Draft:Summer, Highland Falls
| "Summer, Highland Falls" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Billy Joel | |
| from the album Turnstiles | |
| Released | May 19, 1976 |
| Studio | Ultra Sonic Studio in Hempstead, New York, U.S. |
| Genre | Soft Rock |
| Length | 3:19 |
| Label | Columbia Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Billy Joel |
| Producer(s) | Billy Joel |
"Summer, Highland Falls" is a song written and sung by Billy Joel, and the second song recorded on his fourth studio album Turnstiles in 1976. It follows an atypical format as the lyrics do not contain the title or a chorus. The song is one of Joel's lesser known with only 21 million streams on Spotify as of December 2024,[1] but has achieved a sort of "cult classic" status among his fans.[2]
Origins and composition
[edit]The song's title, which is conspicuously absent from the song itself, refers to a town in upstate New York. Joel said that he wrote the song during the summer he returned to Highland Falls, New York from Los Angeles, which formed the song's title. When asked on the inspiration for the song said that during the time he spent in Highland Falls he felt that "life wasn't as simple as it used to be," that he recognized that he "had faults [he] needed to correct," and that "the relationship [he'd] had with a woman wasn't as perfect as [he] wanted it to be."[3]
Joel said in an interview that the song is a testament to his "manic depressive" tendencies.[3]
Reception
[edit]Live performances
[edit]| Album/Event | Date Performed | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Songs in the Attic | July 23rd, 1980 | The Bayou | Performed in Washington D.C. |
References
[edit]- ^ "Billy Joel - Spotify Top Songs". kworb.net. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
- ^ mystery_muse1 (2024-04-09). "Daily Song Discussion #32: Summer, Highland Falls". r/BillyJoel. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b billyjoelVEVO (2013-10-23). Billy Joel - Q&A: Story Of "Summer, Highland Falls"? (Nuremberg 1995). Retrieved 2024-12-28 – via YouTube.