And So It Goes

Album: Storm Front (1989)
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  • 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

    I spoke to you in cautious tones
    You answered me with no pretense
    And still I feel I said too much
    My silence is my self defense

    And every time I've held a rose
    It seems I only felt the thorns
    And so it goes, and so it goes
    And so will you soon I suppose

    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

    And this is why my eyes are closed
    It's just as well for all I've seen
    And so it goes, and so it goes
    And you're the only one who knows

    So I would choose to be with you
    That's if the choice were mine to make
    But you can make decisions too
    And you can have this heart to break

    And so it goes, and so it goes
    And you're the only one who knows Writer/s: Billy Joel
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 18

  • AnonymousDon't know how that beautiful song, which I heard for the first time on This is Us...absolutely one of the most poignant songs ever!!!!
  • Linda from Michigan I agree it’s beautifully used in Signed, Sealed & Delivered. It’s Shane and Oliver’s song. She declares her love for him when they first dance to it, and he declares his love for her in the chapel after the night on the mountain. Finally it plays under their vows at their wedding. Gets me every time!
  • Kari from TennesseeI’m seconding what Marv commented. This song is so beautifully incorporated into the Signed, Sealed, Delivered series and movies. Episode 4: The Masterpiece, uses the song in a heartbreaking scene with the main characters dancing. They reprise the song a few years later in the TV movie Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Lost Without You. The song is one of my absolute favorites and the way it is incorporated into this series is perfection.
  • Marv from Surprise, Az“And so it goes” is played often in the Hallmark Movie Series, “Signed, Sealed and Delivered “ in scenes with Shane and Oliver often times dancing.
  • Belle"So it goes" became a popular phrase because of the novelist Kurt Vonnegut. In his book, "The Slaughterhouse Five," he used it like a refrain. Ellerbee picked it up from him. When a Vonnegut biography was written, in the last year of Vonnegut's life, it was called "And so it goes." The bio appeared after Ellerbee's use of the phrase, but it was first popularized by Vonnegut.
  • Peakay from Whittier, CaPam from Atlanta, Ga
    I want to believe that your question regarding the song AND SO IT GOES by Billy Joel has been answered ages ago. But itn case it has not, I would like to provide one answer as I know it. I give an excerpt from a blurb from TuneFund.com regarding the SINGS FROM BOSTON LEGAL SOUNDTRACK CD

    Son of The Defender
    S03E18 (Broadcast date 03 April 2007)

    And So It Goes
    BILLY JOEL

    Denny's first case comes back to roost when the son of a woman who was murdered in 1957. Denny's think about discussion with his father

    Hope this helps. Despite what Billy thinks, I loved this song the first time I heard it and I always include it when I make a Billy Joel playlist

  • Sandiep from Littleton, CoMy ex was a HUGE fan and I too quickly became a big fan. I never heard this song until after my ex passed and it suddenly started popping up on my phone in the middle of the night. It continues to start playing without my music app being open. It makes complete sense if you knew my ex.
  • Megan from Charlotte, NcBob Chilcott arranged this song into an SATB choir song. The piece is beautifully paired with the lyrics of Billy Joel.
  • Susan from Airdrie, AbBeautiful song. What a talented guy. I remember hearing this song when I bought the "cass-single" for the Downeaster Alexa. This song was on side 2, I believe. :)
  • Amanda_ong from Singapore, SingaporeI came across the song only in 2011. Love it so much. Shared it with colleagues in Beijing. One loves it too. Truly meditative. Brings us into 'the zone'.
  • Nancy from Merle168@insightbb.com, KyAnd this is why my eyes are closed it's just as well for all I've seen and so it goes and so it goes and your the only one who knows. Beautiful Lyrics. :)
  • Pam from Atlanta, GaDoes anyone know what movies this song has been featured in? It's driving me crazy that I can't place/remember. Thanks.
  • Michael from Fullerton, CaHauntingly beautiful.
  • Emily from Abingdon, VaI second what John said.
  • John from Edinburg, VaActually, the phrase "so it goes" comes from the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five. It is was a fatilistic phrase that Vonnegut used when he described a death in the book and there were plenty of them in that book.

    Linda Ellerbee stole the phrase from Lloyd Dobbins from the NBC Weekend show, who must have in turn stole it from Vonnegut. Dobbins was later replaced on the show by Ellerbee, or on some subsequent show, and complained about Ellerbee's use of the phrase. However he did acknowledge that the phrase still worked, when he no longer did :).
  • Patrick from Albany, NyIts a very very good song when your down and heart broken. It shows you are not alone out there and you feel better most of the time.
  • Ken from Louisville, KyBilly Joel sang this song on the televised Kennedy Center honors in the 1990's. He was surprised when actor James Woods, who introduced him, had a piano brought out and urged Joel to sing. Joel chose this song, since it was a simple song that he could do without any other musicians.
  • Leon from Waterbury, CtOne of his best songs...I love it.
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