u are one of the only reactors that have done this one, so thank you! I've always liked this song as crazy as it is. REally twisted tune, but still pretty darned awesome. Go Billy!
Great reaction. The kid in the song has had a tragic life and may even suffer with depression. His only refuge is his vice, and Captain Jack is his dealer who can take him away. He just sits at home and waits for his call
Saw him in 1974 when he was still playing the college circuit. He closed the show with this song. I knew then I had seen and heard GREATNESS! Another top notch reactions you killin it!
Saw him at Wittenberg University in Ohio the same year. The light show for this tune was great as well. We had no idea who he was, the roadies were playing Mott the Hoople so we figured it would be alright. Tickets were $3. One of the best shows I've ever seen.
I saw him about that same time at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. I was blown away by his talent and performance that night. I bought used Piano Man and Yellow Brick Road LPs for $5 from a high school classmate a few weeks before the show at JSU. I still have both copies! I’ve seen Elton many times, but would hold up Billy’s show right up there with Elton. He was virtually unknown at the time but it was evident that he would be a superstar star one day.
Looked this up ... not sure but sounds right. Joel wrote "Captain Jack" in late 1971, while sitting in his apartment in Oyster Bay, Long Island, looking out the window, trying to find inspiration for a song. Across the street was a housing project, and he observed suburban teenagers going into the project and obtaining heroin from a dealer known as "Captain Jack". Billy Joel Talks About ‘Captain Jack’ “Captain Jack isn't Jack Daniels. I used to live near the projects in Long Island and there were drugs going on and the dealer was called Captain Jack. There was also smack. They used to use the rhyme for smack, Captain Jack. So I didn't mean it to be any specific drug, it's whatever people had to take to escape reality. It was drugs in general. You know I call it a look out the window song. I was just looking out there and seeing all my friends, everybody would just get their brains wasted and fried and I thought it was kind of stupid. We were in the suburbs - what are you junkin' out for. Wait 'til you grow up in the ghetto - then maybe you think about doing that stuff. Why get that screwed up?”
That is absolutely how Billy describes writing the song and coming from a poor background he couldn’t understand why rich kids needed heroin to get through life. Turned out to be the song that got him noticed by Columbia records after a radio station in Philadelphia recorded it and played it on air. It became the most requested song ever at that station
20th Century Cycle, great place. The manager is a great guy to talk to. Hope he keeps it open. He's selling his house on Centre Island which is right by Oyster Bay
Elton and Billy toured together billed as The Piano Men. I always thought Capitan Jack was the guy's pusher. He's waiting for a phone call, just a little push and you'll be smiling. Sounds like a drug pusher to me.
The first time I heard this song was at my high school’s talent show in 1977. One of the gym teachers sat on the stage playing acoustic guitar and singing this. Billy is an amazing storyteller. Very deep song here.
The comparison between Billy and Elton is completely accurate. They even toured together..I was lucky enough to see that show. It was an unforgetable experience. I believe the song is about the one guy and he's got issues all right. He doesn't really get anything out of his life and he... snorts stuff to kill the apathy, thus the finger up his nose. Everytime I hear this song, I think of John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever for some reason.
I would say "Tomorrow is Today" (from "Cold Spring Harbor") is darker, because that was based off a note that Billy Joel left when he tried to commit suicide.
The Ballad of Billy the kid, Zanzibar, Big Shot, Scenes from Italian restaurant. If you haven't done them already. From my hometown of Hicksville Long Island.
I'm with you, early Billy Joel songs have a bit of an edge to them. I have seen Billy live several times and I always hoped he would play "Captain Jack" but he never does. Everybody just wants to hear the hits.
@@laudanum669 You can't blame people who want to hear the hits for this one lol this one is all Billy. People have tried to get him to play Captain Jack and he refuses because he doesn't want to.
There were a lot of songs written in the 60'/70's about heroin use, but none were written from the POV of a bored middle class college kid like this one. This kid wasn't a street junkie. He obviously came from a decent family and attended college. I love this tune so much.
😂 the Uncle with the tissues, i almost fellnof my couch. Love you're reaction, it's heroin not J.D. as I'm sure a lot of people will mention. I've said before that you should do an album reaction to "Songs from the Attic"! And even though you've heard a few of the songs before, all of the songs on the Album are LIVE! Captain Jack is are there as well and I think you owe to yourself to hear the songs live especially since you're becoming a fan.
I think this is a good song, but for your next 2 Joel reactions I'll recommend 2 songs that I think are even better: "New York State of Mind" and "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant". I agree that Joel and Elton John have a lot in common. Both are pianists, both are great songwriters, both play a wide variety of styles, including pop ballads and rockers.
Only one of them is a great song writer! Bernie Taupin is a great lyricist and Elton was great at music side of things. Billy Joel is matched by very few in his overall ability!
This is typical Long Island in the 70's. Great times, but very dangerous in some areas where drugs were rampant. Captain Jack was a heroin dealer that lived in an apt complex across the street from him. So, he wrote about what he saw. He really knows how to tell a story.
You should watch a 50 plus 11:47 11:47 11:47 11:47 yr old Billy perform this live at Shea Stadium. It was tied The Last Play at Shea. Paul Macrtney performed, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, John Melloncamp and the late Tony Bennett. Garth Brooks sanh Shameless with him . Elton and Billy toured together a.couple times. Side by side grand pianos, facing each other. Also YouMayBe Right and Sometimes a Fantasy. Just can'tgo wrong. His daughter was a toddler when Billy was the first rocker invited to old USSR. He sang UptownGirl with her. Tou are right. Billy dont miss.
BJ used to sit in his apartment (still poor/middle class) and see the pushers dealing Heroin to the junkies. "Captain Jack" is the dope dealer, this guy was a loner and a loser because he was a junkie at 21. Like meth heads pick their face, he picked his nose, and masturbated, so in essence you could say this was an anti drug song. Always my fav. BJ song by far. This song was heard on a Philly station live and made up popular on the east coast.
Billy Joel and Elton John always seemed to be 1A and 1B. I've always been more of a Billy Joel guy myself, but taking nothing away from Elton John, both are greats.
I saw them when they toured together. It was obvious Elton had way more talent. I'm not bashing Billy Joel, I like him too. But the comparison was stark.
@@farmerbill6855 Here we go.....a-hole statement. 'Way more talent?'.....really? ...just say you have a preference. Billy wrote his own lyrics.... Elton worked with a partner. What are your credentials to even make such a statement?
My reading of the song is the song is observations of the region where Billy Joel grew up. He's from Oyster Bay, Long Island, in New York State. Joel was middle class Jewish, but this song is about the upper class kids that had life so easy that the lack of challenge left them empty and easy prey for drug dealers. Disconnection from family members, disconnection from any social involvement, the kid in the song doesn't really live, he just exists. He finds the only stimulation from the drugs he gets from 'Captain Jack', the local drug dealer. Even his father's drowning doesn't stir his emotions. Sometimes privilege kills the soul. The 'down' time is dull and drone-like. The music swells and makes the heart beat faster when talking about 'Captain Jack' and the 'special island', then descends to a landing before going quieter and dead-sounding. It's like daily life is a muted gray and only the drug state has color and excitement. Even the vocals are buried by the raucous music; the vocals just drop away and are lost. It's a story of a cocooned life. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ As far as Elton John and Billy Joel goes in comparison, there is only a superficial similarity. Billy Joel writes both lyrics AND music, and a lot of his songs are really deep and/or incredible observations of people and life. Elton writes music, but the words come from Bernie Taupin; Elton is not a 'words' kind of guy. Yes, both Joel and John are theatrical in the sense that they know how to put on a performance, but Joel goes further conceptually than Elton does. Elton does performance, but Joel does stories, video 'films', shows, in a fuller sense than Elton does. Billy Joel does by himself what it takes Elton and Bernis Taupin together to accomplish and does it bigger and deeper.
Captain Jack, I believe, is a reference to heroin. "...will get you high tonight, just a little push and you'll be smiling" Then, a couple of times during the end section, beginning at 6:55 he says "Oh now, Captain Jack *could make you die tonight...*
I first saw Billy Joel in '74 or '75 at the Wittenberg University field house for the princely sum of $3. It was just before Piano Man came out. No one knew who he was, just something to do on a Wednesday evening. It was transcendent and still ranks as one of the best shows I've ever seen. Piano Man is his best album. Another good cut is "You're My Home". "Stop In Nevada" is good too. Captain Jack in this instance is heroin.
As with so many great artists, their music after commercial success becomes canned. It happened to Daryl Hall & John Oates & Chicago (just off the top of my head) Daryl Hall & John Oates had amazing music before Private Eyes came out. Then they make money, it wears them out, and they come back to their beginning.
Not about Mr. JOEL BUT I would like to see your reaction to K.D. Lang's first appearance on Johnny Carson singing Write Me In Care Of The Blues. AMAZING!
Tutti gioielli ... Billy joel ... Live era un portentoso performer .... Per me il migliore ... Consiglio Leave a tender moment alone duet with Tootsie Tielemans ... Live
Nope. It's about shooting heroin. "Just a little push, and you'll be smiling" refers to pushing the plunger of the syringe and the almost instant effect.
my parents never made my bed. it's my bed it's my job! but too many parents then and now think just buying stuff for your kids is parenting. i always got the impression that the parents didn't give time and attention just stuff. Captain Jack is his drug dealer-just a little push and you'll be smiling. i'm thinking heroin..
Drugs, the push is drugs from a needle in the vain , it’s an anti drug song, because the guy is wondering what went wrong in his life, he’s just a loser, great song
Good musically though not the story of a pot head youth. Sad truth of those times. Even Billy Joel does not enjoy doing this in concert anymore according to a fairly recent interview!
The sing is about a heroin dealer. Just a little push and you'll be smiling who knew captain Jack could make you die tonight. Its a young kid who ruins his life with heroin
Captain Jack is referring to something junkies do. By jacking the needle with just blood you can get the residual drug out of the syringe. It's something that they do just to try to get a high.
