My Top 2000 Songs #1045: Captain Jack

Just watched HBO's Billy Joel documentary. I'm not what you'd call a Billy Joel fan, but it was pretty well done. Maybe overlong and occasionally repetitive at 5 hours--can't say I was terribly interested in his post-pop classical music era--but they did a pretty good job moving among his personal experience (his family's Holocaust history and its impact was impressive to see covered), his musical trajectory (including early work with the Hassles and Attila), his divorces and personal failings, and the seedier underbelly of the music business. Worth checking out.

Anyway, fortuitous timing, as we stumble across our first (and likely only) Joel contribution to this list. I tend to chafe at his popular work, both due to its complete radio saturation during my youth and having to periodically play it around the house to appease the wife, who's a fan... but I do have a soft spot for his early 70s, pre-commercial-success music, where he got a little more adventurous. "Captain Jack" in particular isn't exactly radio-friendly fare (though, per the documentary, one DJ playing it on the radio helped him land his record deal, and in hindsight it seems perfectly constructed for late-night classic rock radio play, which it didn't really receive until much later). It's got some heavy angst, the loser stuck at home getting high and jerking off, that's surprisingly direct and pointed, predicting some later punk & post-punk themes (one can draw a straight line from this to, say, Yo La Tengo's "Drug Test").

Though, as even us Billy Joel agnostics have to admit, it's his magical way with a melody that makes it work, that catchy, anthemic chorus making a lasting impression (and raising the question of why he didn't hit it big a little sooner than he did).

Live 1976:

An obscure, early cover version from an Australian artist: