# Does Billy Joel have a bad song that exists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417 "2011-09-06T18:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/81 "2015-02-02T03:50:56Z")
I divide his career into two phases, 70’s piano lounge act and 80’s pop icon, so most anything from around 1981-2 onward I don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/82 "2015-02-02T15:34:04Z")
I’m a pretty big fan yet it didn’t take me more than a nanosecond to come up with \*Easy Money, Tell Her About It, Pressure, \* and the piece of ear crap that is _Captain Jack_. I’ve seen him in concert several times and would see him again in a heartbeat if there was anyone in my life willing to go with me. I had free, \*FREE!\*passes to see him speak at a local theatre (the college I attend owns it and the presentation was directed toward the music students but anyone could attend)and I literally could not get anyone to go. Now that is some hate. He was really smart, and charming and pretty damned funny. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/83 "2015-02-02T20:06:21Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > So sing us a song, you’re the piano man! > Sing us a song tonight. > 'Cause each of our names > Rhyme with our claims to fame > And that is the way that you write And over there’s Phoebe, Itinerant SeaBee, She’ll concrete your runway all night. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/84 "2015-02-02T21:31:48Z")
I thought this thread was a joke. My answer is “all of them.” I don’t even know anyone IRL under the age of 50 who likes him. I do have a pretty lousy association with his music, though. When I was too young to go to school, I would have to go grocery shopping with my mom and it seemed like Billy Joel was constantly on the radio during the ride to the store. His music reminds me of headaches, boredom and being carsick. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/85 "2015-02-03T05:43:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Movin’ Out retroactively destroyed Joel’s entire catalogue. Those of us who had the misfortune to see it can never like him again. It was truly _that_ bad. I saw _Movin’ Out_, and I loved it. Obviously, mileage varies, but yours is the first negative opinion I’ve heard. > [@Turpentine](#): > > I don’t even know anyone IRL under the age of 50 who likes him. I’m about to turn 42. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/86 "2015-02-03T15:26:56Z")
Hate the song “Movin’ Out”, can’t stay in the same room with ack ack ack ack without wanting to throw something hard. 85% of his stuff was popfluff that I’m simply indifferent to. ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/87 "2015-02-06T06:53:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \ > Among his non-good songs is “She’s Always A Woman”, which I found reassuring in that it would be horrifying to have a girlfriend who suddenly metamorphosed into a rabid raccoon. My ex-fiance loved that song. I guess that should have been a red flag about his idea of a healthy relationship… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/88 "2015-02-06T14:08:42Z")
No. If we find one, we use THIS device to retroactively disappear it. > **[Non-existence as punishment : a hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748181)** > > A new technology comes around that allows us to erase people from existence, in the sense that they never existed in the first place. Every time this device is used, there’s no direct evidence of it actually working, because when you erase something... ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/89 "2015-02-06T14:36:08Z")
Don’t forget Wilberforce who’s still in the Air…nah, fuck it, I can’t do it even as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/90 "2015-02-06T14:49:15Z")
The list of good songs would be shorter. Zero. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/91 "2015-02-06T14:59:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > All of them? > > Can’t stand the man or his music. Seconded. Wretched stuff. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/92 "2015-02-06T16:58:12Z")
> [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](#): > > My ex-fiance loved that song. I guess that should have been a red flag about his idea of a healthy relationship… Between that and “Stiletto”, it’s a safe bet that Joel has issues with women. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/93 "2015-02-06T19:18:21Z")
I’m a big Billy Joel fan, but yeah, he wrote some clunkers along the way. As someone upthread said, even Mozart managed that. Here are some that I’d rather not hear again: Don’t Ask Me Why - too la-di-da. Sleeping With the Television On - if you were alive during the late 1970s, you’d already heard more than your fill about the singles-bar scene long before this song came out. Tell Her About It - a boring imitation-Motown song is a lousy attempt at a homage to Motown. A Minor Variation - even the _River of Dreams_ album, which IMHO is his best album, had this one clunker. I always skip past it. There are others, but time to get back to work. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/94 "2015-02-07T00:43:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > All of them? > > Can’t stand the man or his music. He was OK with “Atilla” but since then -------- ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417/95 "2015-02-07T20:10:14Z")
We didn’t start the Fire and New York State of Mind. I never cared for New York State of Mind, but hearing it overplayed in commercials and on New York City scenes on tv makes me stabby. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-billy-joel-have-a-bad-song-that-exists/595417.md?page=4)