Talk:Only the Good Die Young
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Due to its Catholic references, the song met resistance on certain radio stations, but the attention helped album sales.(already sourced in lead) When the song was banned at Seton Hall University (Sourced to Bordowitz via Performing Songwriter magazine) Joel wrote a letter to the president of the university thanking him for the notoriety and asking him to ban the rest of his songs.[citation needed] In the late 1970s, while planning a trip to the University of Notre Dame, Joel signed a contract with the university stating that the only song he would not be allowed to play was "Only the Good Die Young".[citation needed] Consequently, Billy Joel played the song six times in a row, and changed the lyrics to include references to "Notre Dame and Saint Mary's Girls."[citation needed] As a result, Joel has been banned from the University ever since.[citation needed] Joel also reportedly received death threats if he played the song at a concert in St. Louis - he responded by playing the song twice.[citation needed]
What I really wanted to know is...where did the saying come from. The bit about Billy Joels' song is nice, but the saying was already there in history. So...who said that and why do we more or less agree that this must be true. For example, God in His all knowing position would never take someone away from us incorrectly. Therefor you could not die young unless God thought it was the very best thing that could happen. Anyway I was watching Andy Griffith and He used the saying so I believe this episode I'm wathcing came before Billy Joel. 204.116.223.232 (talk) 23:55, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
