Lyrics and music
"She's Got a Way" is a love ballad. [4] The lyrics to "She's Got a Way" have the singer describing how various characteristics of a particular woman,such as her laugh,make him love her,even though he can't understand why. [5] To music critic Mark Bego,it's a song about a woman who has "mesmerized" him. [4] Joel biographer Fred Schruers describes the lyrics as a "plainspoken,never-quite-corny adoration of a loved one". [6]
According to a friend of the couple,Bruce Gentile,the song was written about Joel's first wife Elizabeth. [7] Joel's liner notes for Songs in the Attic seem to agree with this,commenting,"Written in 1970,I still feel the same way."
Schruers describes the song's melody as alternating between "surging" and "relenting". [6] The original studio version has minimal instrumentation. [5] The most prominent instruments are Joel's piano and some cymbal crashes. [5] Schruers describes Joel's piano playing as "stately". [6] Cash Box described it as "a slow,but never plodding love song". [8] On the 1983 reissue of Cold Spring Harbor,"She's Got a Way" also incorporated strings,which may have been inspired by a live performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City at which strings were included in the instrumentation. [5] Schruers attributes some of the effect of the song to the way Joel sings the final word of the final phrase "I don't know what it is/But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway." [6] Schruers describes the last word "anyway" as hanging in the air,"trailing off" and "disrupting the tempo" and thus "seemingly giving in to the emotion" of love. [6]
In a 1981 interview,Joel expressed mixed feelings about the song:"I thought it was cornball for years. I had trouble singing it at first. Then I got into it and decided everybody has a corny side,I suppose". [9]
Joel originally included "She's Got a Way" on a five-song demo tape that included other songs that would appear on Cold Spring Harbor,such as "Everybody Loves You Now" and "Tomorrow Is Today". Joel made the tape in an unsuccessful attempt to secure his first solo recording contract with Paramount Records. [7]
Cover versions
Michael Sweet covered this song on 2007's Touched. [21] Phil Keaggy covered the song on 2007's Acoustic Café,accompanied only by acoustic guitar. [5] Ken Bielen described this version as being "sweet,gentle and simple". [5] Don Henley sang "She's Got a Way" as a tribute to Joel when Joel was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor in 2013. [6]
Margie Joseph recorded a femme version of the song,titled "He's Got a Way",in 1974. [5] Her version uses electric piano as the primary instrument,and adds a Hammond B-3 organ in the third verse to add a touch of gospel music influence. [5] She also adds a gospel choir for background vocals which,in Bielen's opinion gives the impression that her interpretation may be directed towards God rather than a human lover. [5] Bernadette Peters covered "He's Got a Way" on her 1996 album I'll Be Your Baby Tonight,accompanied only on piano. [5] Bielen described this version as being "technically perfect albeit emotion-filled". [5] Erlewine says that she is "well-suited" to its "pseudo-show tune stylings". [22]
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