The Hit
My guess is that, if someone told you “Ariel” was a Billy Joel song, you’d ask why his voice sounds off. It actually came from a guy named Dean Friedman, who, near as I can tell existed in his own orbit, but that loping bass/piano on the bottom and the structure/phrasing of the lyrics does sound very much of the times (1977).
It’s a cute little vignette, “Ariel.” A tale of a lazy day set in suburbia where boy-meets-girl, they do some random stuff and wind up doing it, it has a day in the life feel. It has surprisingly open references of drug use - which stand out, because I haven’t heard many in this series - plus highly-local shout-outs to the “deep in the bosom of suburbia” where Friedman grew up, Paramus, New Jersey - e.g., the waterfall at Paramus Park, the young girl in the song is collecting money for an area radio station and, at the song’s climax, when the new couple makes love “to the sound of bombs bursting in air” as “channel 2” (WCBS-TV) signs off for the night. Can’t think of the last time I heard someone talk about a channel signing for the night…
Asked about the inspiration for the song in an interview with the UK-based Songwriting Magazine - e.g., was there a real “Ariel” in his past? - Friedman gave an answer that gives a fair impression of everything else I heard by him:
“Actually it was sort of a composite story of teenage crushes mashed together. I was self-conscious at first, having written it, because, in terms of the plot, nothing much happens – boy meets girl, they go on a date and end up making out in front of the television. That’s such a typical suburban scene, I was worried there wasn’t enough drama going on. That was until I played it to some teenage girls on the block, and they accused me of going through their diaries! So it occurred to me that, even though it was a simple story, it was infused with detail so it was recognisable to a lot of people. I think that’s what helped it become the hit that it was.”
And, for people interested in the mechanics of a song:
“[‘Ariel’] was something I was writing when I had my first access to a TEAC four-track tape deck, and I took advantage of that by doing a lot of multi-tracking and stacking up my vocals. So it was the technology that inspired me to develop what became the chorus, with all the layered harmonies.”
My guess is that, if someone told you “Ariel” was a Billy Joel song, you’d ask why his voice sounds off. It actually came from a guy named Dean Friedman, who, near as I can tell existed in his own orbit, but that loping bass/piano on the bottom and the structure/phrasing of the lyrics does sound very much of the times (1977).
It’s a cute little vignette, “Ariel.” A tale of a lazy day set in suburbia where boy-meets-girl, they do some random stuff and wind up doing it, it has a day in the life feel. It has surprisingly open references of drug use - which stand out, because I haven’t heard many in this series - plus highly-local shout-outs to the “deep in the bosom of suburbia” where Friedman grew up, Paramus, New Jersey - e.g., the waterfall at Paramus Park, the young girl in the song is collecting money for an area radio station and, at the song’s climax, when the new couple makes love “to the sound of bombs bursting in air” as “channel 2” (WCBS-TV) signs off for the night. Can’t think of the last time I heard someone talk about a channel signing for the night…
Asked about the inspiration for the song in an interview with the UK-based Songwriting Magazine - e.g., was there a real “Ariel” in his past? - Friedman gave an answer that gives a fair impression of everything else I heard by him:
“Actually it was sort of a composite story of teenage crushes mashed together. I was self-conscious at first, having written it, because, in terms of the plot, nothing much happens – boy meets girl, they go on a date and end up making out in front of the television. That’s such a typical suburban scene, I was worried there wasn’t enough drama going on. That was until I played it to some teenage girls on the block, and they accused me of going through their diaries! So it occurred to me that, even though it was a simple story, it was infused with detail so it was recognisable to a lot of people. I think that’s what helped it become the hit that it was.”
And, for people interested in the mechanics of a song:
“[‘Ariel’] was something I was writing when I had my first access to a TEAC four-track tape deck, and I took advantage of that by doing a lot of multi-tracking and stacking up my vocals. So it was the technology that inspired me to develop what became the chorus, with all the layered harmonies.”
