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Only the Good Die Young

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This article is about the Billy Joel song. For other uses, see Only the Good Die Young (disambiguation).
"Only the Good Die Young"
A-side label of U.S. vinyl single
Single by Billy Joel
from the album The Stranger
B-side"Get It Right the First Time"
ReleasedMay 1978
Recorded1977
Genre
Length3:55
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Billy Joel
Producer(s)Phil Ramone
Billy Joel singles chronology
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"
(1977) 		"Only the Good Die Young"
(1978) 		"She's Always a Woman"
(1978)

"Only the Good Die Young" is a song written and recorded by Billy Joel from his fifth studio album The Stranger, released in 1978 as its third of four singles.

Background

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"Only the Good Die Young" was controversial for its time, with the lyrics written from the perspective of a young man determined to have sex with a Catholic girl.[4] The song was inspired by a high school love interest of Joel's, Virginia Callahan. The boy/narrator believes that the girl is refusing him because she comes from a religious Catholic family and that she believes premarital sex is sinful.[5] He sings,

You Catholic girls start much too late,
but sooner or later it comes down to fate.
I might as well be the one.

Attempts to censor the song only made it more popular, after religious groups considered it anti-Catholic,[6] and pressured radio stations to remove it from their playlists.[5] "When I wrote 'Only the Good Die Young', the point of the song wasn't so much anti-Catholic as pro-lust," Joel told Performing Songwriter magazine. "The minute they banned it, the album started shooting up the charts." In a 2008 interview, Joel also pointed out one part of the lyrics that virtually all the song's critics missed – the boy in the song failed to get anywhere with the girl, and she kept her chastity.[7]

In 2023, Joel said of the song "It's occurred to me recently that I'm trying to talk some poor innocent woman into losing her virginity because of my lust. It's kind of a selfish song – like, who cares what happens to you? What about what I want? ... But on the other hand, it was of its time. This was written in the mid-'70s, and I was trying to seduce girls. Why bullshit about it?"[8]

Reception

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Billboard described "Only the Good Die Young" as one of Joel's "strongest and catchiest" songs.[9] Cash Box said that "Billy grabs the fun with a rollicking, handclapping beat, raspy sax solo and racy piano licks."[10]

Demo version

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A demo, included in the box set My Lives, is a slower, reggae version of the song. Joel reprised the song's motif in this version with a church organ. Joel has stated publicly that he changed the reggae beat to a shuffle beat at the request of his long time drummer, Liberty DeVitto, who hated reggae music.[6][11]

Track listing

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7" single (1978)

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  1. "Only the Good Die Young" – (3:55)
  2. "Get It Right the First Time" – (3:32)

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[15] Platinum 30,000‡
United States (RIAA)[16] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Mitchell, Matt (January 20, 2024). "The 25 Greatest Billy Joel Songs of All Time". Paste. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Campbell, Al. Various Artists - Legends: For Your Love (2004) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  3. ^ "Billy Joel - Only the Good die Young".
  4. ^ Sagert, Kelly Boyer (2007). The 1970s. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-313-33919-6.
  5. ^ a b c Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 242. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
  6. ^ a b The Story Behind Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young". PerformerSongwriter.com archive. Retrieved April 24, 2013
  7. ^ Interview with Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 2008
  8. ^ Banas, Erica (March 10, 2023). "Billy Joel Reflects on Two of His Songs by Today's 'Woke Standards'". WMMR. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. May 20, 1978. p. 92. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  10. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 20, 1978. p. 24. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  11. ^ Video on YouTube: Billy Joel tells how "Only The Good Die Young" came to sound the way it does crediting Liberty Devitto
  12. ^ Canada, Library Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  13. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles Week ending JULY 15, 1978". Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  14. ^ Canada, Library Archives (17 July 2013). "Item: 114 - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  15. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Billy Joel – Only the Good Die Young". Radioscope. Retrieved July 18, 2025. Type Only the Good Die Young in the "Search:" field.
  16. ^ "American single certifications – Billy Joel – Only the Good Die Young". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
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