Billy Joel is back. The American singer-songwriter has released his first original song in 17 years today.
Produced by Freddy Wexler, “Turn the Lights Back On” is a piano ballad in Joel’s classic style. He co-wrote the song with Wexler, Wayne Hector, and Arthur Bacon. The singer will perform it at the Grammys on Sunday.
“I’m late,” sings Joel in a piece that can be interpreted as both a love song and a confession to fans who have waited for him for a long time. “But now I’m here, and I’m trying to rediscover the magic that we somehow lost. Maybe I was blind, but now I see you while we’re lying here in the dark. Have I waited too long to turn the lights back on?”
The last original songs released by the American singer were “All My Life” and “Christmas in Fallujah” in 2007. His latest pop song album remains “River of Dreams” from 1993.
“I have a lot of music that no one has ever heard,” he said in 2019. “For me, the creative process is important, not having chart-topping records”.