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Sometimes a Fantasy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Sometimes a Fantasy"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album Glass Houses
B-side"All for Leyna"
ReleasedOctober 11, 1980
Recorded1979
Genre
Length4:19 (single version)
3:40 (album version)
LabelColumbia
SongwriterBilly Joel
ProducerPhil Ramone
Billy Joel singles chronology
"Don't Ask Me Why"
(1980)		 "Sometimes a Fantasy"
(1980)		 "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
(1981)
Music video
"Sometimes a Fantasy" on YouTube

"Sometimes a Fantasy" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, taken from his seventh studio album, Glass Houses (1980). Released by Columbia Records in October 1980, the single peaked at No. 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song is a "melodic, fast paced rocker"[1] that starts with the sound of Joel touch-tone dialing a telephone number, as shown on the single cover.[1]

The lyrics are about a sexually-frustrated man who tries to convince his significant other to have phone sex. He explains that he is lonely since they are far away from each other and that he does "know it's awful hard to try to make love long distance".

Music video

[edit]

The video starts with Joel in bed, dialing a woman's number. She picks up the phone and the song starts playing. Throughout the video, Joel sings the song's lyrics to her down the phone. At the end, it turns out the entire call was just a fantasy, and no-one had picked up.

Other versions

[edit]

The single version of "Sometimes a Fantasy" released in the United States and Canada has a running time of 4:19, making it longer than the album version, which runs at 3:40. The 45 RPM single also uses a different mix with guitars panned in different locations. The album's version ends with a fade out, while the single version does not, and instead includes Joel letting loose a Beatles' honoring yowl of "I got blisters on my blisters!",[5] a reference to Ringo Starr's outburst, "I got blisters on my fingers" at the end of "Helter Skelter".

The extended version of the song was available as a US 7" vinyl, a Canadian 7" vinyl, a US promo 7" vinyl, a US DJ-promo 12" vinyl and (at 4:22) as the Japanese B-side of "All for Leyna" (available as a 7" and a 7" promo).[6] The single was released in other countries as a 3:39 version, namely in Australia, the Netherlands and the UK (7" promo).[6] The longer single version was not available on any of Joel's compilation albums or reissues until the 2022 digital-only release 50 Years of the Piano Man.[7]

The official music video for this single uses an alternate vocal track, different from the album and single releases.[8] A version of the song is included on Joel's 1987 live album, Kohuept.

Reception

[edit]

Billboard said that it "starts with a telephone ring and a rockabilly vocal before its transition into a melodic, fast-paced rocker."[9][10] Record World called it a "pulsating rocker for AOR-pop."[11]

Personnel

[edit]

Chart history

[edit]
Chart (1980–1981) Peak
position
Canadian Singles Chart[12] 21
UK Airplay (Record Business)[13] 29
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[14] 36

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. October 11, 1980. p. 75. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  2. 1 2 Mitchell, Matt (January 20, 2024). "The 25 Greatest Billy Joel Songs of All Time". Paste. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Evanoff, Savannah (November 18, 2019). "OFF THE RECORD: 'Glass Houses'". Northwest Florida Daily News. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Final Serenade, One (May 27, 2021). "Sometimes a Fantasy - Billy Joel". One Final Serenade: The Songs of Billy Joel. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Billy Joel - Sometimes A Fantasy (LONG SINGLE VERSION) (1980)". 3 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-06-05 – via YouTube.
  6. 1 2 "52nd Street Serenade ♪♪: Still You're Aching For The Things You Haven't Got (1980-1982 from Glass Houses)". Billyjoel52ndstreetserenade.blogspot.co.uk. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  7. ↑ 50 Years of the Piano Man at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "52nd Street Serenade ♪♪: Singles & Videos". Billyjoel52ndstreetserenade.blogspot.co.uk. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  9. ↑ "Review: Billy Joel – Sometimes a Fantasy" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 85, no. 41. 11 October 1980. p. 75. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via American Radio History.
  10. ↑ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. October 11, 1980. p. 75. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  11. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. October 11, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  12. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  13. ↑ "Top 75 Airplay Chart" (PDF). Record Business. 19 January 1981. p. 12. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  14. ↑ "Billy Joel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
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