Billy Joel - Turn the Lights Back On (2024, Columbia Records), First New Record In Over 30 Years; Check Out His Interviews With Stephen Colbert and Howard Stern

 

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Have you heard the new Billy Joel record, "Turn the Lights Back On"?


"Turn the Lights Back On" is the first new popular recording released by Joel in over thirty years. This blog didn't even exist when the last Billy Joel album, River of Dreams, was released in 1993. Note: River of Dreams was Joel's last album of popular songs, he did release a classical album after that. 

I could never understand how someone so amazingly talented as Billy Joel (just consider his discography) could just flip a switch and turn it off and leave it off for over thirty years. Part of what made that possible, performing live concerts, might also have had the opposite effect. Joel begins to answer that question and many more during this week's conversation with Howard Stern; more on that below.

The song starts with just piano and voice and on first listen, it sounds like there is no way that all this time could have passed. When the meaning of the song kicks in, we find that Joel is singing about regret and reconsideration and it's clear that this song's emotions are plainly on its sleeve. The crux of the tune is whether the singer has waited too long. The music amplifies the emotions and the gist of the lyrics is something that can apply to more than one situation. We can think he's talking about his music career or maybe about a relationship. Turning the "lights back on" is such a great metaphor. Like some of his best work, it's non-specific, open to interpretation. I love it and I'm glad to have him back. 

In multiple interviews, Joel explained how he came to write after many years of resistance. He explained that he came to like collaboration as compared to his earlier career when he would toil in solitude, which contributed to his dislike of songwriting. The main instigator in all this was songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler, who not only co-wrote the track but also produced the recording. 

Joel played the new song live on the Grammy Awards telecast on 11 February 2024. Four days later, he guested on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (one segment was posted to YouTube). 

On Valentines Day, Joel sat down with Howard Stern in Miami for a long form interview, complete with a grand piano on which Joel freely illustrated the conversation. I've never seen a rock star so open and honest in an interview as Joel was with Stern. You can hear the entire audio interview on SiriusXM. Several segments of that interview have been posted to YouTube. Click for Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 4, Clip 5, Clip 6, Clip 7.


Getty Images for The Recording Academy



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