fact Brenda and Eddie meeting up again decades later, or are they some other couple just reminiscing about the popular kids from school and sort of wondering “where are they now?” I like that the song leaves it a bit ambiguous. How do you see it?

I always found this tune oddly inspiring, a reminder that as long as I’m not dead yet, there’s still more room for new pages in my life story.

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” was from the Billy’s 1975 album The Stranger, and in 2021, more than 45 years later, it finally got its own music video!