☝️ Key Points
- Billy Joel sings about a symbolic 'room' in every heart that serves as a refuge to heal from past relationships and prepare for a new love
- The song's lyrics discuss communication in a relationship, particularly Joel's cautious expression of his feelings and the use of silence as self-defense
- Joel accepts that relationships come and go, and expresses this through the repetitive line 'And so it goes'
- He reveals a fear that his silence may lead his partner to leave him, and shows willingness to take the risk of a broken heart to maintain the relationship
- The final verse suggests that only his partner can truly understand how he feels, highlighting the deep intimacy and understanding that is possible in a close relationship
Interpretation
The song 'And so It Goes' by
Billy Joel is a melancholic ballad about love, loss, and acceptance.
In the opening lines 'In every heart there is a room / A sanctuary safe and strong / To heal the wounds from lovers past / Until a new one comes along,' Joel speaks of a place in the heart, a sort of sanctuary, where one can recover from past love relationships until a new love appears.
Then, in the lines 'I spoke to you in cautious tones / You answered me with no pretence / And still I feel I said too much / My silence is my self-defense,' he talks about communication in a relationship. He spoke cautiously, the other person answered without pretense, but he still feels like he said too much. His defense is his silence.
In the repetitive line 'And so it goes, and so it goes / And so will you soon I suppose,' Joel shows acceptance that relationships come and go, just like life.
The lines 'But if my silence made you leave / Then that would be my worst mistake / So I will share this room with you / And you can have this heart to break' express his fear that his silence might make the person leave. He is willing to share his heart and take the risk of it being broken.
The last verse 'And so it goes, and so it goes / And you're the only one who knows' suggests that only the other person truly knows what is going on in his heart. It is an acknowledgment of the depth of intimacy and understanding that is possible in a close relationship.