Billy Joel’s last came out with a new song about three decades ago. That was until this month, when Joel released the oh so appropriately named “Turn The Lights Back On.”
Shortly after the release of the song, he released the first official video for the song. Much like the Rolling Stones latest release, the video uses AI technology to show Joel through the ages singing the song. The video starts out with Joel flipping through a pad of paper that had the lyrics of “Famous Last Words,” the last track of his last album.
The biggest surprise is that Joel did not actually write the song. It was written by Freddy Wexler. But after a lot of leg work by Wexler’s wife, she managed to arrange a meeting between the two songwriters. When Joel saw Wexler’s song, it sparked the flame anew and the rest, as they say is history. But if you listen to the words without knowing who actually did write it, one could swear it was all Joel. It just matches his style so perfectly.
I have been a Joel fan for my whole life. The best concert I saw was Joel and Elton John touring together in the late 1990s. So with the imagery of the video, the impact of the words and the soul returning to Joel’s voice, it took me back through time as well as a smile to my face and, yes, maybe a tiny tear to my eye. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.
