Billy Joel wishes he didn’t write “at least 25%” of his songs
In terms of memorable material, few classic rock icons have the same pedigree as Billy Joel. While his piano-heavy take on singer-songwriter rock music might not be for everybody, it’s hard to argue against quality tracks like ‘Moving Out’, ‘Scenes From an Italian Restaurant’, and ‘Only the Good Die Young’.
However, the ‘Piano Man’ singer isn’t overly fond of every song that has appeared on his albums, as he recently told The Los Angeles Times ahead of his tour with Stevie Nicks. “I’ve written some real stinkers I wish I could take back,” Joel claimed. He named ‘When in Rome’ from 1989’s Storm Front and ‘C’etait toi (You Were the One)’ from 1980’s Glass Houses as two songs that he would strike from the record if he could. “Sometimes I’d get six or seven songs I thought were pretty damn good, then there’d be a couple of squeeze-outs at the end just to fill up the album. I realize now I shouldn’t have done that.”
Joel famously stopped writing original material in the 1990s. His last album of pop material was 1993’s River of Dreams, and since his 2001 classical album Fantasies and Delusions, Joel hasn’t released any new material. It’s been 30 years since Joel officially stopped creating new pop songs, and the singer doesn’t appear to have any regrets about putting an end to his creative period.
“I didn’t make that decision based on whether it was right or wrong,” Joel claimed. “It just felt like it was time for me to stop writing songs. I didn’t have the same motivation anymore. You need inspiration to create good new music, and if you don’t have it, don’t bother. Get off the treadmill, for Christ’s sake.”
“It also just got to a point where it was getting excruciating for me to write,” Joel added. “The enjoyment went out of it. I just read an interesting quote by [Ernest] Hemingway. Someone asked him, ‘Why is it so easy for me to read your stuff?’ And Hemingway said, ‘Because it was so goddamn hard for me to write.'”
Joel estimated that “at least 25 per cent” of his overall oeuvre was worth forgetting about. One might think that, as an artist in his 70s who doesn’t write songs anymore, it might be tempting for Joel to pack it in with one final farewell tour. However, the man who can (and does) play Madison Square Garden whenever he wants to, shot that idea down.
“That was brought up the other day,” he said. “But I have a disdain for capitalizing on that: ‘Let me threaten that it’ll be the end, and then I’ll make a lot of money.’ I’ve seen bands so many times announce their farewell tours and then they never go away. I’ve seen a couple of the Who farewells at this point.”
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