Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/01/billy-joel-releases-his-first-original-song-in-17-years.html
…
5 Likes
3 Likes
No parenthetical title??? C’mon!
I vote for “Turn the Lights Back On (and Put the Seat Down)”
2 Likes
It’s no Downeaster Alexa
1 Like
Yeah so what? Billy who?
Nostalgia for a nostalgia singer I have none to give.
1 Like
Long overdue! I’m surprised to see co-writers. but regardless, I hope an album will follow soon!
5 Likes
2 Likes
Did I wait too long / To turn the lights back on?
Vienna waits for you. Don’t Ask Me Why The Stranger Piano Man is such a Big Shot, but no Pressure - You May Be Right, I’ve Loved These Days. Honesty, it’s Just the Way You Are…And So It Goes.
3 Likes
There have been some really great covers of that song.
7 Likes
In 2018, Joel told Vulture his logic for the song draught.
Umm - drought? Doesn’t anyone use proof-readers, copy editors or sub-editors any more?
3 Likes
I have to imagine she fell over laughing after filming that
1 Like
Good at what? Stringing together a bunch of musical and lyrical cliches in such a way that they make for him another ton of money?
4 Likes
He made that money because lots of people liked his music. He decided that he wasn’t producing music that was a good as he thought it ought to be, so he stopped. Whether or not you like his music, that shows a level of artistic integrity that plenty of others with his fan numbers have not.
10 Likes
Shit. I thought he changed his name to “Billy John” years ago.
4 Likes
That’s the dream. It’s much more common than writing new musical cliches.
3 Likes
1 Like
I’m not a Joel super fan or anything but I enjoy his stuff well enough. I would have to say though, had he committed to maintaining that glorious mane, I’d have long ago run a sacred dagger shaped like a piano across my palm and squeezed out my lifeblood while pledging to lead his armies into the fire that we may or may not have started.
4 Likes
I’m a pretty big fan. I really enjoyed the musical made with his songs. I would loved to have seen him and Elton John together all those years ago. And I loved the way he ribbed Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain said something about banning Billy Joel from any kitchen he was working in. Which lead to Joel showing up at his restaurants, and posting selfies with the kitchen staff.
9 Likes
And it’s also worth noting that Joel doesn’t sell tickets to the 2 front rows of his concerts, and hasn’t for decades. He said that scalpers always grab those tickets, and sell them to people willing and able to pay too much for seats. And that those people who buy the tickets are, by and large, awful. Instead, he sends the road crew out with the tickets before each concert. They go to the nosebleed seats, and give them away to the fans there. Because, by and large, those people are dedicated fans who will love the show, and were willing to take bad seats just to get to go at all. And putting them in the front row gives them a great time, and he loves playing for people who really really want to see him play.
12 Likes
