Congratulations! You are reading this and that means you survived the longest night of the year last night (click here) From here on out, the nights will start to get shorter as the days get longer. As for why the temperatures will continue to fall instead of warming up, it has something to do with what they call “seasonal lag” (click here.) Best I could decipher is – seasonal lag simply means – it takes time for things to warm up.
And since I have wandered into doing some seasonal musings here, let me tell you about a Billy Joel song I heard the other day that made me stop and think about some things other than how many cases of beer I have stashed in the walk in.
You see, I was mucking around Buzzy’s Country Store doing the year-end inventory, which is another business-related pain in the you-know-what that I’d just as soon not have to do. When Billy’s song “Famous Last Words” played on the radio I turned it up and sat back to listen to and think about it.
Always one of my favorites of his, even if it is not in his biggest hits’ pile, I usually think of it post-Labor Day when the tourist season winds down and things in general begin to slow down in Buzzy’s. (In case you don’t know, Avalon is a beach town on the Jersey Shore, so Billy starts off letting you know that he too is engaged in a seasonal business and shutting things down. However, after that little intro, he immediately spins it into a life’s inventory exercise where he is thinking about shutting down a lot of things.) Somewhat sad song actually.
Here are the lyrics, but I’ve got a video for you below:
Sitting here in Avalon
Looking at the pouring rain
The summertime has come and gone
And everybody’s home again
Closing down for the season
I found the last of the souvenirs
I can still taste the wedding cake
And it’s sweet after all these years
These are the last words I have to say
That’s why it took so long to write
There will be other words some other day
But that’s the story of my life
Comfort in my coffee cup
The apples in the early fall
They’re pulling all the moorings up
And gathering at the legion hall
Swept away all the streamers after the labor day parade
There’s nothing left for a dreamer, now
Only one final serenade
And these are the last words I have to say
Before another age goes by
With all those other songs I’ll have to play
But that’s the story of my life
And it’s so clear standing here where I am
Ain’t that what justice is for?
And frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn anymore
Stack the chairs on the tabletops
Hang the sheets on the chandeliers
It slows down but it never stops
Ain’t it sweet after all these years?
And these are the last words I have to say
It’s always hard to say goodbye, hey oh oh
But now it’s time to put this book away
Then that’s the story of my life
These are the last words I have to say
That’s why it took so long to write
There will be other words some other day
Ain’t that the story of my life?
These are the last words I have to say
Before another age goes by
With all those other songs I’ll have to play
Ain’t that the story of my life?
Note that this literally was Billy’s last words as the song concluded his final rock album River of Dreams released in 93. Come on Billy, lay some new stuff on us even if it is talk of getting old and not being able to hit the fast ball anymore! (Inside joke there, because Billy’s a big baseball fan (click here.))
To listen to complete tune (click here.)