The first episode of a two-part documentary, "Billy Joel: And So It Goes," dropped on HBO this week. Bill Maher interviewed the Piano Man about the project on his "Club Random" podcast, and they ultimately got around to the topic of wokeism.
I'll get to that in a minute, but first, let's talk about the documentary. I'm a huge Billy Joel fan, and even saw him in concert in Cleveland last fall with my colleague Matt Margolis. My earliest memory of his music dates back to 8th-grade music class in 1978. My teacher (who turned out to be a pedophile... but that's a story for another day) played "My Life" for the class, and I was hooked.
So much of his music has been about rebellion and pushing back against authority and conventions. In the documentary, it becomes clear that it wasn't just some schtick to sell records. It's who he is. Many of the songs were written in response to the events unfolding in his life at the time. "You May Be Right" came about at a time in life when he was drinking heavily, using drugs, and riding his motorcycle recklessly. "You May Be Right" is his critique of the music industry and its efforts to pigeonhole him into the latest fad.
This era of the late 70s was marked by vibrant experimentation in music, and Joel was at the forefront, challenging societal norms and expectations through his lyrics. His collaboration with producer Phil Ramone during this period was instrumental in refining his sound, leading to a polished yet rebellious style that defined his work. “Only the Good Die Young,” although met with some controversy, is a testament to Joel’s fearless exploration of themes and his commitment to honest storytelling.
You need to watch the documentary to really get a sense of how hard Joel pushed back against producers and engineers who wanted to change his sound, his image, and his New York City vibe. It was a gamble that eventually paid off and led to his phenomenal success as an artist.
So it's no surprise that he's no fan of wokeism.
During the interview, Maher brought up Joel's song "Goodnight Saigon" and the pushback Joel has received over the years for not taking a stand on the Vietnam War.
"And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn't matter in the thick of the fight," Maher said, quoting the lyrics. "Do you still feel that way?"
"Yes," Joel replied.
"And you don’t care what they say about you, the woke?" Maher asked.
"At this point, no," Joel said. "It just always surprises me how people, they express this hatred. It’s like, you hate a musician because he wrote something?"
“On the other hand, I’m always trying to find out the other point of view. What’s, you know, not my point of view – somebody else’s point of view. Okay, I’d like to understand why they think that way," he added.
“It’s so difficult in this day and age,” Maher agreed.
Joel is not particularly known for his politics, and unlike many of his peers, he doesn't lecture audiences about pet issues at his concerts. At the concert I attended last year, he was all about the music, unlike Rod Stewart, who opened for Joel and harangued the audience at length about Ukraine.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2019, Joel stated that he was not a "a big fan" of Donald Trump, but "to be fair, I don’t have a lot of insight into him."
When discussing Trump's presidency, Joel didn't exactly go off the rails: "I think maybe this was the shock that we needed to shake people out of lethargy. Maybe this was something that should have happened to wake people up and make people realize, 'Hey, something like this can actually happen.' Because before he got elected we didn’t think this could happen."
Asked if he would get involved in the 2020 election, he said, "I don’t think I’m going to be politically involved. I find a lot of people resent celebrities touting their candidate. That can actually turn more people off than it can bring more people in. I admire people like Springsteen, who gets up there and touts a candidate. He’s a citizen and he has a right to do that. My experience has always been that people resent it when they go to see you do a show and you get up on a soapbox and spout politics."
What a novel concept, not saying or doing things that will alienate half of your audience! It's a refreshing attitude in this day and age of vapid, self-absorbed celebrities fashioning themselves as experts in politics and lecturing the rest of us about how evil we all are
Joel, 76, has had to cancel his recent concerts after being diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain condition that affects his hearing, vision, and balance. He's reportedly undergoing physical therapy to aid in his recovery. I hope we'll get see see more from him in the coming years.
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