Everybody Loves You Now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "She's Got a Way"
- "Tomorrow Is Today" (int.)
| "Everybody Loves You Now" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dutch release picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Billy Joel | ||||
| from the album Cold Spring Harbor | ||||
| A-side |
| |||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Recorded | July 1971 at Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:47 | |||
| Label | Family Productions (U.S.) Philips (U.K.) | |||
| Songwriter | Billy Joel | |||
| Producer | Artie Ripp | |||
| Billy Joel singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Everybody Loves You Now" is a song written by Billy Joel. It was first released on his 1971 debut album Cold Spring Harbor and was also released as a B-side to his singles "She's Got a Way" and "Tomorrow Is Today". Live versions were included on the albums Songs in the Attic, 12 Gardens Live and Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert.
The lyrics to "Everybody Loves You Now" describe a spoiled woman who thinks she is better than everyone now that she has become famous.[1][2] She now considers herself too good to return to her hometown of Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island.[1] Joel took the title for his debut album from this line of the song.[3] Despite her haughtiness, the singer desires her as does everyone else.[1] The singer warns her that even though now she can take her attention for granted, since everyone wants her, eventually they will stop caring about her and she will be lonely.[1] Joel biographer Fred Schruers describes the song as "both a rebuke and confession of tangled desire."[4]
Ken Bielen describes "Everybody Loves You Now" as "an acoustic guitar-based shuffle."[1] Joel plays piano on the song.[1][4] Bielen describes Joel's piano playing as "upbeat" and Schruers describes him as playing "hammering, almost barrelhouse chords.[1][4] Cash Box described it as a "flashy and splashy rave-up."[5]
Joel has described "Everybody Loves You Now" as a "zinger" that "balanced out" the corniness of "She's Got a Way", saying that "I can be venomous but I could also be a mush."[6]
Joel originally included "Everybody Loves You Now" on a five-song demo tape that also included other songs that would appear on Cold Spring Harbor such as "She's Got a Way" and "Tomorrow Is Today" which Joel made in an unsuccessful attempt to secure his first solo recording contract with Paramount Records.[3]
There are a few differences between the initial release of the song in 1971 and the re-release of the song in 1983. The original version contains a guitar mimicking the piano throughout the track, a reversed piano chord, and a lighter drum track, played by Rhys Clark. The 1983 version removes the guitar, plays the piano chord forwards, and features a faster and more upbeat drum track, played by Mike McGee.
