Billy Joel was coming back to his home city to try and recharge a career that had stalled. The city itself was facing hard times of its own. Joel’s imagination ran wild from there to create one of his most memorable songs.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)” plays out like an alternative history, as Joel wonders what would happen if New York City collapsed. When the city faced actual catastrophe, Joel’s song, which also captures the resilience of the city’s citizens, proved both relevant and resonant.
On “Broadway”
Billy Joel never felt all that comfortable using Los Angeles as his base of operations. Considering the success of so many other singer-songwriters on the West Coast in the early to mid-70s, the move was understandable. But it wasn’t long before he was longing to get back to his New York City haunts.
Just as Joel contemplated his return, New York City was reeling. Crime was running rampant, and the city was struggling to pay its bills. When city officials asked the federal government for a bailout, they were denied in unceremonious fashion.
Those headlines started to play about Joel’s mind, and he began to muse upon a kind of science fiction plot where New York is completely waylaid. Questions began to pop up. How might those scenes play out? And what would happen to those who made it out of the city in time?
Joel’s 1976 album Turnstiles, which he self-produced, arrived in 1976, with “Miami 2017” delivering as the ideal closing track. Some 25 years later, after 9/11, Joel performed the song in front of the grieving crowds at The Concert For New York City. Somehow, the tales of devastation played as uplifting, especially when evidence of the indefatigable spirit of the city’s citizens shone through in the lyrics.
Exploring the Lyrics of “Miami 2017” by Billy Joel
Billy Joel tells the story of “Miami 2017” through the lens of an old-timer who, like others forced to hightail it out of town, headed to Florida. But he remembers the fateful day, as the refrain makes clear: “I’ve seen the lights go out on Broadway.” He recounts the events with a mixture of nostalgia, sorrow, and wry humor.
And he makes sure to detail how the New Yorkers, even in the face of calamity, remained defiant and proud. Nearly driven from a celebratory farewell concert, they keep singing: “They turned our power down/And drove us underground/But we went right on with the show.”
He notes how the chaos wasn’t all that unlike the norm in the city. “We’d seen it all the time on 42nd Street,” he shrugs. Harlem burning doesn’t faze the denizens either. A union strike ruins the chances of escape for many citizens. But at least the sports heroes get a pass: “They sent a carrier out from Norfolk/To pick the Yankees up for free,”
In the final verse, Billy Joel’s tone turns from sarcastic to elegiac, and the music softens to match him. He still has a one-liner or two to spare, as he notes how the Mafia moved South of the border to continue their operations. But there’s something quite moving about how he wraps it up. The old geezer explains the importance of passing down the tale. Why? “To tell the world about/The way the lights went out/And keep the memory alive.”
At the time of its release, Turnstiles was considered a bit of a flop. Many Joel fans now revere it as one of his finest albums. It certainly contains one of his greatest closing songs in “Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)”. It’s a track that honors the charms and foibles of New York City by imagining it all being taken away.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.