Everybody Loves You Now
| "Everybody Loves You Now" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Billy Joel | |
| from the album Cold Spring Harbor | |
| A-side | "She's Got a Way" |
| Released | 1972 |
| Format | 7" |
| Recorded | July 1971 at Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 2:47 |
| Label |
Family Productions U.S. Philips U.K. |
| Writer(s) | Billy Joel |
| Producer(s) | Artie Ripp |
"Everybody Loves You Now" is a song written by Billy Joel. It was first released on his 1971 debut album Cold Spring Harbor and was also released as a b-side to his singles "She's Got a Way" and "Tomorrow Is Today." A live version was included on the 1982 live album Songs in the Attic.
The lyrics to "Everybody Loves You Now" describe a spoiled woman who thinks she is better than everyone now that has become famous. She now considers herself too good to return to her hometown of Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Joel took the title for his debut album from this line of the song. Despite her haughtiness, the singer desires her as does everyone else. The singer warns her that even though now she can take her attention for granted, since everyone wants her, eventually they will stop caring about her and she will be lonely. Joel biographer Fred Schruers describes the song as "both a rebuke and confession of tangled desire."
Ken Bielen describes "Everybody Loves You Now" as "an acoustic guitar-based shuffle." Joel plays piano on the song. Bielen describes Joel's piano playing as "upbeat" and Schruers describes him as playing "hammering, almost barrelhouse chords.
Joel has described "Everybody Loves You Now" as a "zinger" that "balanced out" the corniness of "She's Got a Way," saying that "I can be venomous but I could also be a mush."
Joel originally included "Everybody Loves You Now" on a five song demo tape that also included other songs that would appear on Cold Spring Harbor such as "She's Got a Way" and "Tomorrow Is Today" which Joel made in an unsuccessful attempt to secure his first solo recording contract with Paramount Records.
Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the live version included on Songs in the Attic as hitting harder than the studio version. Joel has said that at the time he had reinterpreted the song as "a macho rationale for being rejected. Her? Leave me? She must be a self-possessed bitch! Anyway, everybody didn't really love her. I just thought that they did." A 16 mm black and white promotional video was made of "Everybody Loves You Now" being performed live at a small club in support of Songs in the Attic.
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