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Scandinavian Skies Lyrics

The sins of Amsterdam
Were still a recent surprise
And we were flying over
Scandinavian skies

We climbed towards the sun
We turned and cursed as one
We pulled the shades
And closed our eyes

The Stockholm city lights
Were slowly starting to rise
And we were strapped against
Those Scandinavian skies

The landing gear came down
And touched the Swedish ground
And we were all so paralyzed

On the plane
We were mainly sound and lights
In the veins
We could play the blues all night

The tour of Germany
Was bleeding into our eyes
And we were sailing over
Scandinavian skies

We had the Midas touch
Until we met the Dutch
And they exhausted our supplies

Who's to pay?
For this international flight
Who could stay
We were only there for the night
We watched the power fall
Inside the Oslo hall
While all the cold Norwegians cried

Who could say
What was left and where was right?
By the way
I could play the blues all night
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Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

On second glance, seems like it's all about drug-filled European tour/trip with the verses being little snippets of memories. Also maybe a slight parody of 'Ballad of John and Yoko', further pushing the Lennon correlation.

Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

Cool but strange song. Lots of Beatles influences, especially Lennon style. The airport voice in the beginning is Dutch and the location is Schiphol airport near Amsterdam. I only don't exactly understand what he means with the sins of Amsterdam and why would the Dutch exhaust someone's supplies for heaven's sake? It doesnt make sense really. Maybe it's just a story about him and his band who went touring through Europe. Amsterdam is kinda known as a sin city with the legal soft drugs policy and red light district. Maybe he had some bad experiences with Dutch people while touring Europe. And maybe during a concert in Oslo, Norway the power fell down so he couldn't perform anymore explaing that bit in the song.

Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

I love this song so much I can't believe like 3 people have commented on it

Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

4 people now :D

Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

At the sirius town hall Billy explained that this song was about his European tour and him trying heroin for the first time.

Great song, and powerful visuals..

Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

Was this when he and the band tried heroin during the European tour in 1978?

Cover art for Scandinavian Skies lyrics by Billy Joel

I was told in college that the song was about an Allied bombing run in WW2 where the Allied pilots accidentally bombed Amsterdam instead of Germany

If you listen to song as if you were an Allied pilot who accidentally bomber the wrong city it makes sense. "We had the midas touch, until we met the Dutch" I thought meant the Allied pilots were sucessful until this one mistake, also "Watch the power fall" isn't that about WW2 VE day? Who knows why the Norwegians were crying,

 
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