Don't Ask Me Why Lyrics
Leave their tables when you blink
Every dog must have his everyday
Every drunk must have his drink
Don't wait for answers
Just take your chances
Don't ask me why
Still you’re standing on your feet
All you choices made you change your mind
Now your calendar's complete
Don't wait for answers
Just take your chances
Don't ask me why
Is only make-believe
And I am only fighting fire with fire
But you are still a victim
Of the accidents you leave
As sure as I'm a victim of desire
Throw their roses at your feet
Fool them all but baby I can tell
You're no stranger to the street
Don't ask for favors
Don’t talk to strangers
Don't ask me why
Now your ghosts have gone away
You can kill them in the classic style
Now you, "parlez vous francais"
Don't look for answers
You took your chances
Don't ask my why
Don't ask me why
I love this song.
Just one thing I wanted to mention since I always notice it: I don't know if it was a slip (Billy's Long Island accent coming out at a perfect moment) or not, but in every verse he sings "don't ASK me why" except the verse with the line "You're no stranger to the street," when he sings "don't AX me why." (NY accent stereotypical pronunciation of ask) I always wondered if he was making a very subtle point there...
Yes, this is about a woman who climbs up the society ladder and is trying to forget where she came from.
Fool them all, but baby I can tell You're no stranger to the street.
Love the beat. :)
My first Billy Joel CD was his Greatest Hits Volume I & II, and I'd never heard this song before. When I did hear it, I feel in love with it, although I realise it may sound... a bit... out of touch to some. The last two verses are wonderful...
Now you, "parlez vous francais" (Now you speak your French) I hope that helps someone else because I can't think of a meaning yet...
This song is about a girl who comes into money (i'm not sure how) and then tries to hide her lower class roots.
Wow, for a long time I thought this was a Paul McCartney song. I guess it's similar in musical style.
His voice is (or can be) very similar to Mccartneys. Listen to the first few lines of Vienna to hear the similarity most (IMHO).
I used to think that My Life was a Paul McCartney song. The melody and voice seemed McCartneyesque. Joel is actually more influenced by Lennon, but Macca's influence is plain to see.
I love this song. It's so cool and easy. In this thing the 12 Gardens version cannot reach the album version.
I agree with you that this song is about a high society woman hiding and ignoring her roots. And then she has to face the fact that she can't hide where she comes from. And that's why she's using other means like speaking French which means she emigrated to France where she thinks she got rid of her roots.
Her "chances" were from my point of view that there would have been new perspectives or opportunities if she hadn't hidden her roots. Now that she isn't at her home where those chances exist but in France she lost them which means she lost opportunities that could have helped her and would not - as she thinks - ruin her.
That's my interpretation of "Don't Ask Me Why".
Here is my stab:
Here is my stab:
The song begins by painting a picture of a woman who has to have it all. By saying every dog must have his EVERY day (rather than every dog has his day), and every drunk must have his drink, which clearly every drunk must have his drinkS. This is a woman who for some reason enjoys living in excess. As the song progresses it becomes obvious that the woman has come into money in a seemingly illlegitimate way, perhaps prostitution. "All your choices made you change your mind" gives you the idea that the woman is...
The song begins by painting a picture of a woman who has to have it all. By saying every dog must have his EVERY day (rather than every dog has his day), and every drunk must have his drink, which clearly every drunk must have his drinkS. This is a woman who for some reason enjoys living in excess. As the song progresses it becomes obvious that the woman has come into money in a seemingly illlegitimate way, perhaps prostitution. "All your choices made you change your mind" gives you the idea that the woman is fighting herself with her decisions to engage in the activity, but "all your calanders complete" clues you in to the fact that this is a song in the past tense, reflecting on the life of the woman up to this point. The bridge is interesting; it starts out by trying to throw out the presummed rationalization this woman has for her actions by saying there are no feelings involved in the choices shes making and relationships shes having. The line that says "i'm only fighting fire with fire" and "Sure as im a victim of desire" makes me think the persona is perhaps a johnny, who is trying to talk her out of the life style perhaps due to an infatutation he has with her. This bridge is a transition into the present tense. The next stanza fairly blatantly spells out the story i've been explaining. The last stanza sounds as if the woman ran away to france and started a new life and embracing a whole new life blinding herself to everything from the past life she led (yesterday you were an only chil is a reference to the fact she is no sorrounding herself with new people. She has escaped her "Ghosts" in the classic "style" of running away to; in this instance, France. The persona ends by saying that this life she has is an accumulation of all the choices she has made and states for the final time "don't ask me why". The anture of the entire thing makes me believe he is talking to the woman in a sense and she has the demeanor of "i did this, why would i do that?' a sense of disbelief abotu everything and he is responding with his statements leading to the final "dont ask me why'