home > Music > Bands/Musicians
Tags: music, bands/musicians, billy joel
The Best Billy Joel Songs
George Sterling BILLY JOEL may be the greatest solo act of the 20th century. His song stylings range from jazz to rock and roll with a 50's influence to blues to some of the greatest modern rock and roll of the 70's, 80's and 90's! He is one of the most succesful, prolific and creative songwriters of all time. His songs lyrics are passionate, tender, meaningful, poetic and incredibly descriptive. He is perhaps the greatest rock and roll pianist of all time and a dynamic performer who truly connects with his vast audience. Billy Joel has a strong, distinctive voice with a wide range.
rerank this list your way
- 1
MIAMI 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
“ Descriptive lyrics:They held a concert out in Brooklyn, to watch the Island Bridges blow...They sent a carrier out from Norfolk and picked THE YANKEES up for free,,,They turned our power down and drove us underground but we went right on with the show...They said that Queens could stay, they blew the Bronx away and sank Manhatten out at sea...I watched the might skyline fall (How eerie that is now!) „ - 2
SAY GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD
“ Meaningful lyrics: They got him sitting with his back to the door now he won't be my fast gun any more...Movin' on is a chance you take any time you try to stay together. Say a word out of line and find the friends that you had are gone forever!...So many faces in and out of my life, some will last, some will just be now and then. Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, I'm afraid it's time for goobye again. „ - 3
I'VE LOVED THESE DAYS
“ Meaningful, descriptive lyrics: Now we take out time so nonchalant and spend our nights so bon vivant. We dress our days in silken robes. The money comes, the money goes. We know it's all a passing phase...Hang our hopes on chandeliers. We're going wrong, we're gaining weight. We're sleeping long and far too late. And so it's time to change our ways, but I've loved these days. Now, as we indulge in things refined, we hide our hearts from harder times. A string of pearls,a foreign car...we can only go so far on caviar and cabrinet. We drown our doubts in dry champagne, and sooth our souls with fine cocaine. I don't know why I even care. We get so high and get nowhere. We'll have to change our jaded ways,,,So before we end and then begin we'll drink a toast to how it's been. A few more hours to be complete. A few more nights on satin sheets. A few more times that I can say I've loved these days „ - 4
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
“ Meaningful ,descriptive lyrics: Some people like to get away. Take a holiday from the neighborhood. Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood. But I'm taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line. I'm in a New York state of mind. I've seen all the movie stars in their fancy cars and their limousines. Been high in the Rockies, under the evergreens...It was so easy living day by day, out of touch with the rhythym and blues. But now I need a little give and take. The New Tork Times, The Daily News. It comes down to reality and it's fine with me cause I've let it slide. Don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside. I don't have any reasons, I've left them all behind. „ - 5
YOU CAN MAKE ME FREE
“ Tender, descriptive, romantic lyrics: You can make me free. You can make me smile. You can make me be like a little child. You can melt the ice that chills my body...You can make the lonely hours disappear...You can make me see, so open up my eyes. Don't you know my only real moments are the ones I spend with you...I can take to the skies, I can soar like a bird with it's heart full of song. Won't you color my eyes? I've been waiting so long...You can make it so much better if you would only try. And if I must wait a lonely lifetime...I will wait but you'll be what I'm dreaming of! „ - 6
AN INNOCENT MAN
“ Tender, passionate, meaningful lyrics: Some people stay far away from the door if there's a chance of it opening up. They hear a voice in the hall outside and hope that it just passes by. Some people live with the fear of a touch and the anger of having been a fool. They will not listen to anyone so nobody tells them a lie. I know you're only protecting yourself. I know you're thinking of somebody else, someone who hurt you. But I'm not above making up for the love you've been denying you could ever feel. I'm not above doing anything to restore your faith if I can. Some people see through the eyes of the old before they ever got a look at the the young. I'm only willing to hear you cry because I am an innocent man. Some people say they will never believe another promise they hear in the dark because they only remember too well they heard somebody tell them before. Some people sleep all alone every night instead of taking a lover to bed. Some people find that it's easier to hate than to wait anymore. I know you don't want to hear what I say. I know you're going to keep turning away. But I've been there and if I can survive, I can keep you alive, I'm not above going through it again. I'm not above being cool for awhile, if you're cruel to me I'll understand. Some people run from a possible fight, some people figure they can never win. And although this is a fight I can lose the accused is an innocent man....Some people hope for a miracle drug, some people just accept the world as it is! „ - 7
UNTIL THE NIGHT
“ Tender, meaningful, romantic lyrics: I never ask you where you go, after I leave you in the morning. We go our different ways to seperate situations. It's not that easy any more. Today I do what must be done. I give my time to total strangers. But now it feels as though the day goes on forever more than it ever did before...Until the night, I just might make it...Until the night, when I see you again. Now you're afraid that we have changed and I'm afraid we're getting older. So many broken hearts. So many lonely faces. So many lovers come and gone. I'll have my fears like every man. You'll have your tears like every woman. Today we'll be unsure, is this what we believe in? And wonder how can we go on?...When the sun goes down and the day is over, when the last of the light has gone. As they pour into the street, I will be getting closer. As the cars turn their headlights on, as they closin' it down I'm gonna open it up and while they're going to sleep, we'll just be starting to touch. I'm just beginning to feel, I'm just beginning to give, I'm just beginning to feel, I'm just beginning to live.. Before I leave you again. Before the light of the dawn. Before this evening can end. I have been waiting so long...I'll just keep holding on.... „ - 8
SCENES FROM AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT
“ Meaningful, descriptive lyrics: A bottle or red, a bottle of white, perhaps a bottle of rose instead. We'll get a table near the street in our old familiar place. You and I, face to face....Things are okay with me these days. Got a good job. Got a good office. I got a new wife, got a new life, and the family's fine. We lost touch long ago. You lost weight, I did not know you could ever look so nice after so much time. I remember those days hanging out at the village green. Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans. Drop a dime in the box play the song about New Orleans. Cold beer, hot lights, my sweet romantic teenage nights! Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadys and the king and the queen at the prom. Riding around with the car top down and the radio on, nobody looked any finer...We never knew we could want more than that out of life. Surely Brenda and Eddie would always know hot to survive. Brenda and Eddie were still going steady in the summer of '75 when they decided the marriage would be at the end of July. Everyone said they were crazy. Brenda you know you're much too lazy and Eddie could never afford to live that kind of life. But there we were waving Brenda and Eddie goodbye! They got an apartment with deep pile carpets and a couple of paintings from Sears. A big waterbed that they bought with the bread they had saved for a couple of years. They started to fight when the money got tight and they just didn't count on the tears...Rock and Roll! Well they lived for a while in a very nice style but it's all ways the same in the end. They got a divorce as a matter of course and they parted the closest of friends. then the king and the queen went back to the green, but you can never go back there again. Brenda and Eddie had had it already by the summer of '75. From the high to the low to the end of the show for the rest of their lives. They couldn't go back to the greasers. The best they could do is pick up their pieces. We always knew they would both find a way to get by. That's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie. Can't tell you more cause I told you already. „ - 9
EVERYBODY LOVES YOU NOW
“ Meaningfull,descriptivelyrics :Baby,all the lights are turned on you. Now you are in the center of the stage. Everything revolves on what you do. You are in your prime you've come of age and you can always have your way somehow. But everybody loves you now. You can walk away from your mistakes. You can turn your back on what you do. Just a little smile is all it takes. You can have your cake and eat it too! Loneliness will get to you somehow...They all want your white body...but...so do I. All the people want to know your name. Soon there will be lines outside your door. Feelings do not matter in your game...cause nothing's gonna touch you anymore...Close your eyes when you don't want to see. Stay at home when you don't want to go. Only speak to those who will agree...And close your mind when you don't want to know. You have lost your innocence somehow...You know that nothing lasts forever and it's all been done before...This is what you wanted, ain't you proud? Cause everybody loves you now! „ - 10
CAPTAIN JACK
“ Descriptive, meaningful lyrics: Saturday night and you're still hanging around. You're tired of living in your one horse town. You'd like to find a little hole in the ground for a while. So you go to the village in your tie-dyed jeans and you stare at the junkies and the closet queens. It's like some pornographic magazine and you smile. But Captain Jack will get you high tonight and take you to your special island. Captain Jack will get you by tonight. Just a little push and you'll be smilin'. Your sisters gone out, she's on a date, and you just sit at home and masturbate. Your phone is gonna ring soon, but you just can't wait for that call! So you stand on the corner in your new English clothes and you look so polished from your hair down to your toes. But still your finger's gonna pick your nose after all. So you decide to take a holiday...but there ain't no place to go anyway. And what for? So you've got everything, but nothing's cool. They just found your father in the swimming pool, and you guess you won't be going back to school any more. So you play your albums and you smoke your pot. And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot. But still you're aching for the things you haven't got, what went wrong? And if you can't understand why your world is so dead and why you've got to keep in style and feed yor head. Well, you're 21 and still your mother makes your bed and that's too long! „ - 11
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
“ Tender, romantic lyrics: Don't go changing to try and please me you never let me down before. Don't imagine you're too familiar and I don't see you anymore. I would not leave you in times of trouble, we never could have come this far...You always have my unspoken passion although I might not seem to care...I don't want clever conversation, I never want to work that hard...I said I love you and that's forever! „ - 12
PIANO MAN
“ Descriptive lyrics: There's an old man sitting next to me making love to his tonic and gin, He says son can you play me a memory...And the waitress is practicing politics as the businessmen slowly get stoned, Yes, they're sharing a drink they call lonliness but it's better than drinking alone....And the piano it sounds like a carnival and the microphone smells like a beer and they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say man what are you doing here? „ - 13
YOU LOOK SO GOOD TO ME
“ Romantic lyrics: Ahh, you look so good to me. With my eyes open wide, I can see...Feeling the glory from that smile upon your face, it's liftin' me high above my ordinary place. And I am so happy when I'm in your warm embrace...And who knows what your next move will be? „ - 14
A MATTER OF TRUST
“ Meaningful ,descriptive lyrics: Some love is just a lie of the heart. The core remains of what began with a passionate start and they may not want it to end but it's really just a question of when. I've lived long enough to have learned the closer you get to the fire. the more you get burned...Now I know you're an emotional girl. It took a lot for you to not lose your faith in this world. But I can't offer you proof, but you're going to face a moment of truth. It's hard when you're always afraid,you just recover when another belief is betrayed. So break my heart if you must. It's a matter of trust. You can't go the distance with too much resistance. I know you have doubts but for God's sake don't shut me out. This time you got nothing to lose. You can take it, you can leave it, whatever you choose...I'll walk away a fool or a king. Some love is just a lie of the mind. It's make believe until it's only a matter of time. And some might have learned to adjust, but then it never was a matter of trust. I'm sure you're aware love we've both had our share of believing too long when the whole situation was wrong. Some love is just a lie of the soul. A constant battle for the ultimate state of control. After you've heard lie upon lie, there can hardly be a question of why? „ - 15
GOT TO BEGIN AGAIN
“ Tender, meaningful lyrics: Well, so here I am at the end of the road. Where do I go from here? I always figured it would be like this, still nothing seems to be quite clear. All the words have been spoken and the prophecy fulfilled but I just can't decide where to go.... I've got to begin again though I don't know hot to start...and it's hard. Well, it's been quite a while since I lifted my head and I'm sure the light will hurt my eyes. I see the way that I been spendin' my days and reality has caught me by surprise. I was dreamin' of tomorrow so I sacrificed today and it sure was a grand waste of time. And despite all the truth that's been thrown in my face, I still can't get you out of my mind. „ - 16
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
“ Meaningful lyrics: You Catholic girls start much too late...but sooner or later it comes down to fate, I might as well be the one Well they showed you a statue, told you to pray, built you a temple and locked you away but they never told you the price thay you pay for things that you might have done...You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd, we ain't too pretty we ain't too proud, WE MIGHT BE LAUGHING A BIT TOO LOUD,BUT THAT NEVER HURT NO ONE.. Virginia they didn't give you quite enough information and they say there's a heaven for those who will wait, Some say it's better but I say it ain't I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, cause sinners are much more fun...You said your mother told you that all I could give you was a reputation, she never cared for me, but did she ever say a prayer for me? „ - 17
MODERN WOMAN
“ Descriptive lyrics: with her high top sneakers of Italian desigh. With a long cool stare she aggravates the tension. Makes up her face while she makes up her mind. Now you're in trouble. Maybe she's an intellectual. What if she figures out you're not very smart? Or maybe she's the quiet type who's into heavy metal.. Boy, you've got to get it settled cause she's breaking your heart. Don't try to put on act. You can't do that to a modern woman. You're an old fashioned man,she understands the things you're doin'....She looks sleek and seems so professional. She's got a lot of confidence it's easy to see! You want to make a move but you feel so inferior cause under that exterior is someone who's free! She's got sytle, she's got her own money, so she's not another honey you can quickly disarm. She's got the eyes that make you realize she won't be hypnotized by your usual charm! You've got your plan of attack that won't attract the modern woman...Time goes by and you're sharing an apartment. She says she loves you but she doesn't know why...But times have changed, things are not the same...You overcame such a bad attitude. Rock and roll just used to be for kicks, and nowadays it's politics. And after 1986 what else could be new? You got to learn to rerlax and face the facts of modern woman! You got the casual hip that don't mean zip „ - 18
PRELUDE/ANGRY YOUNG MAN
“ Meaningful lyrics: There's a place in the world for the angry young man. With his working class ties, and his radical plans. He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl, and he's allways at home with his back to the wall. And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost. And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross. And he likes to be known as an angry young man! Give a moment or two to the angry young man with his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand. He's been stabbed in the back. He's been misunderstood. It's a comfort to know his intentions are good. And he sits in a room with a lock on the door with his maps and his medals laid out on the floor...I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage. I found that just surviving was a noble fight. I once believed in causes too. I had my pointless point of view and life went on no matter who was wrong or right...With his fist in the air and his head in the sand. And he's never been able to learn from mistakes so he can't understand why his heart always breaks. And his honor is pure and his courage as well and he's fair and he's true and he's boring as hell! And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man! „ - 19
CLOSER TO THE BORDERLINE
“ Descriptive,meaningful,passionate lyrics: Blackout. Heat wave. .44 caliber homicide. The bums drop dead and the dogs go mad in packs on the west side. The young girl standing on a ledge looks like another suicide. She wants to hit those bricks 'cause the news at six gotta stick to a deadline. While the millionaires hide in Beekman Place. The bag ladies throw their bones in my face. I get attacked by a kid with stereo sound. I don't want to hear it, but he won't turn it down! Life is tough, but it's just enough to hold back the tears until it's closing time.. I survived, I'm still alive, but I'm getting closer to the borderline...A buck three eighty won't buy you much lately on the street these days. And when you can't get gas you know you can't drive fast anymore on the parkways. Rich man, poor man, either way, American! Shoved into the lost and found. The no nukes yell we're gonna all go to hell with the next big meltdown! I got remote control and a color tv. I don't change channels so they must change me! I got real close friends that are getting me high. They don't know how to talk and they ain't gonna try. I shouldn't bitch, I shouldn't cry. I'd start a revolution but I don't have time! I don't know why I'm still a nice guy...I thaught I'd sacrifice so many things. I thaught I'd throw them all away . I didn't think I needed anything. But you can't afford to squander what you're not prepared to pay. „ - 20
THE ENTERTAINER
“ Meaningful lyrics: I am the entertainer and I know just where I stand. Another serenader and another long-haired band. Today I am your champion. I may have won your hearts. But I know the game. You will forget my name and I won't be here in another year if I don't stay on the charts. I am the entertainer and I've had to pay my price. The things I did not know at first, I learned by doing twice...But still they come to haunt me. Still they want their say. So I've learned to dance with a hand in my pants. And they rub my neck and I write 'em a check and they go their merry way...Been all around the world. I've played all kinds of palaces and laid all kinds of girls. I can't remember faces. I don't remember names...I've got to meet expenses. I've got to stay in line. Gotta get those fees to the agencies...You've heard my latest record. It's been on the radio. Ah, it took me years to write it. They were the best years of my life. It was a beautiful song but it ran too long. If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit-so they cut it down to 3:05...But if I go cold I won't get sold. I'll get put in the back in the discount rack like another can of beans. „ - 21
TURN AROUND
“ Tender, meaningful, romantic lyrics: Oh sweet lady, runnin' like a stream. You don't look back because you know you're hands are clean. You make believe the past was just a dream...Turn around...And I will sing for you a song. I don't know where you been but you've been gone too long. Oh Elisa you must begin again. And all the roads that you have walked are comin' to an end. I was your lover but I thaught I was your friend. I loved you, but I thaught I was your friend...Maybe you will find a little time to think of me. Won't you please remember what I tried so hard to be. Yeah, remember what I tried so hard to be. „ - 22
ROSALINDA'S EYES
“ Meaningful, descriptive, tender lyrics: I play nights in the spanish part of town. I've got music in my hands. Work is hard to find but that don't get me down. Rosalinda understands. Crazy latin dancing solo down in Herald Square. Oh, Havana I've been searching for you everywhere. And though I'll never be there, I know what I would see there, I can always find my Cuban skies in Rosalinda's eyes.. When she smiles she gives everything to me. When she's all alone, she cries. And I'd do anything to take away her tears because they're Rosalinda's eyes. Senorita don't be lonely. I will soon be there...I've got a chance to make it. It's time for me to take it. I'll return before the fire dies in Rosalinda's eyes. All alone in a puerto rican band. union wages, wedding clothes. Hardly anyone has seen how good I am but Rosalinda says she knows! „ - 23
HALF A MILE AWAY
“ Descriptive, meaningful lyrics: Little Geo is a friend of mine. We get sdome money and we buy a cheap wine. Sit on the corner and have a holiday. Hide the bottle when the cop goes by. Talk about woman and lie, lie, lie. Oh, my other world is just a half a mile away. Wait for mama to turn out the lights. Crawl on the roof and then I hit the night. I should be sleeping but tonight I just can't stay. I've given everybody so much time now I need a moment that's mine!...Angelina save a place for me. I've been livin' someone else's life and now I've got to be free...I try to keep the family satisfied but there's gotta be more to life than just try, try, try! „ - 24
SHE'S GOT A WAY
“ Tender lyrics: but there doesn't have to be a reason anyway. She's oot a smile that heals me...I don't know why it is but it lifts me up when we are walking anywhere. She comes to me when I'm feeling down, inspires me... „ - 25
THE RIVER OF DREAMS
“ Descriptive, meaningful lyrics: In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep. From the mountains of faith to the river so deep. I must be looking for something. something sacred I lost...I've been searching for something taken out of my soul, something I'd never lose, something somebody stole. I don't know why I go walking at night...I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life until I finally find what I've been looking for...through the jungle of doubt...I know I'm searching for something, something so undefined that it can only be seen by the eyes of the blind...I'm not sure about a life after this. God knows I've never been a spiritual man...We all end in the oceann. We all start in the streams. We're all carried along by the river of dreams! „
items 1 - 25 of 120
rerank this list your way embed list
what's a rerank? today on Ranker
start a list with results
close sorting window
Rank Name
use the search box to filter your list
leave a comment
The Best Billy Joel Songs at 1/30/2012 1:30 PM