William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949 in the Bronx, New York) is a globally-recognized pianist, singer and songwriter. A 6-time Grammy award winner, he is one of the best selling artists in music history.

Sourced

• Don't take any shit from anybody!
  • After singing "Piano Man" at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, (25 February 2006), also used as farewell comment to the audience after every show.

Cold Spring Harbor

• She's got a way about her
  I don't know what it is.
  But I know that I can't live without her.
  She's got a way of pleasin'
  I don't know what it is
  But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway.
  • She's Got a Way

• She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
  Inspires me without a sound
  She touches me and I get turned around.
  • She's Got a Way

• You can walk away from your mistakes
  You can turn your back on what you do
  Just a little smile is all it takes
  And you can have your cake and eat it too.
  Loneliness will get to you somehow
  But ev'rybody loves you now.
  • Everybody Loves You Now

Piano Man

• Sing us a song you're the piano man
  Sing us a song tonight.
  Well we're all in the mood for a melody
  And you've got us feeling alright.
  • Piano Man

• It's nine o' clock on a Saturday
  Regular crowd shuffles in
  There's an old man sitting next to me
  Making love to his tonic and gin.
  • Piano Man

• And the waitress is practicing politics
  As the businessmen slowly get stoned
  Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
  But it's better than drinking alone.
  • Piano Man

• If I traveled all my life
  And I never get to stop and settle down
  Long as I have you by my side
  There's a roof above and good walls all around
  You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome
  I need you in my house 'cause you're my home.
  • You're My Home

• From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
  Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
  And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time
  East and west of the Rio Grande.
  Well, he started with a bank in Colorado
  In the pocket of his vest a Colt he hid.
  And his age and his size took the teller by surprise,
  And the word spread of Billy the Kid.
  • The Ballad of Billy the Kid

• So you play your albums and you smoke your pot
  And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot
  Oh, but still you're aching for the things you haven't got,
  What went wrong?
  And if you can't understand why your world is so dead
  And why you've got to keep in style and feed your head
  Well, you're twenty one and still you mother makes your bed
  And that's too long.
  • Captain Jack

Streetlife Serenade

• Streetlife serenaders
  Have no obligations
  Hold no grand illusions
  Need no stimulation.
  • Streetlife Serenaders

• Hiding up in the mountains
  Laying low in the canyons
  Goin' nowhere in the streets
  With the Spanish names
  Makin' love with the natives
  In their Hollywood places
  Making up for all the time gone by
  Los Angelenos
  All came from somewhere.
  • Los Angelenos

• I am the entertainer and I know just where I stand
  Another serenader and another long haired band
  Today I am your champion, I may have won your hearts,
  But I know the game, you'll forget my name,
  And I won't be here in another year
  If I don't stay on the charts.
  • The Entertainer

• I am the entertainer, I've come to do my show
  You've heard my latest record, it's been on the radio
  It took me years to write it, they were the best years of my life
  It was a beautiful song but it ran too long
  If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit
  So they cut it down to 3:05.
  • The Entertainer

• I am the entertainer, the idol of my age
  I make all kinds of money when I go on the stage
  You see me in the papers, I've been in the magazines
  But if I go cold, I won't get sold
  I get put in the back in the discount rack
  Like another can of beans.
  • The Entertainer

Turnstiles

• So many faces in and out of my life
  Some will last
  Some will be just now and then.
  Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
  I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.
  Say goodbye to Hollywood
  Say goodbye my baby
  Say goodbye to Hollywood
  Say goodbye my baby.
  • Say Goodbye to Hollywood

• Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
  Our reason coexists with our insanity
  And though we choose between reality and madness
  It's either sadness or euphoria.
  • Summer, Highland Falls

• Some folks like to get away
  Take a holiday from the neighborhood.
  Hop a flight to Miami Beach
  Or to Hollywood
  But I'm talking a Greyhound
  On the Hudson River Line.
  I'm in a New York state of mind.
  • New York State of Mind

• It was so easy living day by day
  Out of touch with the rhythm and blues
  But now I need a little give and take
  The New York Times, The Daily News.
  • New York State of Mind

• There's a place in the world for the angry young man
  With his working class ties and his radical plans
  He refuses to bend he refuses to crawl
  And he's always at home with his back to the wall
  And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost
  And struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross
  And likes to be known as the angry young man.
  • Angry Young Man

• I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage
  I found that just surviving was a noble fight
  I once believed in causes too
  I had my pointless point of view
  And life went on no matter who was wrong or right.
  • Angry Young Man

• So before we end and then begin
  We'll drink a toast to how it's been
  A few more hours to be complete
  A few more nights on satin sheets
  A few more times that I can say
  I've loved these days.
  • I've Loved These Days

• Seen the lights go out Broadway
  I saw the Empire State laid low
  And life went on beyond the Palisades
  They all bought Cadillacs
  And left there long ago.
  • Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

• You know those lights were bright on Broadway
  That was so many years ago
  Before we all lived here in Florida
  Before the Mafia took over Mexico.
  There are not many who remember
  They say a handful still survive
  To tell the world about
  The way the lights went out
  And keep the memory alive.
  • Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

The Stranger

• It seems such a waste of time
  If that's what it's all about
  If that's movin' up then I'm movin' out.
  • Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

• Well, we all fall in love
  But we disregard the danger
  Though we share so many secrets
  There are some we never tell.
  Why were you so surprised
  That you never saw the stranger?
  Did you ever let your lover see
  The stranger in yourself?
  • The Stranger

• I don't want clever conversation
  I never want to work that hard.
  I just want someone
  that I can talk to
  I want you just the way you are.
  
  I need to know that you will always be
  The same old someone that I knew
  What will it take till you believe in me
  The way that I believe in you.
  • Just the Way You Are

• I remember those days hanging out
  At the village green
  Engineer boots, leather jackets
  And tight blue jeans
  Drop a dime in the box play the
  Song about New Orleans
  Cold beer, hot lights
  My sweet romantic teenage nights.
  • Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

• Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies
  And the king and the queen of the prom
  Riding around with the car top down and the radio on
  Nobody looked any finer
  Or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner
  We never knew we could want more than that out of life
  Surely Brenda and Eddie would always know how to survive.
  • Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

• Brenda and Eddie had had it already
  By the summer of '75
  From the high to the low
  To the end of the show
  For the rest of their lives.
  They couldn't go back to the greasers.
  The best they could do was pick up the pieces.
  We always knew they would both find a way to get by.
  That's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie.
  Can't tell you more than I told you already.
  And here we are wavin' Brenda and Eddie goodbye.
  • Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

• But you know you can't always see when you're right
  You got your passion you got your pride
  But don't you know only fools are satisfied?
  Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
  When will you realize
  Vienna waits for you?
  • Vienna

• You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
  We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud
  We might be laughing a bit too loud
  But that never hurt no one.
  Come on Virginia show me a sign
  Send up a signal I'll throw you the line.
  The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
  Never lets in the sun.
  And only the good die young.
  • Only The Good Die Young

• They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
  Some say it's better but I say it ain't.
  I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
  Sinners are much more fun...
  And only the good die young.
  • Only The Good Die Young

• She can kill with a smile
  She can wound with her eyes
  She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
  And she only reveals what she wants you to see
  She hides like a child
  But she's always a woman to me.
  • She's Always a Woman

• Oh, she takes care of herself
  She can wait if she wants
  She's ahead of her time
  Oh, and she never gives out
  And she never gives in
  She just changes her mind.
  • She's Always a Woman

52nd Street

• Because you had to be a big shot, didn't you
  You had to open up your mouth
  You had to be a big shot, didn't you
  All your friends were so knocked out
  You had to have the last word, last night
  You know what everything's about
  You had to have a white hot spotlight
  You had to be a big shot last night.
  • Big Shot

• Honesty is such a lonely word
  Everyone is so untrue
  Honesty is hardly ever heard
  And mostly what I need from you.
  • Honesty

• I can always find someone
  To say they sympathize
  If I wear my heart out on my sleeve.
  But I don't want some pretty face
  To tell me pretty lies.
  All I want is someone to believe.
  • Honesty

• I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright.
  I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home.
  I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life.
  Go ahead with your own life and leave me alone.
  • My Life

• I never said you had to offer me a second chance.
  I never said I was a victim of circumstance.
  I still belong, don't get me wrong.
  And you can speak your mind
  But not on my time.
  • My Life

Glass Houses

• Now think of all the years you tried to
  Find someone to satisfy you.
  I might be as crazy as you say.
  If I'm crazy then it's true
  That it's all because of you
  And you wouldn't want me any other way.
  You may be right
  I may be crazy.
  But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for.
  It's too late to fight
  It's too late to change me.
  You may be wrong for all I know
  But you may be right.
  • You May Be Right

• It's just a fantasy
  It's not the real thing
  It's just a fantasy
  It's not the real thing.
  But sometimes a fantasy
  Is all you need.
  • Sometimes a Fantasy

• All your life you had to stand in line
  Still you’re standing on your feet.
  All your choices made you change your mind
  Now your calendar's complete.
  Don't wait for answers
  Just take your chances
  Don't ask me why.
  • Don't Ask Me Why

• Yesterday you were an only child
  Now your ghosts have gone away.
  You can kill them in the classic style.
  Now you, "parlez vous francais"
  Don't look for answers
  You took your chances
  Don't ask my why.
  • Don't Ask Me Why

• What's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
  "Don't you know that their out of touch?"
  Should I try to be a straight 'A' student?
  "If you are then you think too much.
  Don't you know about the new fashion honey?
  All you need are looks and a whole lotta money."
  It's the next phase, new wave , dance craze, anyways
  It's still rock and roll to me.
  Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
  Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me.
  • It's Still Rock and Roll to Me

The Nylon Curtain

• Every child had a pretty good shot
  To get at least as far as their old man got
  But something happened on the way to that place
  They threw an American flag in our face.
  • Allentown

• Well I'm living here in Allentown
  And it's hard to keep a good man down
  But I won't be getting up today.
  • Allentown

• We held the coastline
  They held the highlands
  And they were sharp
  As sharp as knives
  They heard the hum of our motors
  They counted the rotors
  And waited for us to arrive.
  And we would all go down together
  We said we'd all go down together
  Yes we would all go down together.
  • Goodnight Saigon

An Innocent Man

• You don't have to start a fight
  I'm a man who can't say no
  If you've got a little risky business
  Just point me where you want to go
  Take me to the power
  Take me to the heat
  Take me to the cleaners
  If it's open to the street
  Something's got to pay off
  Something's got to break
  Someone's got a fortune that they're begging
  Me to take.
  • Easy Money

• Some people stay far away from the door
  If there's a chance of it opening up
  They hear a voice in the hall outside
  And hope that it just passes by.
  Some people live with the fear of a touch
  And the anger of having been a fool.
  They will not listen to anyone
  So nobody tells them a lie.
  • An Innocent Man

• Some people hope for a miracle cure
  Some people just accept the world as it is.
  But I'm not willing to lay down and die
  Because I am an innocent man.
  • An Innocent Man

• If you said goodbye to me tonight
  There would still be music left to write.
  What else could I do?
  I'm so inspired by you.
  That hasn't happened for the longest time.
  • The Longest Time

• I don't care what consequence it brings
  I have been a fool for lesser things.
  I want you so bad.
  I think you ought to know that
  I intend to hold you for
  The longest time.
  • The Longest Time

• Listen boy
  Don't want to see you let a good thing
  Slip away.
  You know I don't like watching
  Anybody make the same mistakes
  I made.
  She's a real nice girl
  And she's always there for you.
  But a nice girl wouldn't tell you what you should do.
  • Tell Her About It

• Tell her about it
  Tell her everything you feel
  Give her every reason to accept
  That you're for real.
  Tell her about it.
  Tell her all your crazy dreams.
  Let her know you need her
  Let her know how much she means.
  • Tell Her About It

• Tell her about it
  Let her know how much you care
  When she can't be with you
  Tell her you wish you were there.
  Tell her about it.
  Every day before you leave
  Pay her some attention
  Give her something to believe.
  • Tell Her About It

• Uptown girl
  She's been living in her uptown world.
  I bet she never had a backstreet guy
  I bet her mama never told her why.
  I'm gonna try for an uptown girl.
  She's been living in her white bread world
  As long as anyone with hot blood can
  And now she's looking for a downtown man
  That's what I am.
  • Uptown Girl

• I know the moment isn't right
  To tell the girl a comical line
  To keep the conversation light
  I guess I'm just frightened out of my mind.
  But if that's how I feel
  Then it's the best feeling I've ever known
  It's undeniably real
  Leave a tender moment alone.
  • Leave a Tender Moment Alone

• Learned stickball as a formal education.
  Lost a lot of fights
  But it taught me how to lose O.K..
  Oh, I heard about sex
  But not enough.
  I found you could dance
  And still look tough anyway.
  Oh yes I did.
  I found out a man ain't just being macho.
  Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food, drank a lot of take home pay.
  I thought I was the Duke of Earl
  When I made it with a red-haired girl
  In the Chevrolet.
  • Keeping the Faith

• You know the good ole days weren't always good,
  And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems.
  • Keeping the Faith

The Bridge

• This is the time to remember
  'Cause it will not last forever.
  These are the days to hold on to
  'Cause we won't, although we'll want to.
  This is the time,
  But time is gonna change.
  You've given me the best of you
  But now I need the rest of you.
  • This Is the Time

• Some love is just a lie of the heart
  The cold remains of what began with a passionate start.
  And they may not want it to end
  But it will, it's just a question of when.
  I've lived long enough to have learned
  The closer you get to the fire the more you get burned.
  But that won't happen to us
  Because it's always been a matter of trust.
  • A Matter of Trust

• She's got style and she's got her own money
  So she's not another honey you can quickly disarm
  She's got the eyes that make you realize
  She won't be hypnotized by your usual charm.
  You've got your plan of attack
  That won't attract the modern woman
  When you're an old fashioned man
  She understands the things you're doin'
  She's a modern woman.
  • Modern Woman

• Late at night
  When it's dark and cold
  I reach out
  For someone to hold
  When I'm blue
  When I'm lonely
  She comes through
  She's the only one who can
  My baby grand
  Is all I need.
  • Baby Grand (sung with Ray Charles)

• They say that no one's gonna play this on the radio
  They said the melancholy blues were dead and gone
  But only songs like these
  Played in minor keys
  Keep those memories holding on.
  • Baby Grand

• I'm so romantic
  I'm such a passionate man
  Sometimes I panic
  What if nobody finds out who I am?
  • Big Man On Mulberry Street

Storm Front

• 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.
  • We Didn't Start the Fire

• I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes.
  I know there's fish out there but where God only knows.
  They say these waters aren't what they used to be.
  But I've got people back on land who count on me.
  • The Downeaster "Alexa"

• Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I'm shot.
  Sometimes I don't know how much more I've got.
  Maybe I'm headed over the hill
  Maybe I've set myself up for the kill.
  Tell me how much do you think you can take
  Until the heart in you is starting to break?
  Sometimes it feels like it will.
  • I Go To Extremes

• Well I'm shameless when it comes to loving you.
  I'd do anything you want me to
  I'd do anything at all.
  And I'm standing here for all the world to see
  There ain't that much left of me
  That has very far to fall.
  • Shameless

• And so my child and I came to this place
  To meet him eye to eye and face to face.
  He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced.
  We never knew what friends we had
  Until we came to Leningrad.
  • Leningrad

• But darling there you go, slipping away into a state of grace
  Granted, this world is not a perfect place.
  Still it's the world that I'm in.
  Here I am talking while you don't hear a word I say.
  Knowing you're watching me from far away
  Somewhere that I've never been.
  • State of Grace

• And every time I've held a rose
  It seems I only felt the thorns.
  And so it goes, and so it goes.
  And so will you soon I suppose.
  • And So It Goes

River of Dreams

• I've seen those big machines come rolling through the quiet pines.
  Blue suits and bankers with their Volvos and their valentines.
  Give us this day our daily discount outlet merchandise.
  Raise up a multiplex and we will make a sacrifice.
  Now we're gonna get the big business.
  Now we're gonna get the real thing.
  Everybody's all excited about it.
  • No Man's Land

• Advice is cheap you can take it from me.
  It's yours to keep 'cause opinions are free.
  Nobody knows about the trouble I've seen.
  Nobody's perfect, mister, nobody's clean.
  It cost too much and takes too long to find out too late.
  Some words are not heard 'til after they're spoken.
  Your role was protective, your soul was too defective.
  Some people just don't have a heart to be broken.
  • The Great Wall of China

• We could have gone all the way to the Great Wall of China
  If you'd only had a little more faith in me.
  In lieu of diamonds, gold and platinum, reminders will still shine bright.
  All the king's men and all the king's horses
  Can't put you together the way you used to be.
  We could have been standing on the Great Wall of China.
  • The Great Wall of China

• These days there's a million ways
  To be pulled and torn, to be misdirected.
  These times there are sins and crimes
  On the morning shows for the disconnected.
  I look and I write my book
  And I walk away with the wrong impressions.
  I don't care 'cause I've done my share. And I need some time for my own obsessions
  It doesn't matter, I've let that life go by.
  It's been forgotten 'cause all I wanted was you.
  • Blonde Over Blue

• Some days I have to give right in to the blues
  Despite how I try to keep fightin'.
  It's a sure shot I'm going to lose.
  And I'll tell you why.
  You think I'm crazy.
  It's such a sad composition.
  But can you blame me
  For what's been causing my bad disposition?
  Ain't nothing new with my blue situation
  And nothing's fine it's just a minor variation.
  • A Minor Variation

• Some things were perfectly clear, seen with the vision of youth.
  No doubts and nothing to fear, I claimed the corner on truth.
  These days it's harder to say I know what I'm fighting for.
  My faith is falling away.
  I'm not that sure anymore.
  Shades of grey wherever I go
  The more I find out the less that I know.
  Black and white is how it should be
  But shades of grey are the colors I see.
  • Shades of Grey

• She waits for me at night, she waits for me in silence.
  She gives me all her tenderness and takes away my pain.
  And so far she hasn't run, though I swear she's had her moments.
  She still believes in miracles while others cry in vain.
  • All About Soul

• It's all about soul.
  It's all about faith and a deeper devotion.
  It's all about soul.
  'Cause under the love is a stronger emotion.
  She's got to be strong
  'Cause so many things getting out of control
  Should drive her away.
  So why does she stay?
  It's all about soul.
  • All About Soul

• Goodnight, my angel
  Time to close your eyes.
  And save these questions for another day.
  I think I know what you've been asking me.
  I think you know what I've been trying to say.
  I promised I would never leave you.
  And you should always know
  Wherever you may go
  No matter where you are
  I never will be far away.
  • Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)

• Goodnight, my angel
  Now it's time to dream.
  And dream how wonderful your life will be.
  Someday your child may cry
  And if you sing this lullabye
  Then in your heart
  There will always be a part of me.
  
  Someday we'll all be gone.
  But lullabyes go on and on...
  They never die.
  That's how you
  And I
  Will be.
  • Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)

• In the middle of the night
  I go walking in my sleep
  Through the valley of fear
  To a river so deep.
  And I've been searching for something
  Taken out of my soul
  Something I would never lose
  Something somebody stole.
  • The River of Dreams

Unsourced

• Everybody is sleeping with everybody in this business but the artist is the only one getting screwed.

• I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.

• If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time.

• The happiest times in my life were when my relationships were going well — when I was in love with someone, and someone was loving me. But in my whole life, I haven't met the person I can sustain a relationship with yet. So I'm discontented about that. I'm angry with myself. I have regrets.

• There's nothing better than good sex. But bad sex? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is better than bad sex.

• This song is completely, historically, totally inaccurate.
  • before singing The Ballad of Billy the Kid on the album 2000 Years: The Millenium Concert (New Years Eve 1999)

• Going bald isn't about losing your hair, it's about getting more head