Billy Joel Is His Own Worst Critic, but There’s One Song He Considers His “Top Song”

Billy Joel has always been very critical of his work. Even now, after such an illustrious career, the man is still chasing more. Furthermore, the singer/songwriter has even criticized his biggest hit of all time, “Piano Man”. However, that is the way most greats live: Never satisfied, and always trying to chart uncharted territory. Billy Joel isn’t all doom and gloom, though. There is one song of his that he truly adores.

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Billy Joel fans seemingly adore every one of his singles, and fans not so deep into Joel seemingly love his most famous tracks. In other words, his music is for everybody, or rather, everybody but him, so it seems. However, in a rare instance, Billy Joel actually stated that he does love one of his songs. And the song to receive such a lucky compliment was his 1989 Top 5 hit, “And So It Goes”.

Billy Joel’s “Top Song”

As stated previously, Billy Joel rarely, if ever, has praised his own work. On the contrary, he has scrutinized his music a handful of times. When Joel appeared on The Howard Stern Show, he surprisingly revealed that “And So It Goes” is his favorite song he’s written.

Concerning the main soundbite of the interview, Joel simply told Stern that “And So It Goes” is “my top song.” Joel disclosed all the musical technicalities as to why this song is his favorite. In short, Joel is enthralled with the tune’s dissonant notes and how they evoke a keen sense of melancholy. Regarding the latter, that is why this song means so much to Joel, because of the melancholy that inspired it. Joel revealed that the song was about an ex-girlfriend.

“[She] didn’t break up with me, but it wasn’t going to work out and it didn’t,” said Joel. “We were mismatched. [She] made it very known that this is not happening.”

Billy Joel’s answer as to why this is his favorite song was not robust or clearly defined, but per his comments, it seems this heartbreak tasted the sweetest and felt the most poetic. So, in essence, it just seems Joel adores this single of his because it captures that sentiment he was feeling perfectly. It’s a sentiment that is artistically and humanely beautiful in all the right ways, and Joel articulated that beauty exquisitely in song. Also, if our opinion is of any importance, we think Joel perfectly captured the sentiment he mentioned.

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