In 1993, Billy Joel, the “Piano Man” whose music has transcended genres with hits like “You May Be Right,” “Uptown Girl” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” released his last studio album, “River of Dreams.” On the last song on the album, “Famous Last Words,” Joel sang, “These are the last words I have to say,” seemingly closing the book on his songwriting career.
However, Joel also sang, “There will be other words some other day,” and on Feb. 1, 2024, those words arrived in the form of “Turn the Lights Back On,” thirty years after the release of “River of Dreams.”
Rumors of a new single began circulating after Joel stated, “We got a little something we’re working on” during a concert at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19, 2023. After the new year, rumors continued to grow as fans began noticing the Spotify Canvas had changed on his most streamed songs, with a photo showing a potential lyric, “Did I wait too long…”
The rumors weren’t officially proven true until Joel announced a new single would be coming out on Feb. 1, titled “Turn the Lights Back On,” with a video teasing the song’s first few notes. It was also revealed that Joel collaborated on the song with songwriters Freddy Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector, this being only the second time Joel has collaborated with others on a song throughout his lengthy career.
Wexler, who has also collaborated with artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and The Jonas Brothers, noted Joel is his greatest songwriting inspiration. When the two first met, Joel did not realize it would turn into anything other than a one-off encounter with a fan.
“I’m thinking, yeah, we’re just going to shoot the breeze, and that’ll be the end of that. And we ended up getting into some deep stuff just right off the bat. We hit it off, and I realized this guy knows what he’s talking about,” Joel said in an interview with Jim Kerr of Q104.3.
Wexler asked Joel if he had any unfinished songs from his past and if he would allow him to finish them. Having developed a relationship with Wexler, Joel stated that he had a catalog of unfinished songs from the 70s and 80s, and after being given the opportunity to work on a few, “Turn the Lights Back On” was born.
“He had this idea for a song, and he played for me, and I said, ‘That’s not bad. That’s pretty good, and it would’ve been something that I could’ve come up with, that I would have thought I might have written musically and lyrically,’” Joel said.
While it was already difficult for Joel to hand over some of his unfinished material to Wexler, getting Joel to agree to sing on “Turn the Lights Back On” proved nearly impossible.
“[Wexler] wanted me to come to his house where they have a recording studio… and maybe try singing [‘Turn the Lights Back On’],” Joel said. “And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, I’ll come to the studio. I’ll listen.’ And then I went to the studio, and they’re all set up. And [Wexler] says, ‘Okay, ready to sing?’ Sing? I’m not gonna sing, I’m just here to hang out. He was relentless, this guy.”
Even so, Joel agreed to sing on the track and thus began his return to the music scene and the Billboard charts. “Turn the Lights Back On” debuted at No. 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Joel also performed the song live for the first time at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4 to a standing ovation. He said Wexler helped him find the joy in songwriting again.
Joel may be worried if he waited too long to turn the lights back on. Nevertheless, I believe it’s never too late to return to something you fell out of love with once someone or something reminds you of why you fell in love with that thing in the first place.
It’s too early to tell if this new single is only a one-time thing, a minuscule footnote in Joel’s illustrious career, or if it will lead to more music or even a new album. After listening to “Turn the Lights Back On,” I hope Joel keeps the lights on, at least for another encore.
“Turn the Lights Back On” is now available on all major streaming platforms.
