Uptown Girl

"Uptown Girl" is a song performed by musician Billy Joel, whose lyrics deal with a working-class "downtown man" attempting to woo a wealthy "uptown girl". According to the Uptown Girl Songfacts, Joel explained to Howard Stern that he was on vacation in the Caribbean when he was playing the piano, looked up, and saw Elle McPherson, Christie Brinkley and Whitney Houston (who was more a model than a musician at that point) standing over his piano in wonderment watching him play. Joel thanked his creator for his good fortune, and began dating Elle. His first attempt at the song had the lyrics, "Uptown girls, I've been around the world." The music was more of a classical piece when it started. The song was first released in 1983 on his album An Innocent Man. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts in the US, and #1 in the UK; in 1988, Rolling Stone ranked "Uptown Girl" #99 on their list of the 100 most important singles of the period 1963-1988. The style of music, including the doo-wop beat, the close harmonies and Joel's frequent use of falsetto singing, is reminiscent of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The song also has the uncommon feature of changing key from the original two times before giving back, for a total of three keys. Covers of this song have been performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Aaron Carter, Weezer and most notably in 2001 by Irish boy band Westlife, again reaching #1 in the UK, though this time for only one week, whereas Joel's version spent five weeks at the top of the charts. The title character in the music video was played by Christie Brinkley. Joel and Brinkley married in 1985 and divorced in 1994. Subsequently, the song was missing from the setlist during Joel's 1994 "River of Dreams" tour. Different versions of the music video opening were produced, in which an auto mechanic is watching the end of Joel's previous hit "Tell Her About It" on a small TV. Then, depending on the version, the next image on the TV is either a blank screen or the logo of the network or TV show the video was on. The only logos known to be used are MTV and Friday Night Videos.

[Verse 1] Uptown girl She's been living In her uptown world I bet she's never Had a backstreet guy I bet her momma never told her why I'm gonna try for an [Chorus] Uptown girl She's been living In her white bread world As long as anyone with hot blood can And now she's looking For a downtown man That's what I am [Bridge] And when she knows what She wants from her time And when she wakes up And makes up her mind [Pre-Chorus] She'll see I'm not so tough Just because I'm in love with an [Verse 2] Uptown girl You know I've seen her In her uptown world She's getting tired of her high class toys And all the presents From her uptown boys She's got a choice [Verse 3] Uptown girl You know I can't afford to buy her pearls But maybe someday When my ship comes in She'll understand What kind of guy I've been And then I'll win [Bridge] And when she's walking She's looking so fine And when she's talking She'll say that she's mine [Pre-Chorus] She'll say I'm not so tough Just because I'm in love with an [Chorus] Uptown girl She's been living In her white bread world As long as anyone with hot blood can And now she's looking For a downtown man That's what I am [Outro] Uptown girl She's my uptown girl You know I'm in love With an uptown girl My uptown girl You know I'm in love With an uptown girl My uptown girl You know I'm in love With an uptown girl My uptown girl You know I'm in love With an uptown girl