4 Songs That Prove Billy Joel’s Songwriting Peaked Between 1977 and 1980

Billy Joel released his first album, Cold Spring Harbor, in 1971. Since then, the rock ‘n’ roll and pop pianist has released thirteen studio albums, seven live albums, and over eighty singles—and that’s just scraping the surface of his discography. Among this collection of work, he’s contributed some classic cuts to the pop music canon, some of which were more timeless than others. (It’s hard not to hear “We Didn’t Start The Fire” and not immediately feel like you’re in the year 1989.)

Because Joel has experimented with so many styles over his career, selecting the all-time best songs can be a divisive process. We would humbly argue that he was at his songwriting peak between 1977 and 1980, and these four songs prove it.

“Vienna”

A beautiful song with a beautiful message, “Vienna” continues to offer a message humanity hasn’t quite internalized yet: “Slow down, you crazy child.” The B-side opener to Joel’s 1977 album, The Stranger, was inspired by a trip he took to Vienna with his father. In a larger sense, the song is a warning not to burn yourself out by trying to accomplish everything you can in your 20s and 30s. “Slow down, you’re doing fine / You can’t be everything you wanna be before your time.”

“Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”

Another track about not letting the rat race warp your perspective and another cut from The Stranger, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” is a prime example of Billy Joel’s ability to blend a groove and a powerful message. The song condemns working-class people who waste their money and their lives by working tirelessly just to afford status symbols, like fancy cars and houses in nice neighborhoods. “It seems such a waste of time / if that’s what it’s all about / Mama, if that’s movin’ up, then I’m movin’ out.”

“Big Shot”

“Big Shot” has a similarly defiant feel to “Movin’ Out”. But unlike the latter song’s fictional character, Billy Joel has admitted to writing the former track after having dinner with Mick and Bianca Jagger. “I was thinking of Mick singing that to her,” Joel told Howard Stern in 2010. “Well, it’s no big sin to stick your two cents in / If you know when to leave it alone / But you went over the line / You couldn’t see it was time to go home.”

“It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me”

Billy Joel earned his first No. 1 hit single with “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” from his seventh studio album, Glass Houses, in the summer of 1980. Ironically, Joel wrote the song about his frustrations with critics pigeonholing him into adult contemporary or pop. There’s also a certain sense of nostalgia to his recalcitrant rant that keeps things light and buoyant, even as he’s giving the sonic middle finger to the music industry. “Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways, it’s still rock and roll to me.”

Photo by Mike Prior/Redferns

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