{"id":36349,"date":"2024-02-01T03:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=36349"},"modified":"2024-02-03T15:13:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T15:13:57","slug":"billy-joel-is-back-for-an-encore-%e2%88%92-but-why-did-he-wait-so-long-to-turn-the-lights-back-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/billy-joel-is-back-for-an-encore-%e2%88%92-but-why-did-he-wait-so-long-to-turn-the-lights-back-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Joel is back for an encore \u2212 but why did he wait so long to turn the lights back\u00a0on?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ryan Raul Ba\u00f1agale<\/a>, Colorado College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the flip of a digital switch, Billy Joel fans have their first new song in 15 years, \u201cTurn the Lights Back On<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has all the markers of a classic Joel ballad: the rhythm and rolling chords of \u201cShe\u2019s Always a Woman<\/a>,\u201d the plea to accept someone \u201cJust the Way You Are<\/a>,\u201d the percussive bass and snare of \u201cThe Downeaster \u2018Alexa<\/a>.\u2019\u201d There\u2019s even a lick in the piano solo some may recall from \u201cScenes from an Italian Restaurant<\/a>\u201d \u2013 much slower, yes, but we should all be so lucky to be making new music into our 70s. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hexZ5hwia08?wmode=transparent&start=0 The official lyric video for Billy Joel\u2019s \u2018Turn the Lights Back On.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does it all add up to? Does this mean that Billy Joel is back? Did he ever go away?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my scholarship, I explore the legacy of musicians<\/a> \u2013 how their music reverberates and transforms over time, long after the works themselves came into the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes Joel such an interesting case study is his active role in shaping the life of music that he composed long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, the legacy of an artist of Joel\u2019s stature comes into view after they pass away. But Joel has been in the \u201clegacy making\u201d phase of his career longer than the entirety of many other musician\u2019s careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative hibernation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Between 1970 and 1993, Joel released a new album every 12 to 16 months, composing more than 120 songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he hasn\u2019t released a new album of popular music since 1993\u2019s \u201cRiver of Dreams.\u201d That album concluded with a song titled \u201cFamous Last Words<\/a>,\u201d a straightforward rock song with a chorus that repeatedly intones, \u201cThese are the last words I have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a distance, his fans came to understand this as a retirement from churning out hit albums. Since then, Joel \u2013 as timeless as some of his songs might be \u2013 has largely been an artist locked in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though he long ago quit recording new music, Joel has continued to fill stadiums. He toured \u201cFace to Face\u201d with Elton John for several years, and in 2014 he began a monthly residency at Madison Square Garden. That run will conclude when he plays his 150th performance<\/a> in the iconic venue in July 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Billy Joel and Ray Charles share a laugh in 1993, the year Joel released \u2018River of Dreams,\u2019 his most recent album of new music. Ron Galella\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These continual live performances have both extended the longevity of his songs and have allowed new generations to discover and enjoy his back catalog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s sold more than 150 million albums<\/a>. Box sets, anthologies and special collector\u2019s editions have long been a way to maintain and capitalize on an artist\u2019s legacy \u2013 look no further than the steady line of 50th anniversary reissues released by The Beatles<\/a>. In the absence of new music, Columbia Records has worked to maintain Joel\u2019s presence by releasing Joel\u2019s \u201cGreatest Hits: Volume III\u201d (1997) and \u201cMy Lives\u201d (2005).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A star\u2019s last hurrah?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s 2024, and Joel has been creatively dormant longer than he was active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s he doing with \u201cTurn the Lights Back On\u201d? Could a new compilation be in the works?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve written elsewhere<\/a> about the arrangement of Joel\u2019s life and career through greatest hits compilations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To encourage the purchase of these compilations, they\u2019re usually accompanied by the release of new material, whether it\u2019s something from the archives that never made it onto one of his prior albums, or \u2013 on special occasions \u2013 a brand-new song<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in a streaming era replete with accessible and customizable playlists<\/a>, promoting a forthcoming album doesn\u2019t seem to be the motivation here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather, Joel seems to be taking a cue from The Beatles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last November, they released \u201cNow and Then<\/a>,\u201d which was marketed as \u201cthe last Beatles song.\u201d One month later, Joel wryly suggested during a Madison Square Garden residency concert that he might have something in the pipeline. The news spread via his first-ever post to TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some ways, like \u201cNow and Then,\u201d the release of \u201cTurn the Lights Back On\u201d is a once-in-a-lifetime event \u2013 particularly for his younger fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, for millions of people this will be the first time many will have ever had the privilege of hearing a new song by an artist they\u2019ve long admired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the teaser video announcing this new song<\/a> on Jan. 22, 2024, you literally see Joel turn the page for this next chapter in his career. If you pay close attention, the page he flips is a waterlogged set of lyrics for \u201cFamous Last Words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s making good on the promise of the lyrics from that song: \u201cThere will be other words some other day, Ain\u2019t that the story of my life?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the 1990s, he got out of the business of making records because he was in a rut<\/a>. It\u2019s possible that the years hence haven\u2019t been as fulfilling as he\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does \u201cTurn the Lights Back On\u201d hint at what comes next? Is this Joel ready to share new music with the world again? Or is it a wistful plea from a baby boomer artist to be remembered as his star dims?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps trying to derive meaning is beside the point. As he declares toward the end of the song, \u201cI\u2019m here right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe that\u2019s all any of his fans can ask for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Raul Ba\u00f1agale<\/a>, Associate Professor and Chair of Music, Colorado College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Raul Ba\u00f1agale, Colorado College With the flip of a digital switch, Billy Joel fans have their first new song in 15 years, \u201cTurn the Lights Back On.\u201d It has all the markers of a classic Joel ballad: the rhythm and rolling chords of \u201cShe\u2019s Always a Woman,\u201d the plea to accept someone \u201cJust the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":36350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,8025],"tags":[4132,7587,11906,641,53,15134,6418,592,2121],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36364,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36349\/revisions\/36364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}