Billy Joel reveals that songwriting became “painful” for a long time
After 17 years, Billy Joel has released a new single, ‘Turn The Lights Back On’, which appears to be a standalone single, and he’s now opened up about why it took him such a significant amount of time to return.
Made in collaboration with Freddy Wexler, the song will be performed for the first time by Joel at the upcoming Grammys ceremony on February 4th. The event is set to take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, it will be hosted by comedian Trevor Noah.
However, Joel has revealed that for many years, he found the idea of writing lyrics difficult, hence why it has taken him almost 20 years to release a new song.
On Audacy Check-In, Joel explained, “It was fun. Music is fun. Rock ‘n’ roll was fun. It was all about having fun — and I kind of lost that and I turned the lights off because it wasn’t fun anymore.”
He continued, “I studiously avoided it because songwriting had become painful. I have this high bar. I said to myself, ‘If I don’t reach that bar, I beat myself up and I punched myself and I hate myself.’ So, I stopped doing it because I got tired of feeling like that.”
With ‘Turn the Lights Back On’, Joel has made an impressive return. However, has made no mention of releasing an album, however, with his last pop record coming out in 1993.
Joel is just happy to have reignited his love for songwriting, citing Wexler as a great help. The musician added, “The melody, the chords, the chord progression, even the time signature was something that struck me immediately, and that’s how I relate to music.”
“This particular lyric in this song, I’ve had these thoughts, I could have written these lyrics verbatim. I’ve chewed on these words and I’ve thought of these words, and I’ve said these words before. It was all kind of falling into place — and who am I to fight that.”
Listen to the new song below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.