Turn the Lights Back On

Billy Joel is back! He went into semi retirement from writing new music before I had been born. Other than a handful of live albums, remixes, and his Fantasies & Delusions instrumental album (which he did not perform on), Mr. Joel hasn’t released a new album since 1993. He has long told journalists and pushy fans he’s musically said everything he has had to say. I never thought I’d get a new single from him, much less within months of a new Beatles track. But as proof we live in the strangest timeline, Billy Joel stepped out of the shadow.

The song’s brilliant lyrics are all about the regrets we live with, and how he is trying to reconcile those feelings. He’s acknowledging the loss of love, and trying to put effort back into rebuilding said relationship. There are clear parallels between Joel’s relationship with the music industry. He’s asking himself, “am I really going to try and do this again?” Will he regain his love of music? It is unsure, but, he’s open to trying again.

Queue it up on Spotify (or Apple Music or any other streamer of your choice), sit back, and get ready to shed some tears.

Please, open the door
Nothing is different, we’ve been here before.
Pacing these halls,
Trying to talk over the silence.
And pride sticks out its tongue,
Laughs at the portrait that we’ve become.
Stuck in a frame, unable to change
I was wrong.

I’m late, but I’m here right now.
Though I used to be romantic,
I forgot somehow.
Time can make you blind,
But I see you now,
As we’re laying in the darkness.
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

Here, stuck on a hill.
Outsiders inside the home that we built.
The cold settles in,
It’s been a long winter of indifference.
And maybe you love me, maybe you don’t.
Maybe you’ll learn to, and maybe you won’t.
You’ve had enough, but I won’t give up,
On you.

I’m late, but I’m here right now.
And I’m tryin’ to find the magic
That we lost somehow.
Maybe I was blind,
But I see you now,
As we’re laying in the darkness.
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

I’m late, but I’m here right now.
Is there still time for forgiveness?
Won’t you tell me how?
I can’t read your mind,
But I see you now,
As we’re layin’ in the darkness.
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

I’m here right now
Yes, I’m here right now
Looking for forgiveness
I can see as we’re laying in the darkness
Yeah, as we’re laying in the darkness
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?