Presented before the court, the lyrics:
She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But she’s always a woman to me
She can lead you to live
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she’ll never believe you
And she’ll take what you give her as long as it’s free
She steals like a thief
But she’s always a woman to me
Oh, she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She’s ahead of her time
Oh, and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind
She will promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she’ll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you’re bleedin’
But she’ll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause she’s always a woman to me
She is frequently kind
And she’s suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She’s nobody’s fool
But she can’t be convicted
She’s earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she’s always a woman to me
Okay…it’s a good thing Billy wrote in there “She can’t be convicted”, because I personally feel she should be. As a woman myself, I hope this wasn’t the best example of womanhood Mr. Joel ever knew. Whoever he was writing about, he seems to be waxing nostalgic where he ought to be running in terror. Doesn’t this “woman” sound like a sociopathic spoiled brat? And why, in the face of all the lyrical damning evidence is she “always a woman” to him?
Weird, Mr. Joel, just weird. On the plus side, I like the melody line and the music – it’s the sort of tune that makes you want start swaying to it; at least until the potential psycho hose beast lyrics remind you that you’d do better to look around you and make sure this “woman” isn’t creeping up behind you with an axe.
AuntieMaim.com 
It was recently brought (again) to my attention that Mr. Joel goes through periods of good and okay music. His edgiest, most melodic, and memorable stuff, however, seems to coincide with a terrible breakup, while the rest is on a happy note but doesn’t seem as emotional.
In other words, Billy’s best for us comes from his own misery. Case and point? Just read the lyrics above and guess where his mind was at.
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Assuming that Mr. Joel is a victim of the old adage – you can only write good poetry when you’re miserable?
Alas, too many folks (about 95%) still believe that antiquated notion. With discipline and practice, one can write any sort of poetry at will, in any emotion desired or felt, regardless of the basic state of happiness or misery one is currently in.
I stumbled on this revelation, actually, when I decided I wanted a poem at the start of my chapters in “Grimmie”, as some of my favorite authors had. How to write cool poems while happy? I took an actor’s approach. I pretended I was Grimmie, and imagined the sort of cryptic verse he might write. With some practice, it just started to flow. Now I can write cool poetry whenever the mood strikes or the story demands, in any POV or mood, no matter what mood I’m personally in at the time.
I hate to see poets enslaved to the lie of “only misery makes good poetry”. Perhaps this could be a future panel topic!
(But I still say the subject of Mr. Joel’s song above is a dangerous psycho hose beast. A hard fact to ignore, no matter how much I enjoy the melody line). ;)
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