BILLY JOEL - JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

Publicació: setembre de 1977

Llistes: Regne Unit: #19  EUA: #3

Billy Joel va escriure aquesta cançó per a la seva primera dona, Elizabeth, com a regal d'aniversari, en una pura expressió d’amor incondicional. Malauradament, després de nou anys de matrimoni, Joel i Elizabeth es van divorciar l'any 1982. Es va casar dos cops més i es tampoc van funcionar els matrimonis. "Cada cop que escrivia una cançó per a una persona amb qui tenia una relació, no va durar", va dir Joel. "Va ser una mica com una maledicció. Aquí tens la teva cançó: també ens podríem dir adéu ara", va dir en una entrevista.

Segons Joel, alguns oients van perdre el sentit i van pensar que la cançó era misògina perquè deia a una dona que no li estava "permès" canviar. "No, no, no. Don't go changing to try and please me" (No, no, no. No vagis canviant per intentar agradar-me), va dir el 2016. "La gent s'oblida d'aquestes coses. Si no els agrada el que faig diran: 'Oh, sí, aquell que odia les dones. Quan en realitat estic dient: ‘No canviïs, segueix com ets, sent la mateixa persona que vaig conèixer. No canviïs per mi, si vols canvia per agradar-te a tu mateixa, estic d'acord. Però no has de canviar per mi perquè em fas feliç exactament sent com ets. És per això que t'estimo’".

Després que Joel enregistrés això, no hi va pensar gaire més, considerant-la una "balada tonta" que només es tocaria en casaments. Li atribueix el crèdit al seu productor, Phil Ramone, per convèncer-lo que era una gran cançó. En Ramone va portar a Linda Ronstadt i Phoebe Snow a l'estudi de gravació per escoltar la cançó i, per descomptat, els va encantar, cosa que va fer bona impressió a Billy. A la televisió australiana l'any 2006, Joel va confirmar: "Gairebé la vàrem descartar per l’àlbum. Estàvem asseguts escoltant-la pensant: naaah, aquesta cançó és una cursilada".

El qui va ser bateria de Joel durant molts anys, Liberty DeVitto, considera que el seu treball en aquest tema és la seva millor contribució a una cançó de Billy Joel. En una entrevista, DeVitto va dir: "En Phil Ramone i jo teniem l’idea que fos com una mena de samba, com una bossa nova amb un raspall i un pal". DeVitto va ser un dels qui més es va oposar als arrenjaments vocals de la cançó en la seva forma original. Joel va recordar al llibre de Ramone Making Records: "Originalment vam tocar 'Just The Way You Are' com a txa-txa:" Don't go changing (txa-txa-txa), just to please me (txa-txa-txa) .…' Bé, Liberty DeVitto es va enfadar tant que em va llançar les baquetes i va marxar. "No sóc un maleït bateria de fira, va dir". Quan Ramone va acceptar que el ritme de txa-txa no funcionava i va suggerir un patró amb un aire més sensual, DeVitto es va reincorporar a la gravació. El bateria recorda: "Phil va suggerir provar un ritme de bayón sud-americà i va tocar el patró per mostrar-me el què volia. Ho vam tornar a provar, i aquesta vegada vaig començar a deixar caure el bombo en determinats llocs i seguir el ritme pausat. Un lleuger repòs i una mica de pressió addicional a cada cop del pedal del bombo li van donar més èmfasi. L'ús de pinzells a la caixa li va donar un so molt sexy".

Joel va explicar a USA Today: "Vaig somiar la melodia, no la lletra. Recordo que em vaig despertar de matinada i vaig pensar: "Aquesta és una gran idea per a una cançó". Un parell de setmanes després, estava en una reunió de negocis, i la melodia em va tornar al cap, just en un moment que la meva ment s'havia desconnectat d'escoltar números i argot legal. Vaig dir: "He de marxar!" Vaig arribar a casa i vaig acabar escrivint-ho tot de cop pràcticament. Vaig trigar potser dues o tres hores a escriure la lletra".

"Just The Way You Are" va guanyar el premi Grammy per a la cançó de l'any a la cerimònia de 1979. Va ser un gran avanç per a Joel, el major èxit del qual fins llavors era "Piano Man", que va arribar al número 25 als Estats Units. Joel va dir a USA Today el 9 de juliol de 2008: "Em va sorprendre absolutament que guanyés un Grammy. Ni tan sols era rock 'n' roll, era com un estàndard amb una mica de R&B. Em va recordar a un antic enregistrament d’Stevie Wonder”.

Paul McCartney va elogiar aquesta cançó, afirmant al seu butlletí Club Sandwich que és una de les poques cançons que desitjaria haver escrit.

"Just The Way You Are" va ser la primera cançó de Billy Joel en entrar a les llistes al Regne Unit.

BILLY JOEL - JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

Released: September 1977

Charted:  UK: #19  US: #3

Joel wrote this song about his first wife, Elizabeth. A pure expression of unconditional love, he gave it to her as a birthday present. Sadly, after nine years of marriage, Joel and Elizabeth divorced in 1982. He was married twice and also divorced. "Every time I wrote a song for a person I was in a relationship with, it didn't last" Joel said. "It was kind of like the curse. Here's your song - we might as well say goodbye now".

According to Joel, some listeners missed the point and thought the song was misogynistic because he was telling a woman she wasn't "allowed" to change. "No, no, no. Don't go changing to try and please me", he told in 2016. "People forget these things. If they don't like what I do, they'll go, 'Oh yeah, he hates women. Look at this. Don't change, stay the way you are, the same old someone that he knew. Wow, he really doesn't like her.' Don't change for me. You wanna change for yourself, fine. But you don't have to change for me because I'm happy exactly the way you are. That's why I love you in the first place."

After Joel recorded this, he didn't think much of it, considering it a "gloppy ballad" that would only get played at weddings. He credits his producer, Phil Ramone, with convincing him that it was a great song. Ramone brought Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow into the recording studio to hear the song, and of course they loved it, which was good enough for Billy. On Australian TV in 2006, Joel confirmed: "We almost didn't put it on an album. We were sitting around listening to it going naaah, that's a chick song".

Joel's longtime drummer Liberty DeVitto considers his work on this track his greatest contribution to a Billy Joel song. In a interview DeVitto said: "Me and Phil Ramone came up with that kind of crazy rhythm that started out as a samba beat, like a bossa nova with a brush and a stick". But DeVitto was one of the most vocal opponents of the song in its original form. Joel recalled in Ramone's book Making Records: "We originally played 'Just The Way You Are' as a cha-cha: 'Don't go changing (cha-cha-cha) - just to please me (cha-cha-cha).…' Well, Liberty DeVitto got so pissed that he threw his drum sticks at me. 'I'm no goddamned sissy drummer,' he said".

When Ramone agreed the cha-cha rhythm wasn't working and suggested a pattern with a more sensuous feel, DeVitto finally got on board. The drummer recalled in Making Records: "Phil suggested trying a South American Byonne rhythm, and tapped out the pattern to show me what he meant. We tried it again, and this time I began dropping the bass drum out in certain places, and playing the tom-tom on the 'and' of four. The slight rest, and a little extra pressure on each kick of the bass drum pedal gave it extra emphasis. Using brushes on the snare gave it a very sexy sound."

Joel expanded to USA Today: "I dreamt the melody, not the words. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and going, 'This is a great idea for a song.' A couple of weeks later, I'm in a business meeting, and the dream reoccurs to me right at that moment because my mind had drifted off from hearing numbers and legal jargon. And I said, 'I have to go!' I got home and I ended up writing it all in one sitting, pretty much. It took me maybe two or three hours to write the lyrics."

"Just The Way You Are" won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 1979 ceremony. It was a breakthrough for Joel, whose biggest hit to this point was "Piano Man," which reached #25 in the US. Joel told USA Today July 9, 2008: "I was absolutely surprised it won a Grammy. It wasn't even rock 'n' roll, it was like a standard with a little bit of R&B in it. It reminded me of an old Stevie Wonder recording.

Paul McCartney delivered high praise for this song, stating in his Club Sandwich newsletter that it's one of the few songs he wished he had written.

"Just The Way You Are" was Joel's first chart entry in the UK.