Curious Fans Now Know Why Billy Joel Won’t Play This Song Live

Billy Joel is known for putting together a crowd-pleasing list of songs that are sure to make people sing and dance. Some of his biggest hits, like “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” “Piano Man,” and “Uptown Girl,” are always included.

Playing these popular songs live has been a significant part of Joel’s career. He didn’t enter the music industry to only impact a small group of people. Instead, his goal was to entertain as many people as possible.

However, there was one song in Joel’s collection that he didn’t perform for a long time. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the song or because it was hard to play live.

Understanding the Reason

The reason was more personal. “Just The Way You Are” is a song from his fifth studio album, The Stranger. It became a big hit, reaching high positions on the charts and winning Grammy Awards.

Joel got the idea for the melody and chords of the song from a dream. After being inspired by another song, he came up with the title and chorus. He wrote the song about his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, but initially, he wasn’t sure about including it on the album. It was other artists in the studio who convinced him to do so.

His producer also pushed for the song to be included, citing financial reasons. But after his divorce from Elizabeth Weber, the song lost some of its shine for Joel. He avoided performing it for years because it brought up painful feelings about his divorce.

He even joked about the situation with his drummer, changing the lyrics to reflect his divorce settlement. Joel realized that writing love songs for people he was in a relationship with seemed to curse those relationships to end. (https://tjc.org/) He saw it as a way to say goodbye.

However, not all of Joel’s songs are about heartbreak. Some, like “Uptown Girl,” explore lighter themes. Over time, Joel’s opinion about “Just The Way You Are” changed, and now it’s a staple in his performances, much to the delight of his dedicated fans.