19: We Choose Between Reality and Madness

19: "Summer, Highland Falls" by Billy Joel [Video: Nope, but there is this one, where he explains why he wrote the song: Summer, Highland Falls (Explained).]

When I bought Billy Joel's "Songs In the Attic" album, this is the song that jumped out at me. It's so simple, so clean, and so wonderful. The music is great, the lyrics are fantastic! It's a very well-written song.

"They say that these are not the best of times, but they're the only times I've ever known."
"A time for meditation in cathedrals of our own."
"For we are always what our situations hand us, it's either sadness or euphoria."
"For all our mutual experience, our separate conclusions are the same."
"Our reason coexists with our insanity."
"And though we choose between reality and madness, it's either sadness or euphoria."
"Perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies."
"And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives, with our respective similarities, it's either sadness or euphoria."

It's just a great, great song. Would it be better if it were named "Sadness or Euphoria" instead of "Summer, Highland Falls?" Probably not.

COMING UP NEXT: Are U2 thieves?