BIG SHOT
Billy Joel
The second single from the album, 52ND STREET, Chart: #14. Time - 3:43, 4:03. Flip Side: "Root Beer Rag". Released in U.S.A. January 1979.
Recorded at A & R Recording, Inc., New York City, New York, USA, 1978. Produced by Phil Ramone. Engineered by Jim Boyer.
Originally thought to be about a date Billy had with Bianca Jagger, which wasn't the case. Billy Joel has said that he wrote the song after a dinner with Mick and Bianca. It is about mocking a woman who has a hangover, about her crazy antics while drinking the night before. They were on their way to divorce and it was written from Mick's perspective. - Larry -
Billy Joel - lead vocals, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers |
BILLY JOEL - 1982
"When we were cutting "Big Shot" for 52nd Street, that fake Rumanian accent I use on the chorus was done solely as a joke, a stunt to crack up the group. I'd written the song completely differently. When we ran through the basic track, the accent and the bitchy stutter - "You-you-you had to be a beegshot!" - just popped out. We always said that we'd go back and fix that up one day, but I decided to leave it as it was because I'd gotten so much joy out of catching the band off-gaurd and busting them up."
""Big Shot" sounds as if you're having fun actually telling someone off. The vocal tonalities in your best records aren't stagey."
"The human voice has all this nuance, and I like to use humour to drive home points. I don't think of myself as a singer. I don't have a lot of confidence in my singing voice, so I'm constantly fooling around with it. When I have to listen to my voice cold in the studio, I cringe. I try to give it a live-in-the-arena setting on record because I think it's pretty boring. I like to compose and play in such a way that I don't have to sing all that many round notes, keeping the emphasis on syllabic bursts filled in with drum beats and guitar licks and whatever. I sound better when I'm socking out a tune to one degree or another than when I'm crooning."
BILLY JOEL - 2006
"I read that the song 'Big Shot' is said to be about a date I had with Bianca Jagger. I never had a date with Bianca Jagger."
YOU TUBE STUDIO TRACK OFFICIAL VIDEO YOU TUBE LYRIC VIDEO YOU TUBE LIVE, Long Island - Nassau Coliseum Dec. 29, 1982 Well you went uptown riding in your limousine With your fine Park Avenue clothes You had the Dom Perignon in your hand And the spoon up your nose And when you wake up in the morning With your head on fire And your eyes too bloody to see Go on and cry in your coffee But don't come bitchin' to me Because you had to be a big shot, didn't you You had to open up your mouth You had to be a big shot, didn't you All your friends were so knocked out You had to have the last word, last night You know what everything's about You had to have a white hot spotlight You had to be a big shot last night They were all impressed with your Halston dress And the people that you knew at Elaine's And the story of your latest success Kept 'em so entertained Aw but now you just don't remember All the things you said And you're not sure you want to know I'll give you one hint, honey You sure did put on a show Yes, yes, you had to be a big shot, didn't you You had to prove it to the crowd You had to be a big shot, didn't you All your friends were so knocked out You had to have the last word, last night You're so much fun to be around You had to have the front page, bold type You had to be a big shot last night Well, it's no big sin to stick your two cents in If you know when to leave it alone But you went over the line You couldn't see it was time to go home No, no, no, no, no, no, you had to be a big shot, didn't you You had to open up your mouth You had to be a big shot, didn't you All your friends were so knocked out You had to have the last word, last night So much fun to be around You had to have a white hot spot light You had to be a big shot last night