In this new song, I hear more of his own earlier song "She's Always a Woman" than the Cat Stevens song. It's got the same 6/8 feel, chord arpeggios, and even the 3-major chord (similar to the E chord here in key of C).
yep, although I wasn't familiar with the Cat Stevens song, fan of Billy Joel going back to Cold Spring Harbor would never think anything else but pure Billy Joel in that song. I love your take and analysis. I hadn't seen the Official Video until I saw the excerpts in your analysis and it put me into the perfect context for me to watch it. Not a dry eye!
This song moved me to tears more than once. Personally, I think this is the most heartfelt song since “And So It Goes” or “Lullaby.” I think “Turn the Lights Back On” is even more so than anything before. Maybe it’s my age and how I relate to the lyrics and the feeling of regret as time passes. It is, to me, the single most moving song Billy has ever written. And in my top 3 immediately. The more I hear it and analyze it… it may go higher
Thank you. Comeback of the century. He was the soundtrack of my 60yo musician life. The impact of this song/video is difficult (if not impossible) to describe. It gives me hope as a musician… And a human being.❤️🇨🇦
..to me this is a deep reflective song about a man coping with his regrets and sorrows, which resonates with us all. Deep lessons learned from four marriages and 8 decades of living to finally figure things out
i Think the line "As we're laying in the Darkness" to me it seems like he is saying, "symbolically, I finally see you, I get it, I have been blind but now I get it". Also, going back to the reference to His career, for years, practically the entire 30 years, people were trying to get Billy to Write again, and he would say nope, I have nothing more to say. Back to the line, "Pride sticks out its tongue and laughs at the portrait that we've become, stuck in a frame unable to change, I was wrong" I think he is say, hey, I was wrong for not writing new music all these years. I'm late but I'm here right now......did I wait to long to turn the lights back on. Having been a Billy Joel fan all the way back to his 1st Album, and listening to practically every interview he has ever done, I can see in almost every lyric of this song, that Billy is trying to send we his fans a message. I hope he has another new album left in him!
Really good analogy. I absolutely love the song but I never thought too much about what it really meant. I assumed a woman, but the pride line? Yeah, maybe song writing instead. 😉
Great video. Met BJ briefly in Motown back in around '71. He was playing to a practically empty auditorium. Dug him even then. He's a truly great writer.
Thank for this. You get it. And yes, after listening to this song for the past two weeks, it still hits me on a deep and emotional level. I’ve been a follower and admirer of Billy Joel’s work for almost 50 years now. And this ‘reawakening’ is so beautiful. Peace✌️
I am not a musician, I’m merely a fan. This song is just fabulous, and so moving to me. It brings on emotion and tears. It makes me ponder my own life story. I understand it’s said to be partly about his music , but I feel strongly that he is speaking to his daughter Alexa. I could listen to it forever. I loved listening to you break it down. I loved the reference to Cat. This song is deep and I feel it in my heart. It gives me tears and chills. It’s everything.
I didnt know about this new tune so I've just watched the official video here in RUclips. OMG Aimee you're so right, its very emotional; suddenly realised I too was tearing up ! When more fans get to hear this wonderful song it will become one of his all time classics
Billy Joel is an absolute perfectionist - he will not risk another album, in my opinion. He will go out on top. I hope this song will go to number one. I would like to see Billy Joel have the ultimate capstone on his career - and I think this song is it.
the songs about any regrets that you have in life, by saying nothing it has made it personal to us, everybody has regrets, along with Anthony's song this is now one of my favorite songs
When I was 16, I ran into Billy with Christie at a 7/11 right off the Long Island Exp. I asked him to buy beer for us (my friends dared me to), he said no. From that point on, I've said we worked on lyrics together. But seriously, thank you for posting this! He (Billy) and you (Aimee) are amazing musicians.
Hi Aimee, Thank you for your brilliance and care to breakdown musical emotion that Billy has brought to this piece. I am so looking forward to your courses. Blessings
It pierced right through my soul the first time I heard it and I couldn't understand why. After seeing his interview with Howard Stern, now I get it. The obvious connection is that it touches on love that was lost, but there was something deeper. This song strikes a cord for so many of us because we relate it to the version of ourselves that we used to be - or could have been.
A life long Billy Joel fan I absolutely love this song. My son sent your reaction to me. This was so well thought out and put together. I agree with your analysis and especially agree that I hope Billy’s not done. Thank you for this. You have a wonderful voice by the way
Thanks for this video! Somehow, I missed that Billy Joel had released a new song. Thanks for putting this on my radar! Also, great analysis of this song!
@@AimeeNolte hi! I am at a part of the video where you say the time signature sounds like another song by Billy Joel, and I think it's piano man,which is also in 6/8
I also heard the lilt of "she's always a woman," but when he hits the bridge, shades of "piano man" come thru. as is the case with all things billy (at one point in my teens, glass houses was baked into my brain)...I am obsessed with this song. Also, I love what you said about how there is so much meaning in what a bass note does...very cool
You have a beautiful voice !!!!! I really enjoyed your video, and sadly this song speaks to what I'm going through right now. Billy Joel will do that... I don't think any other artist made more water come from my eyes.
OMG I so hope he does release another album. He's such a hard taskmaster on himself, he's really the most humble musician out there, and probably the best one there has ever been (yes, I know this is totally subjective and arguable, this is just my opinion). I adore his music so much, I just wish he would believe more in himself.
Billy Joel's music was everywhere during my childhood and, maybe because I was taking piano lessons, it always stood out to me. His ability to cut with his lyrics also stood out to me. But then, over the larger span of my life since, I rarely heard of or thought of him, except for a quote from some interview that I encountered where he was talking about how much he hates the process of songwriting, and/or finds it painful. That dry spell was broken when I heard him perform this song at the Grammys this year, and it was immediately obvious to me that the song was about his relationship with music, and how he would like back in after all this time, and it was powerful to listen to with that frame. It also struck me as a brilliant way to come back, too, since it was an opportunity to speak his truth. Also, did you notice that the official music video begins with him flipping the music to a new, blank page?
I loved this song the first time I heard it. It had so much old Billie Joel, so much musically and lyrically, but listening to it, watching the fantastic video, and now listening to your break down, I truly relate to the story it tells - being older and looking back at the walls I built around myself and trying as I got older to somehow get the magic back, I am so amazed at the reflections - regrets, hope, trying to get through the past - that this song embraces. This is such a remarkable song, an amazing story, and such a beautiful work of art. Thanks Aimee for breaking down this song, from the story it tells to the actual music theory, you've done an amazing job on this fantastic song.
that BRIDGE!!! 😍 the instant I heard it, I said "ok even if there was no vocal you'd KNOW this is Billy Joel" -- its classic Billy Joel chord progression and improvisation. Like you and many others have mentioned, I liked it right away, but the more i hear it, the more I *love* it.
I think the relationship he is talking about and trying to repair is between him and his audience. Love your analysis, and with tears in my eyes too I say thank you. Now, I need to go and learn this masterpiece.
I can't believe it's not in his top five plays on Spotify. I've listened to this song close too 100 times, half on RUclips. It's unbelievable! I absolutely love this song. It takes me to a place.....
Thank you, Aimee for this. I didn’t know about his new song. I love it and have added it to my music library. Love your channel, you’re always so sincere.
I have between a huge fan of Billy's for 53 of my 57 years. I play piano by ear and Piano Man is one of my favorite to play. I have heard every album easily hundreds of times if not more. It is not hyperbole to say that they have been the sound track of my life. When River of Dreams came out and Famous Last Words played, I just knew something was up. In the ensuing years, the interviews would prove that he had decided he had said all he had to say. I think this song, in which I hear Angry Young Man and Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, as well as She's Always A Woman, is speaking to continuous listeners as being a lover of sorts. Almost like he's sorry for having become complacent and not paying as much attention to them. We all love to hear him, but we also love to hear what he has to say-how he turns a phrase and makes words in the middle of those phrases rhyme where you never expect them to. How he says what your heart couldn't find the words to say. And then he speaks to the newer generations that came along on their parent's and grand parent's listening coat tails and he's apologizing to them as well for not continuing to give himself to them, as if they are any less enthralled by the magic that is Billy Joel. "Maybe you will love me, maybe you won't, but at least you'll have the opportunity to have your heart's utterings translated too" That's how it feels to me.
Thematically this song reminds me of a recent song my a group that had been gone for even longer that him, Don’t Shut Me Down by ABBA from their Voyage album. Both songs are about someone trying to reconnect an old relationship and wondering if it’s too late to do so.
I’m four minutes in and you had me at “Morning Has Broken“ (which I stumbled into with excitement on my own - and wonderful to hear it confirmed!). Actually, you had me before that because I’ve been looking for this kind of interpretation of this incredible song for quite some time so; thank you so much! Looking forward to the entire analysis honoring a true artist!
I heard the chord progression from "Morning has Broken" as well. I figured that song out for myself on the piano years ago, so it's something that I'd actively practiced. Couldn't miss it in "Turn the Lights Back On." Is it derivative? No more so than anything else written in C, far as I'm concerned.
3:30 His new song feels like very early Billy Joel to me. Very Cold Spring Harbor. Keep in mind that his first solo album was recorded and produced just a twinge too fast, but it's raw and natural. Turn The Lights Back On feels like Billy Joel went back to his own roots to get back the magic that he felt he lost over the decades. Or maybe it's just me. Getting something new from him after all this time is like hearing She's Got A Way for the first time, and then hearing it again for the first time a decade later at Billy Joel's actual "live" speed from Songs in the Attic. It's the same, but different. It's new, but familiar.
So love that you broke this down Aimee. The NYTimes popcast review of the Grammys completely ignored it. But that’s what you get from 30 year old and younger pop music critics… don’t expect them to get it. So thanks for digging deep into this tune. So appreciate you on many levels.
I am so tired of hearing folks go on about Billy Joel “restarting his career” and “giving us an album”. Billy Joel owes us nothing. He has nothing to prove to anyone (not even himself). Though I can’t say for certain, I imagine he made this song to scratch an itch, to get lost in wrestling with and solving a puzzle, to have a new experience with a trusted friend, and perhaps to get some things off his chest. He wasn’t thinking about “monetizing revenue streams” and “mechanical royalties” - he wrote it, as McCartney once said of writing his own songs, “for free.” He wrote it for himself, and, that he felt good enough about it to share it with us, that makes it the greatest gift. And, when someone gives you a gift, it’s impolite to ask for more.
You have a good point, maby simple as that. BUT...., Look at his age. It's possible he may want to leave behind a final Album before he leaves this Earth. Maby this is the Final Song.
@elizabethwitt2621 Your absolutely correct, Elizabeth. It is not a Joel Original, but add very good punch to the Emotions. I think it's very possible, after all these years..., considering his age, He might give us one last final album. Isn't it Something , how his voice held up far better than Elton's ? I have always been a big fan of Both.
I knew there's a message in there concerning his career. But Billy doesn't need to fear. The gift of his light is never late. It's still on.And who's on his mind, I hope hears this song. Beautiful.
Here’s my two cents - for what it’s worth. I have not fallen in love with this song yet, it may take a while. Billy wrote some of the best rock songs of the 70’s and that’s usually what I turn to. That said, for me Innocent Man is the song that gets to me; the vocals, the lyrics the piano all great. I’m not sure how long it took me to love Innocent Man, but I do and maybe Turn the Lights Back On will be another. I’m not a musician and can’t explain it that way but I know what I like to hear. Thanks for making this video Aimee!
I sadly hadn't heard the new song yet, but your analysis was great and I'm going straight to listen. Thank you! Let's hope Billy makes some more records! :)
Thank you Aimee - I feel so much the same way and your breakdown makes me wish even more that Billy writes again. I think so many things..the darkness, the house...are metaphors, even the lights...regardless...yeas, beautiful and so in his own style.
This is like the best video I’ve ever seen, even though I have no idea what you’re talking about with the music technicalities. It’s all over my head, but so fascinating. Any chance you could play the whole song for us?
I just realized your voice is akin to Terry Gross, her speaking voice I always felt was the best. It is so amazing to hear it come to life in your fantastic singing voice ❤️ . You are a great pianist and teacher as well! This was great!
I’ve been waiting for you to do this Amiee! I’m glad to hear someone talking about the depth of this song… I have been listening to it for the last couple weeks since it came out and I can’t believe how beautiful it is… It may be about a woman, I mean, he says it’s partly that… But obviously, it’s also about his muse and his writing, I mean, he’s told us as much, that he’s not written in a long time, and he’s a bit freaked out by it… But he’s come back. He’s here right now, he wants to be in touch with that again, the magic, the Muse, the creative process…I love him so much for this
Amen again. As a performing artist, the muse-the spark is what we live in and for. When it's gone we become empty UNTIL we seek to revive that spark. If we can, we appreciate it even more as a compliment to our life that has returned anew. It is a relationship that must always be held in reverence(re: pride tongue lyric). When we honor this relationship we fall in love again. It is not too late to fall in love again! Thank you both for your sensitive comments on a beautiful and reflective song.
Unlike many of the true artists who were recognized for their greatness AFTER their lives ended (Like so many great painters such as VanGogh and others) Billy Joel is an artist who is experiencing his adoration from those who've recognized his genius in the music he produced long ago that were never recognized by his young "pop" fans back then. He's finally come into his own in the last ten years. He has a great life! Everything that you could ever hope for! Fame, monetary security, a great wife and kids and no need to try to impress. He never has stopped composing, from what I've heard, he just writes for himself now and sings his old hits just for fun! What a life!
He is the great American songwriter of our lives. He deserves all the love, all the standing ovations and flowers while he's still here...God willing for a very long time. He knows how much he is loved by his fans. He's still selling out stadiums everywhere he plays. 😎🎹♥️🗽🍎
I love this song so much. However, I think you have to have lived life a little to understand how easily the light grows dim. It is tough to get it lit again. I love this song.
First Off, My Strong Opinion About You, Is Nothing But Complementary! Through You, Many Can Now Hear And See For Themselves, What Exactly 'The Music You Critique,' Is In It's Front, Back & Center, That I For One, Have Never Seen Anywhere Else, (In A Contemporary Setting.) Bravo! I Get You, Also The Music Clearer Than Ever Before!
Simon and Garfunkel. Songs in 3 are just different. They so often seem to play themselves. Don't know how else to describe the feeling. Good stuff Aimee, thanks!
I was never a fan of Billy Joel but as soon as I heard this new song I loved it! I think the “you” he sings about in the song is open to interpretation and I like to think it changes meaning from being a woman, or himself (laying in darkness…), or even his fans.
I was hearing "She's Always a Woman" rather than Morning Has Broken. That intro is all Rick Wakeman's contribution as a session musician on the song. He was noodling around playing parts of the song Guinevere from his album Myths and Legends of King Arthur... when Stevens asked him to contribute something like that for Morning. As for the lyrics, it's patently talking about America's relationship with itself.
Joel is a treasure & I'm honored to live in the same time as him. Sometimes the best or at least the most meaningful songs are not given the attention of the feel-good ones.. i don't think that's bad.. but it is special for those of us that take the time to look at the obscure discology of only or most favorite artists
I loved that the piano solo bridge was a huge callback or maybe tribute to his own scenes from Italian restaurant solo in its playing style. Like you, I hope there will be more
What a beautiful song! It's as magical as a Billy Joel ballad can get. Beautiful melody and chord progressions and deep lyrics that I can really relate to. However, still not in the top 5 of his songs on Spotify, not even top 10. At least it's number 7 on Tidal right now. Thanks so much for introducing and analyzing it!
Hi Aimee! Great video so far, im only at the start but your mention of the 6/8 time sig and being like lilting tempo - i would say it fits Billy's often mentioned and used classical callback to the waltz , which he specifically says of Piano Man (limerick lyrically, into 3/4 waltz tune). Im very far from any music theory knowledge or playing myself but I appreciate these breakdowns so much.
I’m a huge Billy Joel fan. I’ve written Billy Joel several times about the world needing him to write again as well. I think he’s the best songwriter of all time. Anyway..,.I liked the song at first but didn’t *love it. It has grown on me too and I absolutely love the song now.
It did debut at number 11 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Hard to know what happened after that because you need a paid Billboard Pro subscription to watch the songs movement since it's release. Why the chart isn't free public info like it used to be makes no sense.
As I keep saying, most of the people who are going to love this song won't go near Spotify. Like me. Never used it. Never will. If Billy releases a new CD or even an EP, though, I'm absolutely buying that...
Excellent point. I’m 62 and wouldn’t even know how to get on Spotify. Dream of this being on a new album but as Billy said in Vienna. Dream on but don’t imagine they’ll all come true.
I'm so glad I watched this. I was vaguely aware Billy Joel had put out a new song, but hadn't gotten around to listening to it. After you'd played and sung a few bars I was sold 110%. And I knew immediately that you were about to talk about the song the way, in the back of my mind, I think about a song that moves me. What's the story being told or (perhaps ambiguously) implied? What's going on in the chords and the words to make that happen? He is so poetically concise and expressive in those lyrics, which resonate with me as I'm sure they do for others who feel or have felt regret. Yeah, there are familiar ingredients in the construction of the song -- the 6/8, the arpeggios, the heartstring chord changes (I'm a big sucker for a III7 in a major key). But it's put together so well. And the backstory is fascinating. Thank you for sharing.
There seems to be a growing level of interest in this song. It’s very, very good. For those of us that are fans back to the 1970’s, this stirs memories, emotions. Beautiful.
Didn't take me more than the first listen. It landed in my Billy Joel top five instantly. Regrettably I don't play anything, but I sing a lot of karaoke, and K versions of Turn The Lights Back On started apoearing pretty quickly. I won't usually change the key, but Billy himself moves the song down for live performance so did I...and oh Lord I've never had a song be so comfortable to sing, and I have sung some 300 different songs at K. I absolutely love it. There are indeed similarities to other Billy songs: Always A Woman, All About Soul and others. (Which, since the song is apparently largely Wexler's, means he's a genius at stylistic mimicry on a level with Al Yankovic.) I had not caught the likeness to Cat Stevens' version of Morning Has Broken, but you're spot on... As to Spotify, I couldn't possibly care less about that and I'd bet Billy wouldn't either. I don't use the damn thing and never will. But if Billy releases a new CD, I'm absolutely buying that...I'm a dinosaur and completely unapologetic about it! My brother is a musician and I would be too if I could play anything. There are loads of us like that, even non-musicians. You're clearly another one with the same views. Wish there was some way for all of us to catch Billy's attention and tell him...we get you, and we got you!
McCartney said something really interesting once about competing with his old self, and I can only paraphrase: "Sure I realize that I'm never gonna write again like I did in the sixties; every artist has a peak, but I still write and record and put things out because I enjoy it, and I think I've earned that." That was all the way back in 1987. A great attitude, I think. Just be fearless. I love Aimee Nolte's thoughts and analysis, as well as her beautiful playing and singing, and really find them interesting and enlightening.
The first time I heard this song, it garnered my attention, and evoked strong emotions. I stopped shopping to ask SIRI what was the name of the song. And, my little technical know-it-all announced the name of this sentimental song as, Turn the Lights Back On, by Billy Joel. Excellent attention grabbing, thought provoking melody and lyrics...🥲😇
He has said that writing was painful and arduous. Walking these halls and trying to talk over the silence may be about the effort to write and create when you are alone and trying to make something from nothing. This is familiar and they have been there before (they=His older self and younger self). Laying in the darkness may be the time until now that this creative effort has lay dormant. The last track on River of Dreams, Famous Last Words until now, turn the lights back on. Go all the way back to Cold Spring Harbor, Tomorrow is Today, a darker time and creative hurdle. These three songs are bookends, IMO. ❤
The moment I heard this song for the first time, from the first line, I was hooked. Then it only got better and better. I agree, I think it's the best thing he has ever done and that is a biggie for me. He is the soundtrack of my life. I remember being in my 20's and single, then being in love, and Billy Joel always had something to say in his songs. My future husband and I bonded over Only the Good Die Young, lol. This one plays to loss and gently to hope.
In this new song, I hear more of his own earlier song "She's Always a Woman" than the Cat Stevens song. It's got the same 6/8 feel, chord arpeggios, and even the 3-major chord (similar to the E chord here in key of C).
Spot on!
yep, although I wasn't familiar with the Cat Stevens song, fan of Billy Joel going back to Cold Spring Harbor would never think anything else but pure Billy Joel in that song. I love your take and analysis. I hadn't seen the Official Video until I saw the excerpts in your analysis and it put me into the perfect context for me to watch it. Not a dry eye!
Yes! But I also think there's just a small hint of Piano Man in it.
That too. Good call. I def heard morning has broken more strongly until I saw this post. Makes more sense that he would reference his own song.
completely
This song moved me to tears more than once. Personally, I think this is the most heartfelt song since “And So It Goes” or “Lullaby.”
I think “Turn the Lights Back On” is even more so than anything before. Maybe it’s my age and how I relate to the lyrics and the feeling of regret as time passes.
It is, to me, the single most moving song Billy has ever written. And in my top 3 immediately. The more I hear it and analyze it… it may go higher
Heh. Those other two songs you cite are my two favourites by Billy. This new one joined them immediately I heard it...
When he asks "Did I wait too long to turn the lights back on?" I want to respond "No, you're here now. That's all that matters."
Thank you. Comeback of the century.
He was the soundtrack of my 60yo musician life.
The impact of this song/video is difficult (if not impossible) to describe.
It gives me hope as a musician…
And a human being.❤️🇨🇦
..to me this is a deep reflective song about a man coping with his regrets and sorrows, which resonates with us all. Deep lessons learned from four marriages and 8 decades of living to finally figure things out
i Think the line "As we're laying in the Darkness" to me it seems like he is saying, "symbolically, I finally see you, I get it, I have been blind but now I get it". Also, going back to the reference to His career, for years, practically the entire 30 years, people were trying to get Billy to Write again, and he would say nope, I have nothing more to say. Back to the line, "Pride sticks out its tongue and laughs at the portrait that we've become, stuck in a frame unable to change, I was wrong" I think he is say, hey, I was wrong for not writing new music all these years. I'm late but I'm here right now......did I wait to long to turn the lights back on. Having been a Billy Joel fan all the way back to his 1st Album, and listening to practically every interview he has ever done, I can see in almost every lyric of this song, that Billy is trying to send we his fans a message. I hope he has another new album left in him!
Really good analogy. I absolutely love the song but I never thought too much about what it really meant. I assumed a woman, but the pride line? Yeah, maybe song writing instead. 😉
Great take. I agree.
This has become my favorite song, not just from Billy, but ever. I've listened to it a thousand times, every time it brings tears to my eyes.
me too!
Great video.
Met BJ briefly in Motown back in around '71. He was playing to a practically empty auditorium.
Dug him even then. He's a truly great writer.
Thank for this. You get it. And yes, after listening to this song for the past two weeks, it still hits me on a deep and emotional level. I’ve been a follower and admirer of Billy Joel’s work for almost 50 years now. And this ‘reawakening’ is so beautiful. Peace✌️
I am not a musician, I’m merely a fan. This song is just fabulous, and so moving to me. It brings on emotion and tears. It makes me ponder my own life story. I understand it’s said to be partly about his music , but I feel strongly that he is speaking to his daughter Alexa. I could listen to it forever. I loved listening to you break it down. I loved the reference to Cat. This song is deep and I feel it in my heart. It gives me tears and chills. It’s everything.
In my 77th year I find this song easy to love.
Nice call-out to Cole Porter.
I have loved Billy Joel for years, now I think this is best song ever, and I am very glad I can say this after all this years.
I didnt know about this new tune so I've just watched the official video here in RUclips. OMG Aimee you're so right, its very emotional; suddenly realised I too was tearing up !
When more fans get to hear this wonderful song it will become one of his all time classics
Billy Joel is an absolute perfectionist - he will not risk another album, in my opinion. He will go out on top. I hope this song will go to number one. I would like to see Billy Joel have the ultimate capstone on his career - and I think this song is it.
You have a lovely voice Aimee
the songs about any regrets that you have in life, by saying nothing it has made it personal to us, everybody has regrets, along with Anthony's song this is now one of my favorite songs
What a beautiful touching video.
When I first heard it I cried. That he still has such music in him; please please share that !!!
It actually reminds me of some Keith Green songs. It reminds me of parts of "The Prodigal Song Suite".
When I was 16, I ran into Billy with Christie at a 7/11 right off the Long Island Exp. I asked him to buy beer for us (my friends dared me to), he said no. From that point on, I've said we worked on lyrics together. But seriously, thank you for posting this! He (Billy) and you (Aimee) are amazing musicians.
She is hurt he understands with empathy and always wants to make it up to her he is sorry
Not to stay in the dark but to live in the light and transparent
He could be writing about the past
Hi Aimee, Thank you for your brilliance and care to breakdown musical emotion that Billy has brought to this piece. I am so looking forward to your courses. Blessings
It pierced right through my soul the first time I heard it and I couldn't understand why. After seeing his interview with Howard Stern, now I get it. The obvious connection is that it touches on love that was lost, but there was something deeper. This song strikes a cord for so many of us because we relate it to the version of ourselves that we used to be - or could have been.
watching this again 5 months on...
I so appreciate the breakdown
on this beautiful song
This song will be loved for years to come...so emotionally moving, beautiful...
Excellent video, Aimee. Thanks for discussing and breaking down such a beautiful, well written song!
A life long Billy Joel fan I absolutely love this song. My son sent your reaction to me. This was so well thought out and put together. I agree with your analysis and especially agree that I hope Billy’s not done. Thank you for this. You have a wonderful voice by the way
Thanks for this video! Somehow, I missed that Billy Joel had released a new song. Thanks for putting this on my radar! Also, great analysis of this song!
Aimee, this is Ralph. Wonderful video. It touched me as the song obviously touched you. Thank you!
Hey buddddy! Thanks so much!
@@AimeeNolte hi! I am at a part of the video where you say the time signature sounds like another song by Billy Joel, and I think it's piano man,which is also in 6/8
Excellent storytelling. Love how you talk with your hands, very expressive.
I also heard the lilt of "she's always a woman," but when he hits the bridge, shades of "piano man" come thru. as is the case with all things billy (at one point in my teens, glass houses was baked into my brain)...I am obsessed with this song.
Also, I love what you said about how there is so much meaning in what a bass note does...very cool
Your voice is so beautiful Aimee !
You have a beautiful voice !!!!!
I really enjoyed your video, and sadly this song speaks to what I'm going through right now.
Billy Joel will do that...
I don't think any other artist made more water come from my eyes.
Take care my man
OMG I so hope he does release another album. He's such a hard taskmaster on himself, he's really the most humble musician out there, and probably the best one there has ever been (yes, I know this is totally subjective and arguable, this is just my opinion). I adore his music so much, I just wish he would believe more in himself.
Billy Joel's music was everywhere during my childhood and, maybe because I was taking piano lessons, it always stood out to me. His ability to cut with his lyrics also stood out to me. But then, over the larger span of my life since, I rarely heard of or thought of him, except for a quote from some interview that I encountered where he was talking about how much he hates the process of songwriting, and/or finds it painful. That dry spell was broken when I heard him perform this song at the Grammys this year, and it was immediately obvious to me that the song was about his relationship with music, and how he would like back in after all this time, and it was powerful to listen to with that frame. It also struck me as a brilliant way to come back, too, since it was an opportunity to speak his truth. Also, did you notice that the official music video begins with him flipping the music to a new, blank page?
Have to agree that this song absolutely belongs in a Billy Joel playlist. It’s one of his best, really a great song.
I loved this song the first time I heard it. It had so much old Billie Joel, so much musically and lyrically, but listening to it, watching the fantastic video, and now listening to your break down, I truly relate to the story it tells - being older and looking back at the walls I built around myself and trying as I got older to somehow get the magic back, I am so amazed at the reflections - regrets, hope, trying to get through the past - that this song embraces. This is such a remarkable song, an amazing story, and such a beautiful work of art. Thanks Aimee for breaking down this song, from the story it tells to the actual music theory, you've done an amazing job on this fantastic song.
This is so well done! Thank you very much!
that BRIDGE!!! 😍 the instant I heard it, I said "ok even if there was no vocal you'd KNOW this is Billy Joel" -- its classic Billy Joel chord progression and improvisation.
Like you and many others have mentioned, I liked it right away, but the more i hear it, the more I *love* it.
I think the relationship he is talking about and trying to repair is between him and his audience.
Love your analysis, and with tears in my eyes too I say thank you.
Now, I need to go and learn this masterpiece.
I can't believe it's not in his top five plays on Spotify. I've listened to this song close too 100 times, half on RUclips. It's unbelievable! I absolutely love this song. It takes me to a place.....
Those who love this song most don't use bloody Spotify.
(Ask me how I know.) 😉
Aimee - your piece about this great song and great artist is exceptional. Thank you!
Love it!! Thanks for making this Aimee Nolte music❤
Thank you, Aimee for this. I didn’t know about his new song. I love it and have added it to my music library. Love your channel, you’re always so sincere.
I have between a huge fan of Billy's for 53 of my 57 years. I play piano by ear and Piano Man is one of my favorite to play. I have heard every album easily hundreds of times if not more. It is not hyperbole to say that they have been the sound track of my life. When River of Dreams came out and Famous Last Words played, I just knew something was up. In the ensuing years, the interviews would prove that he had decided he had said all he had to say. I think this song, in which I hear Angry Young Man and Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, as well as She's Always A Woman, is speaking to continuous listeners as being a lover of sorts. Almost like he's sorry for having become complacent and not paying as much attention to them. We all love to hear him, but we also love to hear what he has to say-how he turns a phrase and makes words in the middle of those phrases rhyme where you never expect them to. How he says what your heart couldn't find the words to say. And then he speaks to the newer generations that came along on their parent's and grand parent's listening coat tails and he's apologizing to them as well for not continuing to give himself to them, as if they are any less enthralled by the magic that is Billy Joel. "Maybe you will love me, maybe you won't, but at least you'll have the opportunity to have your heart's utterings translated too"
That's how it feels to me.
A wonderful story! The value of love and encouragement
Beautiful commentary. Thank you.
Billy Joel is a master in our midst, and like the masters of old, only the future will truly recognize his greatness!
Just discovered you tonight-huge Billy Joel Fan & now your new fan
WOW you have a stunning voice - loved your analysis of the track... you have a new fan!
Thematically this song reminds me of a recent song my a group that had been gone for even longer that him, Don’t Shut Me Down by ABBA from their Voyage album. Both songs are about someone trying to reconnect an old relationship and wondering if it’s too late to do so.
I’m four minutes in and you had me at “Morning Has Broken“ (which I stumbled into with excitement on my own - and wonderful to hear it confirmed!). Actually, you had me before that because I’ve been looking for this kind of interpretation of this incredible song for quite some time so; thank you so much! Looking forward to the entire analysis honoring a true artist!
I heard the chord progression from "Morning has Broken" as well. I figured that song out for myself on the piano years ago, so it's something that I'd actively practiced. Couldn't miss it in "Turn the Lights Back On." Is it derivative? No more so than anything else written in C, far as I'm concerned.
3:30 His new song feels like very early Billy Joel to me. Very Cold Spring Harbor. Keep in mind that his first solo album was recorded and produced just a twinge too fast, but it's raw and natural. Turn The Lights Back On feels like Billy Joel went back to his own roots to get back the magic that he felt he lost over the decades. Or maybe it's just me. Getting something new from him after all this time is like hearing She's Got A Way for the first time, and then hearing it again for the first time a decade later at Billy Joel's actual "live" speed from Songs in the Attic. It's the same, but different. It's new, but familiar.
This song has inspired me to play 🎹 again since college and playing classical recitals.
So love that you broke this down Aimee. The NYTimes popcast review of the Grammys completely ignored it. But that’s what you get from 30 year old and younger pop music critics… don’t expect them to get it. So thanks for digging deep into this tune. So appreciate you on many levels.
So sweet. Thank you.
WOW! I just became a fan of you. Bravo and thank you for your beautiful analysis of this great song!!!
I am so tired of hearing folks go on about Billy Joel “restarting his career” and “giving us an album”. Billy Joel owes us nothing. He has nothing to prove to anyone (not even himself). Though I can’t say for certain, I imagine he made this song to scratch an itch, to get lost in wrestling with and solving a puzzle, to have a new experience with a trusted friend, and perhaps to get some things off his chest. He wasn’t thinking about “monetizing revenue streams” and “mechanical royalties” - he wrote it, as McCartney once said of writing his own songs, “for free.” He wrote it for himself, and, that he felt good enough about it to share it with us, that makes it the greatest gift. And, when someone gives you a gift, it’s impolite to ask for more.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
You have a good point, maby simple as that. BUT...., Look at his age. It's possible he may want to leave behind a final Album before he leaves this Earth. Maby this is the Final Song.
Only he didn't write it. Freddie and two other people did. Billy just tweaked it a bit.
It's a very interesting story, Google it.
@elizabethwitt2621 Your absolutely correct, Elizabeth. It is not a Joel Original, but add very good punch to the Emotions. I think it's very possible, after all these years..., considering his age, He might give us one last final album. Isn't it Something , how his voice held up far better than Elton's ? I have always been a big fan of Both.
There are pop writers and there are composers. I put Billy Joel among the latter. Thanks, Aimee. I'm now subscribed.
I knew there's a message in there concerning his career. But Billy doesn't need to fear. The gift of his light is never late. It's still on.And who's on his mind, I hope hears this song. Beautiful.
So enjoyed listening to your analysis. Very enlightening.
Here’s my two cents - for what it’s worth. I have not fallen in love with this song yet, it may take a while. Billy wrote some of the best rock songs of the 70’s and that’s usually what I turn to. That said, for me Innocent Man is the song that gets to me; the vocals, the lyrics the piano all great. I’m not sure how long it took me to love Innocent Man, but I do and maybe Turn the Lights Back On will be another. I’m not a musician and can’t explain it that way but I know what I like to hear. Thanks for making this video Aimee!
I love your assessment of this song… it’s as beautiful as the song itself. Thanks you, Aimee!
I sadly hadn't heard the new song yet, but your analysis was great and I'm going straight to listen. Thank you!
Let's hope Billy makes some more records! :)
Thank you Aimee - I feel so much the same way and your breakdown makes me wish even more that Billy writes again. I think so many things..the darkness, the house...are metaphors, even the lights...regardless...yeas, beautiful and so in his own style.
This is like the best video I’ve ever seen, even though I have no idea what you’re talking about with the music technicalities. It’s all over my head, but so fascinating. Any chance you could play the whole song for us?
wow, I wish I knew music like you do. bravo!!
I just realized your voice is akin to Terry Gross, her speaking voice I always felt was the best. It is so amazing to hear it come to life in your fantastic singing voice ❤️ . You are a great pianist and teacher as well! This was great!
She has my favorite speaking voice on the planet. Thanks for the compliment
Thank you - that was very special.
Such a beautiful deep dive ❤ into a modern masterpiece of a song 🎵, by a master teacher and musician. Awesome video.
I’ve been waiting for you to do this Amiee! I’m glad to hear someone talking about the depth of this song… I have been listening to it for the last couple weeks since it came out and I can’t believe how beautiful it is…
It may be about a woman, I mean, he says it’s partly that… But obviously, it’s also about his muse and his writing, I mean, he’s told us as much, that he’s not written in a long time, and he’s a bit freaked out by it… But he’s come back. He’s here right now, he wants to be in touch with that again, the magic, the Muse, the creative process…I love him so much for this
Amen
Amen again.
As a performing artist, the muse-the spark is what we live in and for. When it's gone we become empty UNTIL we seek to revive that spark. If we can, we appreciate it even more as a compliment to our life that has returned anew. It is a relationship that must always be held in reverence(re: pride tongue lyric). When we honor this relationship we fall in love again. It is not too late to fall in love again!
Thank you both for your sensitive comments on a beautiful and reflective song.
Great video, I love your voice.
This is a beautiful interpretation. So thoughtful.
Unlike many of the true artists who were recognized for their greatness AFTER their lives ended (Like so many great painters such as VanGogh and others) Billy Joel is an artist who is experiencing his adoration from those who've recognized his genius in the music he produced long ago that were never recognized by his young "pop" fans back then. He's finally come into his own in the last ten years. He has a great life! Everything that you could ever hope for! Fame, monetary security, a great wife and kids and no need to try to impress. He never has stopped composing, from what I've heard, he just writes for himself now and sings his old hits just for fun! What a life!
He is the great American songwriter of our lives. He deserves all the love, all the standing ovations and flowers while he's still here...God willing for a very long time.
He knows how much he is loved by his fans. He's still selling out stadiums everywhere he plays.
😎🎹♥️🗽🍎
I love this song so much. However, I think you have to have lived life a little to understand how easily the light grows dim. It is tough to get it lit again. I love this song.
I wanted to say that the song reminded me a little of “How Do You Keep The Music Playing”. Another song about the same thing, but it’s different
First Off, My Strong Opinion About You, Is Nothing But Complementary!
Through You, Many Can Now Hear And See For Themselves, What Exactly 'The Music You Critique,' Is In It's Front, Back & Center, That I For One, Have Never Seen Anywhere Else, (In A Contemporary Setting.) Bravo! I Get You, Also The Music Clearer Than Ever Before!
you introduced me to things I didn't even think of. Thanks!
Simon and Garfunkel. Songs in 3 are just different. They so often seem to play themselves. Don't know how else to describe the feeling. Good stuff Aimee, thanks!
Awesome! Thank You Aimee
I love BJ’s- “ stranger” - so deep- love his whistling.
Love your take. It is very emotional, and touched me.
Wonderful analysis and breakdown, you’ve inspired me to get back to the piano :)
Absolutely loved listening to this… thank you Aimee!❤
I was never a fan of Billy Joel but as soon as I heard this new song I loved it! I think the “you” he sings about in the song is open to interpretation and I like to think it changes meaning from being a woman, or himself (laying in darkness…), or even his fans.
I was hearing "She's Always a Woman" rather than Morning Has Broken. That intro is all Rick Wakeman's contribution as a session musician on the song. He was noodling around playing parts of the song Guinevere from his album Myths and Legends of King Arthur... when Stevens asked him to contribute something like that for Morning.
As for the lyrics, it's patently talking about America's relationship with itself.
Joel is a treasure & I'm honored to live in the same time as him.
Sometimes the best or at least the most meaningful songs are not given the attention of the feel-good ones.. i don't think that's bad.. but it is special for those of us that take the time to look at the obscure discology of only or most favorite artists
I loved that the piano solo bridge was a huge callback or maybe tribute to his own scenes from Italian restaurant solo in its playing style. Like you, I hope there will be more
What a beautiful song! It's as magical as a Billy Joel ballad can get. Beautiful melody and chord progressions and deep lyrics that I can really relate to. However, still not in the top 5 of his songs on Spotify, not even top 10. At least it's number 7 on Tidal right now. Thanks so much for introducing and analyzing it!
Older folks have Tidal. That makes sense…and it makes me happy
Hi Aimee! Great video so far, im only at the start but your mention of the 6/8 time sig and being like lilting tempo - i would say it fits Billy's often mentioned and used classical callback to the waltz , which he specifically says of Piano Man (limerick lyrically, into 3/4 waltz tune). Im very far from any music theory knowledge or playing myself but I appreciate these breakdowns so much.
I’m a huge Billy Joel fan. I’ve written Billy Joel several times about the world needing him to write again as well. I think he’s the best songwriter of all time. Anyway..,.I liked the song at first but didn’t *love it. It has grown on me too and I absolutely love the song now.
It breaks my heart as well that Billy's fans can't get this Classic in the top five on Spottify. Oh, and excellent presentation, playing and singing!!
It did debut at number 11 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Hard to know what happened after that because you need a paid Billboard Pro subscription to watch the songs movement since it's release.
Why the chart isn't free public info like it used to be makes no sense.
@@elizabethwitt2621It went up to number 7 on the AC chart and only 62 on the Hot 100 (should have been top 10 in my opinion)
As I keep saying, most of the people who are going to love this song won't go near Spotify. Like me. Never used it. Never will. If Billy releases a new CD or even an EP, though, I'm absolutely buying that...
Excellent point. I’m 62 and wouldn’t even know how to get on Spotify. Dream of this being on a new album but as Billy said in Vienna. Dream on but don’t imagine they’ll all come true.
@@jamesdamico9284 Ahh, I like that. Nice touch, James...and True, as well.
I'm so glad I watched this. I was vaguely aware Billy Joel had put out a new song, but hadn't gotten around to listening to it. After you'd played and sung a few bars I was sold 110%. And I knew immediately that you were about to talk about the song the way, in the back of my mind, I think about a song that moves me. What's the story being told or (perhaps ambiguously) implied? What's going on in the chords and the words to make that happen? He is so poetically concise and expressive in those lyrics, which resonate with me as I'm sure they do for others who feel or have felt regret. Yeah, there are familiar ingredients in the construction of the song -- the 6/8, the arpeggios, the heartstring chord changes (I'm a big sucker for a III7 in a major key). But it's put together so well. And the backstory is fascinating. Thank you for sharing.
There seems to be a growing level of interest in this song. It’s very, very good. For those of us that are fans back to the 1970’s, this stirs memories, emotions. Beautiful.
You are an amazing singer and excellent video thank you
Didn't take me more than the first listen. It landed in my Billy Joel top five instantly. Regrettably I don't play anything, but I sing a lot of karaoke, and K versions of Turn The Lights Back On started apoearing pretty quickly. I won't usually change the key, but Billy himself moves the song down for live performance so did I...and oh Lord I've never had a song be so comfortable to sing, and I have sung some 300 different songs at K. I absolutely love it.
There are indeed similarities to other Billy songs: Always A Woman, All About Soul and others. (Which, since the song is apparently largely Wexler's, means he's a genius at stylistic mimicry on a level with Al Yankovic.) I had not caught the likeness to Cat Stevens' version of Morning Has Broken, but you're spot on...
As to Spotify, I couldn't possibly care less about that and I'd bet Billy wouldn't either. I don't use the damn thing and never will. But if Billy releases a new CD, I'm absolutely buying that...I'm a dinosaur and completely unapologetic about it! My brother is a musician and I would be too if I could play anything. There are loads of us like that, even non-musicians. You're clearly another one with the same views. Wish there was some way for all of us to catch Billy's attention and tell him...we get you, and we got you!
You've got a beautiful voice Aimee.
McCartney said something really interesting once about competing with his old self, and I can only paraphrase: "Sure I realize that I'm never gonna write again like I did in the sixties; every artist has a peak, but I still write and record and put things out because I enjoy it, and I think I've earned that." That was all the way back in 1987. A great attitude, I think. Just be fearless.
I love Aimee Nolte's thoughts and analysis, as well as her beautiful playing and singing, and really find them interesting and enlightening.
And McCartney's last record (McCartney III) has some lovely moments. Not just doing it for his own enjoyment - well worth it.
@@artmarkham3205 That's not his last record. There's still Wings, the album he did with Costello, and many others.
The first time I heard this song, it garnered my attention, and evoked strong emotions. I stopped shopping to ask SIRI what was the name of the song. And, my little technical know-it-all announced the name of this sentimental song as, Turn the Lights Back On, by Billy Joel. Excellent attention grabbing, thought provoking melody and lyrics...🥲😇
7:10 also reminiscent in 3/4 timing and brooding arpeggios to his song "She Always a Woman"
He has said that writing was painful and arduous. Walking these halls and trying to talk over the silence may be about the effort to write and create when you are alone and trying to make something from nothing. This is familiar and they have been there before (they=His older self and younger self). Laying in the darkness may be the time until now that this creative effort has lay dormant. The last track on River of Dreams, Famous Last Words until now, turn the lights back on. Go all the way back to Cold Spring Harbor, Tomorrow is Today, a darker time and creative hurdle. These three songs are bookends, IMO. ❤
Great tune, great analysis.
The moment I heard this song for the first time, from the first line, I was hooked. Then it only got better and better. I agree, I think it's the best thing he has ever done and that is a biggie for me. He is the soundtrack of my life. I remember being in my 20's and single, then being in love, and Billy Joel always had something to say in his songs. My future husband and I bonded over Only the Good Die Young, lol. This one plays to loss and gently to hope.