Top 10 Melodies of the 1980s

6. “Allentown”, Billy Joel. (1983).

As I’ve written elsewhere, like so many people, I’ve been trained by the culture to roll my eyes at the mention of Joel’s name. It’s almost as though he’s now more remembered for drunk driving, Christy Brinkley, and “River of Dreams” than for having been one of the great songwriters of human history, which he is. Allentown is among his very best. The melody of this song opens with a phrase (“Well we’re living here in Allentown”) which, ending on the root of the I chord as it does, is identifiably a concluding phrase. That is, this melody’s narrative starts at the end of the story, then works backward. Especially when you think about the lyrical content (Here’s what life is like here, now, but oh, how vibrant it once was! And how did this happen?), this is utterly bril-liant. From that first phrase, everything that follows is perfectly in place, as Joel weaves a mara-thon-length melodic narrative that’s still compellingly memorable even after one listen, while the chords underneath move your emotions effortlessly. When he belts the sinuous “And it’s getting very hard to staaaaaaaaaaaaay,” it’s everything Billy Joel is about, perfected. The largely mis-matching video, by the way, is hamfisted and ridiculous, ending with a guy in briefs dancing to some really cheesy choreography. Go see.