This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Laura calls me
In the middle of the night
Passes on her
Fateful information
Then these careless fingers
They get caught in her vise
'Til they're bleeding
On my coffee table
Living alone isn't all that
It's cracked up to be
Oh, oh, oh
I'm on her side
Why does she push the poison on me?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Laura
Has a very hard time
All her life has
Been one long disaster
Then she tells me
She suddenly believes she's seen a very good sign
She'll be taking
Some aggressive action
I fight her wars
While she's slamming her doors in my face
Oh, oh, oh
Failure to break
Was the only mistake that she made
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Here I am
Feeling like a fucking fool
Do I react the way exactly
She intends me to?
Every time I think I'm off the hook
She makes me lose my cool
I'm her machine
And she can punch all the keys
She can push any button I was programmed through
Laura calls me
When she needs a good fix (ah)
All her questions
Will get sympathetic answers
I should be so immunized
To all of her tricks (ah)
She's surviving
On her second chances
Sometimes I feel like this
Godfather deal is all wrong
Oh, oh, oh
How can she hold an umbilical chord
For so long?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I've done everything I can
What else am I supposed to do
I'm her machine
And she can punch all the keys
She can push any button I was programmed through
Laura (Laura) loves me (loves me)
Even if I don't care (if I don't care)
That's my problem
That's her sacred absolution
If she had to
She would put herself in my chair (self in my chair)
Even though I
Faced electrocution
She always says
I'm the best friend that she's ever had
Oh, oh, oh
How do you hang up on someone
Who needs you that bad?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
In the middle of the night
Passes on her
Fateful information
Then these careless fingers
They get caught in her vise
'Til they're bleeding
On my coffee table
Living alone isn't all that
It's cracked up to be
Oh, oh, oh
I'm on her side
Why does she push the poison on me?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Laura
Has a very hard time
All her life has
Been one long disaster
Then she tells me
She suddenly believes she's seen a very good sign
She'll be taking
Some aggressive action
I fight her wars
While she's slamming her doors in my face
Oh, oh, oh
Failure to break
Was the only mistake that she made
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Here I am
Feeling like a fucking fool
Do I react the way exactly
She intends me to?
Every time I think I'm off the hook
She makes me lose my cool
I'm her machine
And she can punch all the keys
She can push any button I was programmed through
Laura calls me
When she needs a good fix (ah)
All her questions
Will get sympathetic answers
I should be so immunized
To all of her tricks (ah)
She's surviving
On her second chances
Sometimes I feel like this
Godfather deal is all wrong
Oh, oh, oh
How can she hold an umbilical chord
For so long?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I've done everything I can
What else am I supposed to do
I'm her machine
And she can punch all the keys
She can push any button I was programmed through
Laura (Laura) loves me (loves me)
Even if I don't care (if I don't care)
That's my problem
That's her sacred absolution
If she had to
She would put herself in my chair (self in my chair)
Even though I
Faced electrocution
She always says
I'm the best friend that she's ever had
Oh, oh, oh
How do you hang up on someone
Who needs you that bad?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
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In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
In the 1970s and 80s, a mysterious woman calling herself Miranda called many famous men and established telephone relationships with them. Bryan Burrough chronicled her activities in Vanity Fair. Billy Joel was among the people she called, and he would write songs and leave them on her answering machine. This song is clearly about her. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Grosvenor
@sanfrandan THANK YOU! Mystery solved!
This song is about his mother.
@billyjoelnut I used to think the same about this song, but if you Google the name Miranda Grosvanor you'll find he truth!
Perhaps Laura is a pathological narcissist. There was a very famous movie in the 1940s titled Laura. It was about a woman named Laura Hunt who was a narcissist. Perhaps that is why this song is titled Laura. The women in this song wants full control in order to obtain eventual submission which a narcissist would always try to do. The last line "How do you hang up on someone who needs you that bad?" indicates that he knows the whole game and no longer will be torn apart by participating any longer.
I hadn't heard this song for a long time until yesterday. This song struck a cord with me because I recently had a HUGE falling out with a female friend of mine who I suspected of being a bit narcissistic and was extremely needy. Her life always had some sort of drama or turmoil in it and she was constantly burning bridges with other friends that she claimed had changed. I don't know if you would say I was in love with her but I did find her attractive. She would always call me and said I would always make her feel better because "...all her questions would get sympathetic answers..." In other words, I'd tell her what she wanted to hear. And then ultimately, when it came my time in the dunk tank and she purposely sabotaged our friendship after repeated times of me sticking my neck out for her, she dropped me like a bad habit. And I am happier for it.
This song is cool. That is, if you don't mind the fact that he's completely trying to make the musical part sound like a later Beatles effort. But the words are sung passionately with his own style and it sounds good. On first listen, it sounds like he's really singing about something that means something to him, although when you read the lyrics, you have to wonder what the hell it's about. Any ideas?
He's singing about that girl that just completely captivates him. He can't push her away no matter how hard he tries, she's just that needy. You know the kind, they call in the middle of the night to tell you some story that really doesn't matter but is a "big deal" to them but don't care how you're doing at all. She basically just uses him all she wants and then hangs him out to dry. It's a very one-sided relationship. I have a "best friend" just like Billy Joel's "Laura"
oh and ps my name is laura..that hurts
Mine too... you wouldnt believe how excited I was when my dad told me that his/my favourite singer/songwriter wrote a song called Laura... FAIL!
is laura a drug addict or an alcoholic or something?
I don't think its about his sister. Where did you get that idea. doesn't say anywhere in the lyrics....
so please explain
i really thinks its about someone he used to love, now he CARES about her, but doesn't want her anymore.
He wants her to be happy, safe, but he doesn't want to be the one providing it.
mayybe??
Let me explain..
The umbilical chord says it all ;) I've always thought it was about his mom, 'cause my mom is exactly like "Laura" I recently got it confirmed... it truly is written about his mother.
Umbilical cord can mean anything, not just "Mother" I mean it could mean how can you hold a "Life line" so long...how long can you hold onto me like I support you. That's what it can mean.