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Pressure (Billy Joel song)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Pressure

| cover = PressureBillyJoel.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Billy Joel

| album = The Nylon Curtain

| B-side = Laura

| released = September 1982

| recorded = Spring 1982

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 4:40 (Album version)
3:16 (Single version)

| label = Columbia

| writer = Billy Joel

| producer = Phil Ramone

| prev_title = She's Got a Way
(Live)

| prev_year = 1981

| next_title = Allentown

| next_year = 1982

| misc =

}}

"'Pressure'" is a 1982 song by American musician Billy Joel about the pressure of creating and the pressure of being a provider. The synthesizer-driven rock song was a single from the album 'The Nylon Curtain' and reached #20 on the US Hot 100.

Themes and lyrics



In 'Night School', a show airing on MTV in 1982 that ran roughly a half-hour long, in which he answers questions posed by audience members, Billy Joel reveals that the pressure he was talking about in the song was something along the lines of writing pressure and pressure to provide.

The PBS children's TV series 'Sesame Street' and New York PBS member station WNET ("channel 13") are also mentioned in the first bridge, and the magazine 'Time' is mentioned in the second.

Single and album edits



The single version removes the third verse (starting with "Don't ask for help, you're all alone") and the second bridge. This version of the song was included in the original release of the 'Greatest Hits I & II' compilation album, but the full album version was restored for the remastered edition, as well as the 'Complete Hits Collection' in 1997. Radio stations vary in whether they play the shortened or the full version of the song. The song is written in a minor key. Playing the song on an episode of VH1 Storytellers in 1997, Joel (for humorous effect) modulated the piano melody to a major key, and commented that it sounded like a polka when played that way.

Reception



'Cash Box' said that "the bass, drums and keyboards at times poke and pound like an annoying headache (appropriately, considering the theme) while sliding into briefly melodic calm at others."

Music video



The music video of the song features the full version, instead of the shortened one. A common motif in the video is the use of water, whether splashed on Joel's shoes, rushing out from school desks, or flooding his apartment. The video was directed by Russell Mulcahy and made its premiere on MTV on September 9, 1982. Several scenes in the video make references to movies such as 'A Clockwork Orange', 'Poltergeist' and, in the framing sequence, 'The Parallax View'.

Charts



References



Category:1982 singles

Category:Billy Joel songs

Category:Songs written by Billy Joel

Category:Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy

Category:Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:1982 songs

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