Top Ten Billy Joel Songs Expanded: More Stories from the Piano Man

The Associated Content community left an embarrassment of riches when it came to Billy Joel articles to comment on. What else would you expect from a man whose career has spanned decades and whose hits outnumber the slots on a top ten list before you're even done listing songs off the top of your head? Choosing Kelli Michael's list to discuss came down to a simple decision: whose list was the easiest to talk about?

Because Billy Joel isn't just a singer or a songwriter, he's a storyteller. The images his music conjures up are, for this fan anyway, a record of a life lived at specific times and places, spent with people we feel we know so well we can reach out and touch, even if only in our imaginations.

With that said, my thoughts on Michael's picks from the piano man.

Yes, "Piano Man". She lists this first, and perhaps it's just as well to get it out of the way early, because "Piano Man" is so ubiquitously linked with Joel that it almost defies categorization in his life, just as no discussion of George Lucas' career needs to remind you he made "Star Wars" and everyone can tell you what Hamlet said about Yorick. Defining instantly the basic elements of a classic Joel song-passionate vocals, a piano he's not afraid to give a workout and an invocation of a particular autobiographical setting, "Piano Man" is a force of nature all its own. Next time you listen, try and shut out the vocals, and hear how the titular instrument tells the story all by itself.

"Just the Way You Are": Even Michael admits this is a 'token love ballad', and let's face it, the lyrics aren't much for sophistication. This is a good song for background noise in a relationship, works nicely for the radio on a long summer drive, but lacks the potency of some of his finer ballads. It's just too generic-and when Billy Joel really tells a story, he takes you to a time and place, not just a warm fuzzy feeling.

Why, Michael herself follows up with "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", and this isn't a one-size-fits-all tune at all; we get to know the characters and the feelings and figure out what's going on. A good example of Joel's storytelling, if not the best songwriting; the "ack-ack-ack-ack" gimmick works once and gets old quickly.

"Only the Good Die Young": It's the simplicity of the tune that works here; anyone can pick it out on their favorite instrument and go along with it. Joel's performance sells the young speaker's energy and impetuousness.

"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me": Dipping into comedy at times, the tough-guy sound Joel tries to impart to this dates a bit with age-but at the same time, a song celebrating timelessness over fads need not mind imparting the lesson. Joel's would-be machismo is not backed up by suitable muscularity, which may explain some of the critical revulsion Michael touches upon; cool guys jivin' on the street corner rarely name-check Beau Brummell.

"New York State of Mind" is more successful, though perhaps a victim of too many cute jokes using its title as a segue. There's little in the way of the specificity of the city here, but perhaps this is for the best; New York is different today than it was when the song came out, and celebrating a city that will be around for quite some time shouldn't be done in a way that will date.

"Miami 2017" is an interesting choice on Michael's part, one of the lesser-known works from the Billy Joel catalog. She does not discuss the real-life historical context, but it's interesting to view this tale of a fallen Manhattan from the point of view of the circumstances of the time: a financially ailing city, unable to cover its debts and receiving no aid from the federal government. Troubling.

By contrast, "Leningrad" has dated a bit; while "Miami 2017" describes a fictional scenario, "Leningrad" describes the real thing, and perhaps belongs with the film "Rocky IV" as a curious touchstone in the media's perception of Russo-American relations in the 1980s.

Strangely, in this little section showing Billy Joel's take on the real world through the eyes of the times, Michael makes no mention of "We Didn't Start the Fire", a song which, while repetitive, bears excellent sound design and the best attempt on record to find a rhyme for 'Prokofiev'. By telling us what was on people's minds, either as perceived then or perceived now, Joel creates a little anthology of what was considered important-and isn't that ultimately what history is?

"Uptown Girl" is a highly successful and infectious work of bubblegum pop, with Joel's high-pitched vocals lending a youthful feel, almost a layer of a young boy trying to court a teenager. Can't you just imagine a young Billy sitting on brownstone steps singing this to the girls who pass by?

Michael closes with "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", and it's a shame she doesn't indicate if this is her top or bottom pick of her ten, because it's certainly deserving of the top slot. Right up there with Don McLean's "American Pie" for storytelling in American popular song, this epic little production sets a scene, invokes a flashback and builds a whole world to tell the story of Brenda and Eddie. (Listen to the detail described in the clothing, in the way they decorate the home, in the slang terms the speaker uses just as he would around his friends.) We don't actually get to know the young lovers very well, but we get the speaker's perception of them quite clearly. Joel takes a cue from the structure of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" and brings us back where we started to cool us down from a whirlwind song.

Maybe you didn't grow up in the same places as Billy Joel did. Let his music transport you. Ignore the guffaws from the literati; a catchy hook is not a crime. Sit back and let the nostalgia begin.