"Captain Jack"

Before Billy Joel went mellow and AOR, he had a bit of an edge, even though the presentation may still have been kind of polished. Songs like "Root Beer Rag" and "Roberta" from the "Streetlife Serenader" album are terrific, honest cuts, so I was so happy to listen to "Angry Young Man" many years later, which harked back to the early days of a guy who had things to write about that made sense. He does "slice of life" songs so very well. This is a huge thumping drug-references song, with an eight-mile wide chorus that he drives harder and harder to the end, and wry little observations like: "Your sister's gone out/She's on a date/You just sit at home/And masturbate".