Draft:Rosalinda's Eyes

"Rosalinda's Eyes" is a song by Billy Joel that first appeared on his 1978 album 52nd Street. A single version was released in the winter of 1978

Musical structure[edit source]
The song begins with a piano intro, with the rest of the band then joining in, in a jazzy type rhythm, The riff is also used as a fill between verse and chorus sections and is also played at the end. The section order is intro-verse-fill-chorus-bridge-v-c-v-c-v-c-outro.

Background[edit source]
The romantic song is about a Cuban musician who struggles to makes ends meet by playing in a Puerto Rican band. He's homesick for his native country and tired of playing for people who don't appreciate his talent, but he finds comfort in the woman he loves and looks forward to reuniting with her. Joel told SiriusXM in 2016 that the song was "my attempt to write a letter that my father should have written to my mother."

Born in Germany, Howard Joel was a classically trained pianist who spent some time in Cuba before he immigrated to the United States, where he met Rosalind Nyman. During their marriage, which ended in divorce in 1957, Howard didn't openly express his love for his wife, and Billy thought she deserved better.

Reception[edit source]
Billboard described "Rosalinda's Eyes" as "an infectious jazzy tune guaranteeing a good mood for the listener." Cash Box said that the "jazzy number, and keyboards lines back Joel's strong singing" and praised the "musical and lyrical hooks." Record World called it a "Top 40 & adult [oriented rock] natural."

Reviewing Rosalinda's Eyes for The Village Voice in 1979, Robert Christgau noted Joel's talent for writing catchy songs and likened him to Elton John, albeit with more "smarm." The Globe and Mail determined that "the music really is starting to sound repetitive and formulaic—as though the songwriter's musical vocabulary is too limited to match his sense of the big city's varied dramas."

Retrospectively, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised Joel for expanding stylistically on 1977s The Stranger, describing the 52nd Street (album) song as "more sophisticated and somewhat jazzy." In 2000, it was voted number 621 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003, 52nd Street was ranked number 352 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and at 354 on a 2012 revised list.

Personnel[edit source]

 * Billy Joel – lead and backing vocals, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, synthesizers
 * David Brown – electric guitar
 * Russell Javors – acoustic guitar
 * Doug Stegmeyer – bass
 * Liberty DeVitto – drums
 * Richie Cannata – clarinet
 * Peter Cetera – backing vocals
 * Donnie Dacus – backing vocals