Billy Joel never forgot the music that influenced him in his younger days. In fact, he’s always been much more candid than many of his peers when it comes to giving credit to the influences of his various songs.
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On “Keeping The Faith”, released in 1983, he once again paid homage to the music that enriched him. While doing so, he also shone a spotlight on other important experiences of his formative years.
“Faith” Healing
Billy Joel needed something lighter after The Nylon Curtain. While the 1982 album proved a resounding critical and commercial success, it was an arduous recording process. During the making of the record, Joel underwent a divorce and suffered a serious motorcycle accident.
Freshly single and enjoying dating again in the wake of that record, Joel started feeling a bit carefree for the first time in a while. That caused him to remember the lighthearted songs of his youth. He wanted to make his next album an homage to that music and the invigorating feeling the songs engendered.
On most of the songs on An Innocent Man, Joel picked out a specific influence to honor. For example, “Uptown Girl” was based on the work of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, while “Tell Her About It” calls to mind Motown groups like The Temptations.
“Keeping The Faith”, however, took a slightly different approach. Joel used a specific song, “Clean Up Woman” by Bettye Thomas from 1972, as a jumping-off point. As for the lyrics, he used them to sum up his sudden infatuation with both the oldies and the more innocent times that they represented to him.
A Deep Dive into the Lyrics of “Keeping The Faith”
Joel uses the opening verse of “Keeping The Faith” to preemptively strike at critics who might have wondered about his sudden focus on all things retro. “Then you should have known me much better,” he sneers. “’Cause the past is somethin’ that never got in my way.”
But he willingly admits that the music from those days changed his life. “’Cause I never felt the desire,” he testifies. “’Til their music set me on fire/And then I was saved, yeah.” At that point, Joel launches into the details of his teenage years: the clothes, the cars, and the girls. And, of course, the music.
In some cases, all these things intertwine: “I thought I was the Duke of Earl/When I made it with a red-haired girl in a Chevrolet.” Lessons are learned along the way, the ones you don’t get in school: “I found you could dance and still look tough anyway.”
By the time the final verse comes along, Joel is through explaining himself. He indulges in a beer as a reward for his efforts. And he signs off secure in the knowledge that old music is always available to him. “I’m going to listen to my 45’s,” he says. “Ain’t it wonderful to be alive when the rock’n’roll plays.”
An Innocent Man proved that Joel could be just as effective without cutting so deeply into himself for song material. And “Keeping The Faith” made it difficult to judge what was sharper: his memory or his taste in music.
Photo by Calle Hesslefors/ullstein bild via Getty Images
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