All For Leyna

Album: Glass Houses (1980)
Charted: 40
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "All For Leyna" is of course written by Billy Joel, as the fifth track on his seventh album Glass Houses. This is the same album that produced the hit singles "You May Be Right," "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me," "Don't Ask Me Why," and "Sometimes A Fantasy." The other four singles scored higher.

    Glass Houses was produced by Phil Ramone (no relation to the band). Ramone is the technically brilliant South African prodigy who began playing the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten. Amongst his innovations, his studio - A&R Recording - was the first to release an album on compact disk (not the first to be recorded, however, just the first to get commercial release). That album? None other than Billy Joel's 52nd Street. Ramone in fact has worked closely with Billy Joel on and off in his career.

    Getting back to Glass Houses, this album garnered Joel a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
  • The album art has Billy Joel poised to throw a rock through what is actually the front of his own house, in Oyster Bay, New York. He moved there in 1977, after getting turned down for residency by the legendary Dakota apartments, traditional home to celebrity stars in New York. The Dakota's board has drawn criticism for its snobbery in recent years. Other people to be rejected by the Dakota staff include Melanie Griffith, Antonio Banderas, and Gene Simmons.
  • "I wanted to recapture the angst of a 16-year-old guy who just had his heart broken by a girl," Joel told Sirius XM of the song in 2016, "and that kind of obsession thing that happens when you can't stop thinking about this girl, you've gotta have this girl, but she doesn't want anything to do with you. You're driving your parents crazy and you're failing in school and you're losing your friends, and everybody things you're out of your mind. That teenage obsession - which was all for Leyna. Everything for this girl."

Comments: 3

  • GumI always viewed this song as being about a hopeless one sided borderline abusive relationship in which the narrator is willing to give it “all for Leyna” as she doesn’t reciprocate and even puts herself in harms way to watch him hurt himself for her sake
    (She stood on the tracks
    Waving her arms
    Leading me to that third rail
    Shock quick as a blink
    She changed her mind)
    I’m probably just self inserting because I have been in similar situations with girls but this is what that song has always meant to me personally atleast.
  • Layna from CanadaMy mom named me after this song!
  • Zander from Los AngelesThis song seems like a spoof of other love songs. That's just how I see his way of singing and writing the lyrics in this song.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Melanie

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Grammar In Lyrics

Grammar In LyricsMusic Quiz

Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.