# Best Billy Joel Song - Nominations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337 "2013-10-04T10:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/81 "2013-10-05T19:14:40Z")
I’ll second “Captain Jack”. Love the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/82 "2013-10-05T19:25:40Z")
Always A Woman is my top pick. 2nd vote goes to Only The Good Die Young. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/83 "2013-10-05T19:39:11Z")
Miami 2017! sentimental nod for “My Life”. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/84 "2013-10-05T19:43:31Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > _Goodnight, Saigon_… Seconded/Thirded/Fourtheth… whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/85 "2013-10-05T22:34:34Z")
Drewtwo99, you’ve made me listen to some old tracks I hadn’t in a while- thanks. However, I then had to pick a single one out of dozens and dozens of songs, so ::shakes fist angrily:: My nomination is a rather unusual one: Tomorrow is Today, off of Cold Spring Harbor, a song supposedly based off Joel’s suicide note. I’ve since read that that album was edited (or whatever that aspect of it is called; I’m not up on the terminology) poorly and his voice sounded distorted and notably higher than it was, but this actually serves to better emphasize the anger and despair behind the lyrics. It’s pretty darned powerful. And my seconding goes to Only The Good Die Young. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/86 "2013-10-06T04:30:48Z")
In listening to many of these amazing songs once again, I remain astonished that Joel doesn’t rate his own voice highly. I remember driving up to college (so this would’ve been in the late 1980s) listening to an interview with him on WNEW where he said he didn’t consider himself a singer. But listen to “Vienna” or “Only the Good Die Young” or “An Innocent Man” or “Through the Long Night” and you hear a guy who can make his voice sound bluesy or rough/rocker or doo-wop or just plain sweet. Maybe he was just being humble or modest. IMHO he’s got one of the most listenable voices in pop/rock, even if it lacks the technical prowess and beauty of… I dunno, singers like Ian Gillan, Jack Bruce or Stevie Wonder. Joel has an extremely effective voice no matter what genre he sings in, which is rare. Guy can sell a song, is what I’m saying. > [@dalej42](#): > > Happy to see a very strong vote for **Pressure** , great song. It is also one of the very first videos played on MTV. Welll… MTV premiered in August '81, and “Pressure” was a 1982 song. The video’s premiere was in September '82. So it’s a pretty early video but I wouldn’t call it one of the first. (Unless you mean one of the first Joel videos, in which case, that’s probably true.) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/87 "2013-10-06T09:50:46Z")
I’m gonna be obscure and nominate\*\* I’ve Loved These Days\*\*. Seconding NYSOM. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/88 "2013-10-06T10:25:01Z")
I remember a few years ago being astonished that Billy Joel was on C-SPAN of all places. He gave a talk complete with piano at The National Press Club. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfUrYiAFyl4) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/89 "2013-10-06T12:31:09Z")
If you have a couple hours to spare, I strongly recommend watching his appearance on _Inside the Actors’ Studio_. It’s all here: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGweYxhOLA) The man really missed his calling as a teacher. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/90 "2013-10-06T12:43:21Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > I’m gonna be obscure and nominate\*\* I’ve Loved These Days\*\*. > > Seconding NYSOM. Seconded. My nomination: Ballad of Billy the Kid ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/91 "2013-10-06T14:11:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m going with [For The Longest Time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_XgQhMPeEQ). Like everyone else I’d heard it a thousand times and then all of a sudden, about two years ago I noticed it was (almost) a capella and I had a new found appreciation for it. If you never noticed it, click the link and turn it up. Not only is it a capella but Joel does all the singing himself despite how it appears in the video. It’s an amazing feat but my vote also goes to **Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.** ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/92 "2013-10-06T15:42:20Z")
I pick Stiletto because no one else did. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/93 "2013-10-06T17:20:17Z")
Piano Man first, We Didn’t Start the Fire second. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337/94 "2013-10-06T19:02:13Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > Drewtwo99, you’ve made me listen to some old tracks I hadn’t in a while- thanks. However, I then had to pick a single one out of dozens and dozens of songs, so ::shakes fist angrily:: My nomination is a rather unusual one: Tomorrow is Today, off of Cold Spring Harbor, a song supposedly based off Joel’s suicide note. I’ve since read that that album was edited (or whatever that aspect of it is called; I’m not up on the terminology) poorly and his voice sounded distorted and notably higher than it was, but this actually serves to better emphasize the anger and despair behind the lyrics. It’s pretty darned powerful. > > And my seconding goes to Only The Good Die Young. Off topic - Yes, _Cold Spring Harbor_ was mastered at the wrong speed. I had that album on an 8-track and Joel sounded like one of the Chipmunks, as if he recorded it while on helium. Joel himself said that when he heard the record, he ripped it off the turntable, ran outside, and threw it down the street like a Frisbee. Years later, it was remastered at the correct speed and re-released. However, Artie Ripp, Joel’s original producer and the legal owner of the master recordings, significantly altered the songs, adding string arrangements where there hadn’t been any originally, and altering drum tracks. “Tomorrow is Today” was one of the songs changed from the original recording. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-billy-joel-song-nominations/670337.md?page=4)