The 1971 song Billy Joel never wants to revisit: “I was really depressed”
Billy Joel is an artist who has always trusted in the power of music.
There is no doubt that music is one of the most important and visited art forms in the world. It’s not something we go out of our way for; instead, it occupies every aspect of our lives.
It blends into the background, stands front and centre or drifts into obscurity; regardless, there is simply no escaping it. When someone is a good lyricist and can articulate their feelings well, we see the true power of music. Artists such as Billy Joel remain just as relevant today because of their ability to connect with those they have never met before.
People turn to music in times of turmoil. When we go through a heartbreak or a depressing period, our minds can be difficult to occupy. They are full of negativity and lonely, so we often disassociate. Music acts as a bridge, as artists articulate their struggles and, in doing so, provide a voice to feelings that we may not have spoken about previously.
This is why music remains so important to us. Not only is it nice to listen to and something we encounter every day, but it also makes the world less lonely. Even during our darkest days, there are artists out there who have expressed similar feelings in songs, helping you acknowledge yours in a way that feels both welcoming and sweet.
Because of the in-depth and vulnerable nature of a lot of music, though, there are some songs that artists struggle to go back to. It takes them back to a very real and difficult moment in their life, and subsequently, the idea of performing them in front of thousands of strangers doesn’t appeal very much.
That tension is what makes Joel’s catalogue so enduring. The same honesty that allows listeners to find comfort in his songs is the very thing that can make revisiting them difficult for the person who wrote them.
In the case of ‘Tomorrow Is Today’, it isn’t just another early deep cut but a snapshot of a moment he has long since moved past. For listeners, it might feel timeless, but for Joel, it remains tied to a specific version of himself that he no longer recognises.
Joel has always been a master wordsmith. Whether he is writing about the end of the world, the mundane nature of life or his own struggles, he has been able to put words to music in a way that is equally stunning and accessible. While he is happy to play the majority of these songs live – and very frequently does – given how much he mixes about his setlists while on tour, there are some tracks he struggles to return to. One of these is 1971’s ‘Tomorrow Is Today’.
“I was really depressed at the time I wrote that,” he said in an interview in 2016, “I was 21, and I was just bummed out. When you’re that age, you’re going from adolescence into adulthood. You become so self-absorbed that your head can literally go up your ass, and you gotta pull it out ‘cause if you stay there too long, it’s not a good atmosphere.”
He continued: “It’s a very self-pitying song. I actually rarely go back to that album and listen to that. Although the lyric was meaningful to me at the time, now from this perspective, I can say, ‘What did he know, he’s 21’.”
This is the double-edged sword that often comes with being a musician. On the one hand, you make music that inspires and moves people. On the other, in order to do so, it often means laying your soul bare and writing about emotions that can be tough to acknowledge.
