‘My Life’: The song that makes people understand Billy Joel
There’s no denying that Billy Joel has forged himself the most exceptional career full of highs. While he may have chosen to curtail his recording career in 2001 due to a supposed lack of interest in releasing anything that he deemed to be below his own high standards or surplus to requirements, he remained an ever-popular live performer after that point, only until his recent indefinite hiatus was brought along by rising health concerns.
Alongside the likes of Elton John, Joel has proven himself to be one of the most illustrious piano-rockers to have ever lived, and there’s plenty of great reason for him being placed in the upper echelons of this category. His songs are often immaculate, rich in detail and full of compositional wonders that those beneath him in the pecking order could only dream of creating.
However, not everyone is able to get into Joel’s music immediately, and when he was at his commercial peak, some of his releases reflected the insatiable desire to achieve chart success, and some of the truly played into the hands of record-buyers by attempting to be as palatable as possible. Even the biggest artists are prone to falling foul of the need to have more hits, and sometimes this results in some of the cheesiest material of an artist’s career being released, for better or worse.
On a personal level, songs like ‘Uptown Girl’, while popular among his most die-hard fans, have forever been tainted for people of my generation due to it bringing back torrid memories of Westlife topping the UK charts with their god-awful rendition of the song. On top of this, I absolutely fucking despise ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’, not only because it’s a phoney attempt at capturing the zeitgeist, but because I’m forever haunted by how I once got embarrassed by my inability to recall the lyrics in a high-stakes music quiz tie-breaker round. It might seem ridiculous to pin my hatred on the song for that, but it’s alright, Billy Joel doesn’t think much of it either.
However, whenever I find myself ready to dismiss Joel based on these two atrocities that are far from his fault, I remember that he’s also responsible for ‘My Life’, perhaps one of the most water-tight and pristine pop songs ever recorded. It’s moments like this in his catalogue that help me to quickly forget that ‘Uptown Girl’ and ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ provoke any ill feeling in me, and suddenly I’m reminded that when Joel was at the top of his game, he was practically untouchable.
Lyrically speaking, ‘My Life’ is peppered with all the details of a novel in just shy of five minutes, and the relatability of the words where Joel is simply trying to avoid all external pressures being forced upon him in order to live the simple and straightforward life that he’s always wanted are impeccable. In a musical sense, it’s also structured perfectly, with the verses, choruses, and bridges all having distinct feels to them that ebb and flow throughout the song in the most effortless fashion.
‘My Life’ is Joel’s masterpiece, and if anyone is feeling agnostic towards their love of the Piano Man, then a simple listen to this track from his 52nd Street album is sure to dismiss any seeds of doubt about his unmatched songwriting talents. Of course, there are plenty more high-quality songs in Joel’s catalogue that are deserving of praise, but it only takes the first few notes of ‘My Life’ to know that you’re being exposed to a masterpiece.
