Music Monday #5: Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel

"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, but the river is wide, and it's too hard to cross"
- 'The River Of Dreams' - Billy Joel

'Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel' was released in 2004 and serves as another greatest hits album to add to this list.  Despite its release in 2004 it wasn't until 2019 that I bought the album, I have been aware of Billy Joel for as long as I can remember, I honestly can't remember how old I was when I first heard him sing but he holds a place in my heart for many different reasons.  I post on this blog quite a bit about spirituality and about religion, and the politics that centre around both.  Billy Joel for me represents someone who is able to tap into something with their music that channels something deep inside.  The River Of Dreams is my favourite song by Billy, it was written in 1993 and I can't recall how old I was when I first heard it but it stayed with me, and I would find myself singing it from time to time absently.  The lyrics reflect a search for meaning and through the moments of spiritual crisis that I have had in my life that lyric "something sacred I lost" reflects that struggle with wanting to believe but not being able to because of so many things that can just be summed up by saying "life" and leaving it at that.

I'm not religious, I know some people find it surprising when I make that statement but I stand by it because of the literal meaning, to be religious is to follow a religion and I do not follow any religion.  That doesn't mean that I don't have my own beliefs because I do, they just don't conform to the structure of anything that already exists.  I've explored both sides, light and dark, I mentioned the Church of Satan when discussing Marilyn Manson, I have explored this and quite a few others that have presented alternative beliefs and the problem I have with them all is that they inevitably include something somewhere along the way that I don't agree with.  LaVey's Satanism does come pretty close but there are still many things I can't agree with, though I understand the rationale behind those beliefs. 

Again this post and the juxtaposition of Marilyn Manson and Billy Joel represents one of the reasons why curators are needed when it comes to exploring music because at face value they have nothing in common but when you dig deeper they have more in common than you think and it turns out to be quite surprising how compatible they are.  They both make music that seeks to provide answers beyond what you're told to think and feel by society albeit in very different ways.  'We Didn't Start The Fire' serves as one of Billy Joel's more infamous tracks, if not for the fact that very few people can sing it because the lyrics are an inundation of pop culture references that sum up the state of the world.  Nevertheless the song serves as a summary of everything that enrages people, it has inspired parodies including 'We Didn't Start The Flame War' by College Humour that draws parallels between the state of the world depicted by Billy and the state of the Internet as the College Humour writers perceived at the time - both are still as relevant as they were when they were first written.  The original came in 1989 and remains prescient in hindsight with how many issues named in the song that are still problems with the world today.

I like Billy Joel's work not just because it hits a nerve but because Billy himself is a prolific songwriter who has produced 43 albums, 61 singles, and whose work has been covered extensively.  So many songs of his I have seen covered by other artists which only adds to the longevity of the works he has created but he has a tendency to be forgotten and overlooked because of these covers, something which even I have to admit I am guilty of, more than once I have read into songs I love only to find out they were covers of songs he originally wrote and performed.  Nevertheless his work is capable of standing on its own two feet, the genius of his creations speak for themselves.

An honourable mention here goes to 'Storm Front' a Billy Joel album that includes 'And So It Goes' released in 1989 that never made the cut for the very best of compilation but that is understandable given the tone of the latter since the former is slow and sombre, this little gem reflects the genius of Billy Joel and his exquisite ability to strip away gimmicks and cut through.