She's Always A Woman

no way cherry moon, even if you're only laughing at your own not clever joke, the woman's not bi-polar.

billy crafts a song here that describes that unattainable girl, the one that you can't help but simply be amazed by no matter what she does, even if through it all you heart gets intentionally or unintentionally manipulated by her.

musicgirl's hit the bullseye, because what makes a person valuable to any of us is not necessarily because they're always there, they always love us. that's boring and too taken for granted to mean anything. instead, here, she can ruin your faith, and only throw shadows at you, but you're so intoxicated with the mystery of it all that logic gets thrown out the window. now that's love, huh?!?!

He is singing about his then wife, Elizabeth Joel (Elizabeth Weber). She was his manager at the time, and was known to be a tough, fierce, and determined negotiator. She had earned a degree from UCLA in business (not sure if it was an MBA or not). She was instrumental in getting Billy's affairs in order after he had signed some bad contracts early in his career. There was an article about her management skills and style in a magazine at the time, maybe Business Week, I can't remember, called "They Were Maulin' Her Man." He gave her alot of credit for getting things back on track.

The song was basically saying that while you may think she is a bitch, that she "kills with a smile" and "wounds with her eyes," to me (i.e. to Billy), she is always a woman. You may think she is "suddenly cruel" and a tough S.O.B. in negotiations, but to Billy she is always a woman. Yes, to some degree, he acknowledges she may be like that, but he loves her....just the way she is.

It is a love song, there's no question about that. It is not derogatory of woman, quite the contrary, he is saying that a "woman" does not have to be all cute, pretty, subservient, but can be strong, tough, even brutal, and still be a woman, and a woman he loves.

The song was most definitely written by Billy in 1977 (someone posted that it was written by Chantal Kreviazuk, but was corrected by another poster; rather Chantal does a cover version of this song in concert). Billy and Elizabeth divorced in 1982 or 1983 I believe,but so what, that does not make the sentiment of the song any less authentic or sincere. They had been married or together for over 10 years.

Sources? Read anything Billy has said about this song. Read his three main biographies (by Mark Bego, Hank Bordowitz, and Bill Smith "I Go To Extremes"). Incidentally, I don't really like any of thoese biographies for other reasons; it has been reported that Billy is writing an autobiography.

This song reminds me very much of my first girlfriend. Nearly every lyric in this song applies to her. I loved her but she didn't believe me, and sometimes she'd deliberately hurt me. She brought out the best in me, and the worst as well. Despite it all, and even though we grew apart a while ago, she's always a woman to me. So to me this song is about being in love with a woman who's got a bit of a mean streak in her.

This song gives you the feeling that the singer is truly in love with this woman and that he longs for her, regardless of what she can do to him. He perceives the woman as strong and powerful by saying that "she can kill with a smile , wound with her eyes and ruin your faith". He has seen every aspect of her from one extreme to another and everything in between because he talks about her being "frequently kind", "suddenly cruel", or being "like a child" and "like a thief". The singer has witnessed her through all her extreme behaviors and even perhaps experienced being hurt by her. She may have "promised" him something significant or what he compares is "more than the Garden of Eden" that she cruelly took away and "laughed" while it hurt him. The woman is bold and she "does what she pleases"; but despite her harsh manner, she is still gentle "like a woman" to him.

If that is true Crd, why does it seem as if he has a romantic feeling towards this woman. Basicly, in spite of all this crap I'm saying about her, she's always a woman to me. If what you say is true, it seems like he loves her anyway, even if she is the devil incarnate. One of those 'can't live with 'em, can't bear to be without them.'

well, i just think it's about how he knows she's not perfect, but she's a perfect woman in his eyes!

What silliness. Billy Joel wrote the song, or else he's been kidding the record labels for about 30 years. Chantal Kreviazuk would have been exceedingly clever, considering it was released by Joel in 1977. He wrote it about his wife at the time, Elizabeth Weber, whom he married in 1973. The degree is a UCLA MBA, which she obtained early in the marriage prior to becoming his manager. "Can't be convicted" refers to the legal training she received during that period. The song is about one of those beautiful but very difficult people, and the man who feels he is the one who can bring out her good side.

The lyrics are clear. It is specifically about someone I know, but generally specific to keystones of women.

I'm not sure from where the misconception comes that assumes the line "...but she's always a woman to me." contradicts any of the earlier statements. I would venture to guess that it is something you are bringing to the equation. Such as the statement "A mother's love." If you all assume that the subject of this is your own mother (granted that she was loving towards you) rather than Joan Crawford or Andrea Yates then of course you will see it as a love song. I believe that the song is meant only to say she does all of these things and none of these things contradict my image of how a woman is - in other words any female who behaves in these ways is always a woman to me. Blame yourself then clearly means you knew she was a woman when you started loving her, so why then would you expect her to behave like anything other than a woman? Do you also get angry when mosquitos bite you? Isn't that what mosquitos do? They're always mosquitos to me.

I love this song <3

Quite obviously a man singing about the woman truly loves. Because, if you truly love someone, you can list a load of badpoints about them, but it is why you love them, because without those bad points are what makes you, and it is why he loves her, because he still wants her DESPITE everything.

"bi-polar" is not correct - borderline personality disorder (BPD) IS ABSOLUTELY correct. A borderline exhibits every characteristic of the woman he sings about: they are extremely sensitive and aware of YOU (kill with a smile, wound with her eyes) and know exactly how to draw both "the best and the worst you can be". They are absolutely 'casual liars'... but not deliberately. They are so sensitive that they are protecting themselves. They have extreme black and white thinking, and turn on a dime (frequently kind and suddenly cruel). As the "non" BPD, you have no idea WTF is going on, and so you blame yourself. BPD women are often extremely smart. Clever. Witty. Their gift of sensitivity is stunning. You will feel like you've met your "soulmate", but then holy crap- it will not be the same for her. They are deceptive because they trust nobody - not even themselves. They NEED others to fill their void of self-identity. Anyone who has fallen in love with a PBD sufferer will know EXACTLY what I'm saying, but for the rest of you: google BPD and hope for your LIFE you never do the same. You will experience the highest of the highs, followed by the lowest of the lows, you will ever feel. Intensity is their LIFE.. you are along for the ride until they get bored.