"It's Still Rock And Roll To Me"
What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?
"Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?"
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
"Welcome back to the age of jive.
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money."
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me
What's the matter with the car I'm driving?
"Can't you tell that it's out of style?"
Should I get a set of white wall tires?
"Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile?
Nowadays you can't be too sentimental
Your best bet's a true baby blue Continental."
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me
Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the papers
'Cause it's always been the same old scene.
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
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
"You could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance.
Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers,
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers."
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
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 and roll to me
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me
Still Rock And Roll To Me by Billy Joel consists of six stanzas. Verses one, two, four and five all consist of the same number of lines: eight. In addition, they also share the same rhyme scheme, ABCBDDEF. However, verses three and six have a different number of lines. Verse three has five lines with a rhyme scheme of ABCDB, where verse six only has two lines and no rhyme scheme. “It’s still rock and roll to me” is the closet thing to a chorus, it is repeated five times to emphasize the main idea of the song.
I can see the speaker of this song being a middle aged man. Whom refuses to change his ways for an upcoming generation. He is very set in his old ways, and simply does not see a need to change. This is clearly shown in the lines, “Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout the new sound / Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me”. As time evolves, people tend to evolve with it, examples would include, clothing trends, technology constantly upgrading ,musical influences, and media. It doesn’t matter how much change is occurring around the speaker, he is completely set in his ways. The tone of the lyrics seems to be bitter simply because, change is not necessary. As the speaker says, as objects go “out of style” his ways will remain relevant as trends come and go. The person is finding it very difficult to let go of the way he learned things and to move on with the times. It is almost as if he was asking, what is the point to change if the current way still works? It’s like the old saying, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”.
There are many examples of poetic terminology used throughout this song. The song is very informal due to diction. The song is full of words that you would hear anyone saying in everyday conversations, such as, “talkin’, nowadays, lotta, and ‘bout”. Alliteration is used in the line,“Your best bet’s a true baby blue continental.” Also, allusion was used to reference “Beau Brummel” who was known for men’s fashion. Symbolism is also used throughout the song. On the surface this song seems to talk about the music industry changing and a particular artist not willing to change with the times, but “rock and roll” could have a deeper meaning, which is life. The speaker is being ridiculed throughout the entire song for being out of style, and at the end of every verse he repeats, “It’s still rock and roll to me”. Artists release new albums daily full of beats and sounds that have never been heard before, but it is still serves the same purpose as every other song, similarly a cheap styrofoam plate, and an expensive plate are both used to eat off of, so they are still just plates. Over time, things become more modern, and as humans we adapt to these changes. Change can be awesome, or terrible, but it is a part of life that the speaker despises. Overall, even with upgrades everything serves the same purpose.
This song is one of my favourites for a few reasons. It is a classic, and I prefer it over most new material produced by artists today. I can also relate to it, I am not a fan of change and I strongly believe that you should not tamper with something just for the sake of doing so. I am not a believer in trends, and I just do things the way I see fit. I feel that the speaker has the same idea with his music. You do something because you like it, not to copy someone else's ideas.
Here is a link to the song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eAQa4MOGkE
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