The Billy Joel songs he considered “true originals”
It’s always been hard to classify the sound of Billy Joel.
He’s better than most, if not all, at writing a goddamn ballad. When he sits at the piano, the clouds fucking disperse, and the entrance to heaven seems closer than ever before. But Joel has never been a true rock and roll star, and because of that, he’s never truly stuck to one exact sound.
One key rivalry that exemplifies this exact point is his relationship with Elton John. In his new 2025 documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, the singer-songwriter admitted to having serious issues with the incessant comparisons to the ‘Rocketman’ singer he dealt with on a daily basis. One of his managers, James Guercio, even pushed him to work with John’s wider band.
He said of that scheme, “Why would I want to work with the other well-known piano player’s band? The lack of imagination was staggering.” He tried it out and added, “They were good musicians, but they didn’t get it. It sounded like Elton, and I said, ‘I don’t want to sound like Elton; I want to sound like me.’ I left. I said, ‘This isn’t going to work.’”
At least the unfortunate studio foray allowed Joel insight into what his distinct sound was. And, thanks to that renewed self-assurance, he held a handful of his tracks in high regard. They just happened to be his singles.
In 1990, the ‘Vienna’ mastermind mused, “All my singles have been really strange records, if you think about it. ‘Uptown Girl’ was strange. ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ was strange. I believe – and I think you will agree – that these were true originals. And everything I have done has been untypical of its time.” And, if that weren’t enough to paint a sharp, self-confident, and perhaps smug picture for his interviewer, Joel went on to add: “That surely is the hallmark of someone who is a cut above the average in the profession.”
It’s a little abrasive for our sensitive, overly apologetic culture (or maybe that’s just because I’m British), but this idea of unique output was paramount for Joel. The alternative kept him up at night: “You know, there is a Texas saying that there is nothing in the middle of the road but white lines and dead armadillos. I don’t mind people saying I’m over the hill, but I’d hate to be classified as middle of the road.”
Somewhat annoyingly, he is right. ‘Uptown Girl’ is an undeniable and addictive song from the moment it starts. The piano is spritely and flows like the finest of wines. The added backing voices make it a perfect karaoke banger that will get everyone shaking their hips. The chewy “ti-i-ime” and “mi-i-ind” is a genius feat of internal rhyme.
Then take ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’, which wriggles and wriths around a racing beat and is mesmerisingly catchy. The verses are fast and clever enough for listeners to want to be able to regurgitate them perfectly. The world is one unfixable mess, one tangled chaos, says Joel. So what? Let’s all join hands and yell about it. Any song that mentions scuzzy Beatnic Jack Kerouac and Hula Hoops within the same minute is, undeniably, “original”.
