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Billy Joel - Blog Posts
post s2 fix it :D
idk i just love the idea of azi returning to the book shop to find crowley an absolute wreck sobbing and singing along to relevant love songs in his angels record collection
they KISS after this and MAKE UP and SAVE THE WORLD
also muriel:
#1 has been forced to listen to all of crowley's depressed sing alongs, #2 was upstairs during the duration of this comic, #3 was quite disappointed and confused when mr.crowley didn't make it to their favorite happy section of the song towards the end
(i know i said it was an unspecified amount of time but in my minds eye only a few months have passes before azi packs his ass up and leaves heaven)
I actually always thought the old man was trans and thought the line was 'when I wore a young women's clothes' instead of younger man's and fully belived this for years until I looked at the lyrics and was disappointed
you know who’s gay? paul the real estate novelist who never had time for a wife and davey who’s still in the navy and probably will be for life
he says bill i believe this is killing me (i have the passion but not the talent)
Thanks for all those adds and corrections !
Piano Man by Billy Joel
Released in 1973, this cool and chill song is largely inspired by Billy Joel's personal experience as a bar pianist.
(Lyrics under the cut)
[Verse 1] It's nine o'clock on a Saturday The regular crowd shuffles in There's an old man sittin' next to me Makin' love to his tonic and gin He says, "Son, can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes But it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete When I wore a younger man's clothes"
[Refrain] La, la-la, di-dee-da La-la, di-dee-da da-dum
[Chorus] Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright
[Verse 2] Now John at the bar is a friend of mine He gets me my drinks for free And he's quick with a joke, or to light up your smoke But there's someplace that he'd rather be He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me" As the smile ran away from his face "Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star If I could get out of this place"
[Refrain] Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da La-la, di-dee-da da-dum
[Verse 3] Now Paul is a real estate novelist Who never had time for a wife And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the navy And probably will be for life And the waitress is practicing politics As the businessmen slowly get stoned Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness But it's better than drinkin' alone
[Piano Solo]
[Chorus] Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright
[Verse 4] It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday And the manager gives me a smile 'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see To forget about life for a while And the piano, it sounds like a carnival And the microphone smells like a beer And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"
[Refrain] Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da La-la, di-dee-da da-dum
[Chorus] Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright
Lyrics by Genius: Billy Joel – Piano Man Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Piano Man by Billy Joel
Released in 1973, this cool and chill song is largely inspired by Billy Joel's personal experience as a bar pianist.
(Lyrics under the cut)
[Verse 1] It's nine o'clock on a Saturday The regular crowd shuffles in There's an old man sittin' next to me Makin' love to his tonic and gin He says, "Son, can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes But it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete When I wore a younger man's clothes"
[Refrain] La, la-la, di-dee-da La-la, di-dee-da da-dum
[Chorus] Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright
[Verse 2] Now John at the bar is a friend of mine He gets me my drinks for free And he's quick with a joke, or to light up your smoke But there's someplace that he'd rather be He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me" As the smile ran away from his face "Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star If I could get out of this place"
[Refrain] Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da La-la, di-dee-da da-dum
[Verse 3] Now Paul is a real estate novelist Who never had time for a wife And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the navy And probably will be for life And the waitress is practicing politics As the businessmen slowly get stoned Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness But it's better than drinkin' alone
[Piano Solo]
[Chorus] Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright
[Verse 4] It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday And the manager gives me a smile 'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see To forget about life for a while And the piano, it sounds like a carnival And the microphone smells like a beer And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"
[Refrain] Oh, la, la-la, di-dee-da La-la, di-dee-da da-dum
[Chorus] Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright
Lyrics by Genius: Billy Joel – Piano Man Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Rockapella and Billy Joel, 1990.
Rockapella would later perform with him at the charity benefit Concert for Walden Woods the following year (with a slightly different lineup).
*listens to billy joel once*
oh sorry, i've got a lot on my New York State of Mind
I'm running out of New York State of Time
I've run out of New York State of Rhyme
fellas, if she
can wound with her eyes
ruins your faith with her casual lies
takes what you give her, as long as it's free
steals like a thief
she ain't your girl, but she's always a woman to me
#holding out hope the new documentary confirms my theory that 'died in september' refers to the suicide attempts occurring in september 1970
Having it on the record one way or the other would be everything.
The other thing that gets me about the lyrics (and I also put this into my giant Billy Joel essay) is "Unsung songs show my direction" because Walter Everett once compared the song's composition to Henry Mancini and André Propp and in 1971 both of them had just written instrumental songs ("A Time for Us" and "Love is Blue") that went to the top of the charts. So that line is already meta for the likely inspirations behind "Silver Seas" but then he removed the lyrics and added another self-referential layer because now that lyric refers to "Nocturne" itself too.
Once I lived You might remember Born in May Died in September
If your 5 favorite Billy Joel songs were birds what would they be and why
Hmmmmm, that's a really good question that I hadn't thought of before.....let's see:
The Stranger (1977)
I think it'd have to be either a mimicking bird or a brood parasite. So I'm thinking either a Common Cuckoo, a brood parasite:
Or a European Starling, an expert mimic and also an invasive species here in North America:
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me (1980)
This song screams Rock Pigeon, with its stubborness and memory of a better time:
Pressure (1982)
This one has to be a bird that has a really long migration route, so why not the one with the longest, the Arctic Tern:
Lullabye (1994)
This song makes me think of endangered and extinct birds. I think of the last song of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, a bird that was formally declared extinct in 2023, but was last heard in 1987:
I also think of the Zebra Finch, often the subject of experiments about communication development, that can involve isolating a baby bird from their parents so they cannot learn their proper song:
Goodnight Saigon (1982)
This makes me think of the Wake Island Rail, which went extinct as a consequence of WW2 (this song is about Vietnam, but I think it can apply to a lot of war):
I also think of Edward's Pheasant, which is believed to be extinct in the wild, in a large part due to the effects of the Vietnam War:
Thank you so much for the question!!!
In 2011 a woman named Maureen Seaburg wrote a book about synesthesia called Tasting the Universe and there's a whole chapter about Billy Joel that he did a fairly extensive interview for and I have literally found no other evidence of him discussing synesthesia before or since.
Full chapter under the cut:
The Billy Joel GIF set on Instagram is funny because you've got all your Uptown Girls, your We Didn't Start the Fires, your Allentowns, and your The Longest Times and a couple of the old man's live performances and then for some reason there's a GIF of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" Live at Sparks 1981. I have no idea who is responsible but they have criminally good music taste and I hope their soup is always warm and their milk always fresh.
Just stumbled upon a great philosophical debate while listening to a playlist on shuffle.
The esteemed philosopher Bill Joel puts forward that "It's still rock and roll to me" confidently declaring that rock and roll remains to some extent constant in how much it rocks.
However, his point is immediately challenged by philosopher Bob Seger who posits that "Todays music ain't got the same soul" and that he "Likes that old time rock and roll". Confidently declaring that rock and roll has declined in its rockness.
This is truly one of the most important debates facing philosophy today.
His Famous Last Words: Billy Joel’s River of Dreams
From the first few chords of “No Man’s Land” to the fade-out at the end of “Famous Last Words”, this album is entirely unlike anything else I’ve ever heard. Heck, it’s unlike Billy Joel. He made a name for himself as the Piano Man—twenty years after that iconic breakout single, he made an album with barely a hint of piano on it and pretty much disappeared so that he could give new musicians a chance to be heard. And he didn’t come back until he had a truly worthwhile song to share.
Now, he’d seen his share of style changes over the years—look at Glass Houses or even The Bridge. But if those albums were a slow shuffle away from his piano-oriented roots, River of Dreams was a flying leap as he traded his trademark baby grand for overdriven guitars. But under this grittier rock sound, it really still feels like a Billy Joel album.
In my mind, no song handles better this fusion of the new sound with Billy’s signature lyrical style and themes than “No Man’s Land”. Despite its obviously rock sound, it is in many ways a thematic successor to The Stranger’s opening track, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”. The two songs handle the a very similar sense of disillusionment and uncertainty, as well as the idea that you shouldn’t take what you’re told at face value. To the average listener, this is a shockingly punk rock sentiment to hear from a pop-oriented singer-songwriter, especially as blatant as it is in “No Man’s Land”. But I feel like this theme returning is a wonderful way to close the book on his career as a (probably unintentional) callback.
But that’s just it—this is his final album. He stepped back from music after River of Dreams. This whole album has a sense of finality about it; Billy has always been a storyteller more than just about any songwriter I’ve ever seen, and he seems to have done everything in his power to make his last big story (at least for now) great. For that reason, I find this album thematically akin to Turnstiles. Both deal with moving on and change, though in very different ways. That’s why—to me, anyway—this album seems so fitting as a goodbye. The drastically different styles present here fit and compliment the overall theme of change.
This is all pulled together by the final track, “Famous Last Words”. It’s a slow-paced, easygoing song exploring the prospect of change through the shift from summer into fall, ultimately using this as a metaphor for the end of Billy’s musical career. But it looks to this uncertain future with a feeling of safety and contentment, secure in the knowledge that good things must be somewhere up the road. It’s similar to “Vienna” in that way, as it’s also about accepting the future not with dread but with a willingness to go at your own speed and enjoy the scenery while you’re there.
I’d consider “Famous Last Words” to be among the greatest closing tracks ever—probably topped only by “The Long One” on the Beatles’ Abbey Road. It closes the record with every bit of strength with which “No Man’s Land” opened it, though in an entirely different way. With a track like this as his last true song for so many years, I think “Turn the Lights Back On” wasn’t the perfect single to release; it was the only one that could follow this song in theme, quality, and lyrics. In fact, I would count “Turn the Lights Back On” as almost a coda to River of Dreams because of this.
In the end, though, I think what River of Dreams represents most to me is an artist who wanted to leave a good legacy in terms of his work. From start to finish, it feels like Billy gave this record his all, and I have nothing but respect for any musician who decides to step back when they feel they have nothing left to say at the moment. Not to mention the fact that his decision to stop making new albums every few years most likely gave him time to really buckle down and get to breaking that record for longest residency at Madison Square Garden. Between the aforementioned residency and the clear care and effort put into both River of Dreams and “Turn the Lights Back On”, it seems that Billy Joel has a level of dedication to both his music and his fans that I greatly respect. If he were to make another full-length record, this precedent is enough to show me that it would very likely be a worthwhile one.
Happy 2025!
I worked like mad to finish this but here it is – some insanely large number of words about the year that was, through the lens of Billy Joel songs with "night" in the title because they are fascinating as all get out.
Special shoutout to @thebreakfastgenie for helping to infect me with the urge to go even deeper into the old man research.