 Genius Lyrics
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Billy Joel – Turn the Lights Back On
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[Verse 1] / Please open the door / Nothing is different, we've been here before / Pacing these halls, trying to talk / Over the silence / And pride sticks out its tongue / Laughs
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Billy Joel – Honesty
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The second song off of Billy Joel’s 1978 album 52 Street.
A gripping song dissecting the lack of shame in society. The song was a leading single prior to the album’s release. Both
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Billy Joel – Big Shot
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Following in the judgmental blame-game tactics of “Captain Jack,” “Big Shot” features Billy Joel berating someone for having to always out-do everyone else.
There are a lot of
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Billy Joel – Leningrad
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Written after Billy Joel’s landmark six-concert tour of the former Soviet Union in 1987, “Leningrad” was included in the hit 1989 album Storm Front and was released as a single.
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Billy Joel – You May Be Right
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“You May Be Right” is a single written and performed by rock singer Billy Joel from his 1980 album Glass Houses.
Following the heavier side of Billy Joel’s pop heading into the
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Billy Joel – Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
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“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” has the longest duration in all of Billy Joel’s catalog, clocking in at 7 minutes and 37 seconds. While never released as a single, it has
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Billy Joel – Uptown Girl
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“Uptown Girl” is a Billy Joel classic that can be found on 1983’s An Innocent Man. Inspired by Frankie Valli’s “Rag Doll,” its lyrics find a “downtown boy” (lower class) waxing
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Billy Joel – Souvenir
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[Verse 1] / A picture postcard, a folded stub / A program of the play / File away the photographs / Of your holiday / [Verse 2] / And your mementos will turn to dust / But that's
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Billy Joel – She's Always a Woman
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“She’s Always a Woman” is a song from Billy Joel’s 1977 album The Stranger. It is a love song about a modern woman, with whom he falls in love for her quirks as well as her flaws
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Billy Joel – And So It Goes
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Written in 1983 but released in 1989 as a single for the hit album Storm Front, “And So It Goes” is a love ballad loosely based on Billy’s short-lived relationship with supermodel
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Billy Joel – Only the Good Die Young
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A classic lusty pop-rock tune from the hit 1977 album, The Stranger, “Only the Good Die Young” was inspired by a high school crush of Billy Joel’s, Virginia Callahan. The narrator
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Billy Joel – Tell Her About It
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“Tell Her About It” is a Gold-certified 1983 hit performed by Billy Joel, from the 7x Platinum album An Innocent Man.
An apparent homage to the Motown Sound, the song was #1 on
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Billy Joel – The Downeaster "Alexa"
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The Downeaster “Alexa” was the 4th single off of Billy Joel’s #1 1989 album Storm Front, released in 1990. The song reached the 57 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Billy puts
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Billy Joel – Pressure
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“Pressure” is a dark synthesizer-driven lament on the pressures of working for a living. A hit off the 1982 concept album The Nylon Curtain.
The single version removes the third
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Billy Joel – The Stranger
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“The Stranger” is the title track from Billy Joel’s critical and commercial breakthrough album. Featuring a traditional rock outfit, the song begins with a slow, moody melody
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Billy Joel – Captain Jack
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“Captain Jack,” written and sung by Billy Joel, first appeared on his 1973 album Piano Man. It also has a popular live version on his 1981 album Songs in the Attic.
The song is an
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Billy Joel – Vienna
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In a July 2008 New York Times article, Joel cited this as one of his two favorite songs, along with “Summer, Highland Falls”.
Why did I pick Vienna to use as a metaphor for the
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Billy Joel – Scandinavian Skies
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The sins of Amsterdam / Were still a recent surprise / And we were flying over / Scandinavian Skies / We climbed towards the sun / We turned and cursed as one / We pulled the
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Billy Joel – My Life
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Straying away from the piano ballad but still infused with New York soul, “My Life” from 1978’s 52nd Street was also a relatively big hit, reaching #2 on the U.S. adult
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Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire
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This monster hit of a song was created in 1989, when Joel turned 40. The idea spawned from a conversation he had with a friend of Sean Lennon. The friend just turned 21 and was
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Billy Joel – Surprises
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Don't get excited / Don't say a word / Nobody noticed / Nothing was heard / It was committed discreetly / It was handled so neatly / And it shouldn't surprise you at all / You know
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Billy Joel – Roberta
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Roberta, you say you know me / But I see only what you're paid to show me / Oh, I wish you had the time / Oh, I wish you had the time / Oh, Roberta, I understand you / I know you
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Billy Joel – The Ballad of Billy the Kid
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“The Ballad of Billy the Kid” was the fourth and final single from Piano Man. It was the only one not to chart.
Joel told the Today Show in 2005 it was written about a bartender
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Billy Joel – The Longest Time
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“The Longest Time” is a doo-wop single by Billy Joel. The song was released as a single in 1984 as the fourth single from the 1983 album An Innocent Man. It reached number 14 on
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Da Vinci's Notebook – Face Like Billy Joel
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[Verse] / If you said you'd go out with me tonight / Folks would ask if your head was screwed on tight / Though I'm a nice guy, most chicks would rather die / Than date me for I
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Billy Joel – She's Got a Way
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“She’s Got a Way” is a song originally released on Billy Joel’s first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor from 1971. It was also featured as a single from the 1981 live album Songs in
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Billy Joel – Goodnight Saigon
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A Vietnam War-inspired ballad, “Goodnight Saigon” was first released on the 1982 album The Nylon Curtain.
The song follows a group of United States Marines beginning their
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Billy Joel – Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
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Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) is a song from Billy Joel’s album Turnstiles, telling of a future in which New York has ceased to exist. It was released in May 1976
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Billy Joel – I Go to Extremes
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The second single from the 1989 hit album Storm Front, “I Go to Extremes” peaked at the number six position on the Billboard Hot 100, and at #70 on the UK chart. The song was also
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Billy Joel – Los Angelenos
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[Verse 1] / Los Angelenos / All come from somewhere / To live in sunshine / Their funky exile / Midwestern ladies / High-heeled and faded / Drivin' sleek new sports cars / With
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Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenader
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Simple chord progressions and lyrics bring out the main point of “Streetlife Serenader”. In 1974, when Billy Joel was writing the album in Los Angeles, he was at a rising point in
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Billy Joel – Zanzibar
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Zanzibar is a song from Joel’s ‘'52nd Street’‘ album, and most characterizes the jazz direction Joel wanted to take after releasing the pop smash ’‘The Stranger’‘ a year earlier.
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Billy Joel – New York State of Mind
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One of Billy Joel’s signature songs, “New York State of Mind” comes from the 1976 album Turnstiles and is something of a love song for the city. The artist was literally traveling
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Billy Joel – Everybody Loves You Now
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In a 1974 performance at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, Billy mentioned that this song was about “ a bitch.” Written when Billy was 22, this song shows a hint of the honesty that
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Billy Joel – Don't Ask Me Why
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“Don’t Ask Me Why” appears on Billy Joel’s hit 1980 album Glass Houses. The song features a lighter, folkier sound, reminiscent of Joel’s earlier work, and is in contrast with the
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Billy Joel (Ft. Ray Charles) – Baby Grand
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“Baby Grand” is the fourth single from 1986’s The Bridge and is a duet featuring Ray Charles. The single peaked at #75 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at #3 on the Hot Adult
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