Music Doesn't Lie - Part 22 (To Make You Feel My Love)

"Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world,
then it can only happen through music." – Jimi Hendrix

It's hard to believe that in 21 previous entries of the Music Doesn't Lie postings that I have yet to mention one of my all time favorite artists: Billy Joel. Time to remedy that error. I don't remember exactly when I started listening to Billy Joel's music but I know it's been well over 35 years. In my humble opinion, Billy Joel is one of the best singer/songwriters of all time. Included in my list of the best singer/songwriters is Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Elton John... (well, I could just keep listing), so Billy is in excellent company. As he is one of my favorite performers, I made sure to purchase all 12 of his studio albums and every live, greatest hits, and compilation album available. Plus I've seen him perform a number of times in concert, which were some of the best concerts I have ever seen and heard!

For the past few days or so, I've been listening to all of his albums and basking in the joy of his music. Picking just one song to feature is always difficult when it comes to a nearly 50-year long career which has the most amazing assembly of music. Some of my all time favorites are "We Didn't Start the Fire", "Honesty", "Innocent Man", "Piano Man", "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "Prelude/Angry Young Man", "A Matter of Trust", and... well, the list is endless. But yesterday, I was listening to a song that just made me sigh equally with delight and melancholy. This song, written by legendary Bob Dylan (the greatest songwriter of all time - according to Rolling Stone), was first released in 1997 by Billy Joel (two months before Dylan released his version) and has been covered by Garth Brooks, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Trisha Yearwood, and countless others (including, oddly, Jeremy Irons). "To Make You Feel My Love" has some of the most amazing lyrics and Dylan's words are exactly what my definition of true love is. While no one has ever seen fit to say these words to me and I have only hinted at them with one person, my romantic heart says that these lyrics are the words to live by when you find that your soul mate, kindred spirit, eternal love, or whatever else you call them. I suppose though my life is best reflected by Billy's "The River of Dreams".

Here is the only known live version of Billy singing this beautiful song. Lyrics can be found here.