She's Got a Way

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Not to be confused with She's Got a Way with Words.

"She's Got a Way"
Single release of the 1980 live recording
Single by Billy Joel
from the album Cold Spring Harbor and Songs in the Attic
B-side
ReleasedNovember 1971[1] (studio release)
November 1981
Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles
GenreSoft rock
Length2:50 (studio)
3:00 (live)
LabelFamily Productions (U.S.)
Philips (UK)
Columbia (live re-release)
Songwriter(s)Billy Joel
Producer(s)Artie Ripp
Phil Ramone (live re-recording)
Billy Joel singles chronology
"She's Got a Way"
(1971) 		"Piano Man"
(1973)
"Say Goodbye to Hollywood
(Live)"
(1981)
"She's Got a Way
(Live)"
(1981)
"Pressure"
(1982)

"She's Got a Way" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, originally released on his first studio album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971) as the opening track of it and as a single from that album in some countries. It was also featured as a single from the 1981 live album Songs in the Attic, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1982.[3]

Lyrics and music

"She's Got a Way" is a love ballad.[4] The lyrics to "She's Got a Way" have the singer describing how various characteristics of a particular woman, such as her laugh, make him love her, even though he can't understand why.[5] To music critic Mark Bego, it's a song about a woman who has "mesmerized" him.[4] Joel biographer Fred Schruers describes the lyrics as a "plainspoken, never-quite-corny adoration of a loved one."[6]

According to a friend of the couple, Bruce Gentile, the song was written about Joel's first wife Elizabeth.[7] Joel's liner notes for Songs in the Attic seem to agree with this, commenting, "Written in 1970, I still feel the same way."

Schruers describes the song's

strings, which may have been inspired by a live performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City at which strings were included in the instrumentation.[5] Schruers attributes some of the effect of the song to the way Joel sings the final word of the final phrase "I don't know what it is/But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway."[6] Schruers describes the last word "anyway" as hanging in the air, "trailing off" and "disrupting the tempo" and thus "seemingly giving in to the emotion" of love.[6]

In a 1981 interview, Joel expressed mixed feelings about the song: "I thought it was cornball for years. I had trouble singing it at first. Then I got into it and decided everybody has a corny side, I suppose".[9]

Joel originally included "She's Got a Way" on a five-song

demo tape that included other songs that would appear on Cold Spring Harbor, such as "Everybody Loves You Now" and "Tomorrow Is Today". Joel made the tape in an unsuccessful attempt to secure his first solo recording contract with Paramount Records.[7]

Critical reception

Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Paul Evans, "She's Got a Way" "set the pattern for the ballads Joel would soon turn out effortlessly."[13]

Live version

The version released on Songs in the Attic was recorded at a live performance in June 1980 at the

chest register" but does not consider it as poignant as the original version.[6] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls this version "richer and warmer" than the studio version.[16] Joel also performed this song on live TV on Saturday Night Live
on November 14, 1981.

Chart performance

Chart (1981–82) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles[17] 46
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[18] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] 23
U.S. Billboard
Adult Contemporary
 4

Cover versions

Kennedy Center Honor in 2013.[6]

Hammond B-3 organ in the third verse to add a touch of gospel music influence.[5] She also adds a gospel choir for background vocals which, in Bielen's opinion gives the impression that her interpretation may be directed towards God rather than a human lover.[5] Bernadette Peters covered "He's Got a Way" on her 1996 album I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, accompanied only on piano.[5] Bielen described this version as being "technically perfect albeit emotion-filled."[5] Erlewine says that she is "well-suited" to its "pseudo-show tune stylings."[20]

References

  1. ^ "Billy Joel - She's Got a Way".
  2. ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781560259893
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 9780313380167
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 9780804140201
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 9780823082483
    .
  8. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 4, 1971. p. 14. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  9. ^ Campbell, Mary; Associated Press (1981). "Billy Joel Records Early Songs". Retrieved February 19, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cold Spring Harbor". AllMusic. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  11. ^ "Single Product" (PDF). Record World. December 4, 1971. p. 10. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  12. ^ Waddell, Roy (May 9, 2009). "The Legend of Billy the Kid". Billboard. p. 32. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  13. ISBN 0743201698
    .
  14. ^ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. November 21, 1981. p. 95. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  15. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 21, 1981. p. 1. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  16. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Songs in the Attic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  17. ^ "Collectionscanda.gc.ca". Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  18. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  19. ^ "Touched". AllMusic. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  20. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight". AllMusic. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
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