3 Billy Joel Songs From the 1980s That Every 80s Kid Knows Word for Word Today

Few artists had as much impact on music as Billy Joel. With a career that spans more than 50 years, Joel is the voice behind some of music’s biggest hits, including these three songs. All out in the 1980s, and all written solely by Joel, it’s likely that every 80s kid still knows them word for word today.

“It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me”

Out in 1980 on Joel’s Glass Houses album is “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me”. It remains one of his most notable songs.

“It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” is Joel’s response to the criticism he was receiving for the unique sounds in some of his songs. “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” says, “Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk / It’s still rock and roll to me.”

Joel released several well-known hits before “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me”, including “Piano Man” and “Just The Way You Are”. Still, it’s “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” that became his first No. 1 single. Although he released a total of five singles from Glass Houses, “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” is his only chart-topping single from the record. “Don’t Ask Me Why”, the follow-up single, became a Top 20 hit.

“We Didn’t Start The Fire”

Coming at the end of the decade is “We Didn’t Start The Fire”. Out in 1989, the song is on his Storm Front record. “We Didn’t Start The Fire” was inspired by a conversation with John Lennon’s son, Sean. It name-checks more than 50 notable people, including Doris Day, Marilyn Monroe, Liberace, Mickey Mantle, John Glenn, and more.

“We Didn’t Start The Fire” says, “We didn’t start the fire / It was always burning / Since the world’s been turning / We didn’t start the fire / No, we didn’t light it / But we tried to fight it.”

“Uptown Girl”

On Joel’s An Innocent Man album is “Uptown Girl”. Released as a single in 1983, most people think “Uptown Girl” was written about Christie Brinkley, whom he wed in 1985. But he was casually dating another supermodel, Elle Macpherson, when he wrote “Uptown Girl”. However, by the time the song came out, Joel and Brinkley were romantically involved.

“The fact that I can attract such a beautiful woman as Christie should give hope to every ugly guy in the world!” Joel quips. Brinkley appears in the video for the song.

Joel says he was in a room with Macpherson, Brinkley, and Whitney Houston when he had the idea for what became “Uptown Girl”.

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