Music / Glass Houses

You may be right. I may be crazy.
Hey, but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for.

What's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
Don't you know that they're out of touch?
Should I try to be a straight 'A' student?
If you are then you think too much.

Don't you know about the new fashion, honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money.
It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock & roll to me.

—"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"

Glass Houses is the seventh studio album released by American singer/songwriter/pianist Billy Joel. It was released through Columbia Records on March 12, 1980.

For his third run with Phil Ramone producing, Billy looked for a harder tone to his songs. This was punctuated with the album cover, showing Billy about to chuck a rock through the window of a house (some releases had a picture of Joel looking through the hole he created after throwing it to complete the artwork).

While critics didn't know what to make of it, with some of the more elitist critics solidifying an opinion that he had sold out, Billy wowed the public. Despite lukewarm critical reviews, it today stands at 4.5 out of 5 stars on AllMusic. It went seven-times Platinum in the United States, just like 52nd Street before it, and Gold in the United Kingdom. It would peak at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Five singles were released in support of the album: "All For Layna", "You May Be Right", "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", "Don't Ask Me Why", and "Sometimes a Fantasy". "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" would become Billy's first single to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Don't Ask Me Why" would hit #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

The album would also net Billy another Grammy Award, this time for Best Rock Vocal Performance (Male).

Tracklist

Side one

1. "You May Be Right" (4:15)
2. "Sometimes a Fantasy" (3:40)
3. "Don't Ask Me Why" (2:59)
4. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (2:57)
5. "All for Leyna" (4:15)

Side two

1. "I Don't Want to Be Alone" (3:57)
2. "Sleeping with the Television On" (3:02)
3. "C'était Toi (You Were the One)" (3:25)
4. "Close to the Borderline" (3:47)
5. "Through the Long Night" (2:43)

Personnel

• Billy Joel – acoustic piano, synthesizers, harmonica, electric pianos, accordion, vocals
• Richie Cannata – organs, saxophones, flute
• David Brown – acoustic and electric guitars (lead)
• Russell Javors – acoustic and electric guitars (rhythm)
• Doug Stegmeyer – bass guitar
• Liberty DeVitto – drums and percussion

---

"Don't wait for answers, just trope your chances"

• Album Title Drop: ...kinda? "You May Be Right", and therefore the entire album, begins with the sound of breaking glass, suggesting Billy did indeed throw that rock as shown on the album cover.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In "You May Be Right" there was this bit:
  I was stranded in the combat zone,
  I walked through Bedford Stuy alone,
  Even rode my motorcycle in the rain.^note Any cyclist will tell you this is dangerous, however.
• Big Word Shout: In "All For Leyna":
  So I wait in the dark,
  Listening for her
  Instead of my old man saying,
  STOP! kidding yourself,
  Wasting your time.
• Call-and-Response Song: "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" features this for most of its verses.
• Cloudcuckoolander: The singer in "You May Be Right" is definitely this, and it drives his lover up the wall. But perhaps, as the singer points out in the chorus, that might be exactly what she's looking for.
  If I'm crazy, then it's true
  That it's all because of you
  And you wouldn't want me any other way
• Gratuitous French:
  • The song "Don't Ask Me Why" inexplicably drops: "Parlez-vous français?" ("Do you speak French?"). The purpose is that the target thinks they're sophisticated because they speak it.
    Yesterday you were an only child
    Now your ghosts have gone away
    Oh, you can kill them in the classic style
    Now you parlez-vous français.
  • "C'Etait Toi" has an entire section sung only in French.
• Heavy Meta: "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" refers to the new wave sound, as well as rock and roll in general.
• Intercourse with You: "Sometimes a Fantasy", only it's about phone sex.
• New Sound Album: The album has more of a New Wave influence.
• Obsession Song: "All For Leyna". The narrator has a one night stand with the eponymous woman, and declares:
  I don't wanna eat, I don't wanna sleep, I only want Leyna one more time.
• Take That, Critics!: "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" takes a jab at the concept of Reviews Are the Gospel and how music critics try to tell people who's worth listening to:
  There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound
  From a story in a magazine aimed at your average teen
  • Soon afterwards, a Rolling Stone poll voted it "the worst song about rock and roll ever". Joke was on them: It became his first #1 single.

---