110+ Billy Joel Quotes On Music, Melodic And Poignant

Billy Joel is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 150 million records worldwide. He is also the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Billy Joel on life, love, music.

Top 10 Billy Joel Quotes

1. Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true. When will you realize... Vienna waits for you.
2. There's nothing better than good sex. But bad sex? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is better than bad sex.
3. I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.
4. I've come to realize that life is not a musical comedy, it's a Greek tragedy.
5. Only the good die young.
6. I could walk away from anyone I ever knew, but I can't walk away from you.
7. Some folks like to get away Take a holiday from the neighborhood. Hop a flight to Miami Beach Or to Hollywood But I'm talking a Greyhound On the Hudson River Line. I'm in a New York state of mind.
8. I watched the mighty skyline fall
9. I'm probably writing music now for the same reason as I started writing songs when I was 14 - to meet women.
10. Do what you love, and you'll always love what you do

Billy Joel Image Quotes

Only the good die young. — Billy Joel

I could walk away from anyone I ever knew, but I can't walk away from you. — Billy Joel

Billy Joel Short Quotes

• Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue.
• She'll carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding.
• Like a boxer in a title fight, you have to walk in that ring alone.
• We might be laughing a bit too loud, but that never hurt no one
• I believe there is a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own.
• I may be an antique like the Stones, but antiques are valuable.
• Call me a joker, call me a fool, right at this moment I'm totally cool.
• The good days weren't really so good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems.
• I don't want some pretty face to tell me pretty lies, all I want is someone to believe.
• I'm a statistic in a system that a civil servant dominates.

Billy Joel Quotes About Life

No matter what culture you're from, everyone loves music. — Billy Joel

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. — Billy Joel

If I traveled all my life And I never get to stop and settle down Long as I have you by my side There's a roof above and good walls all around You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome I need you in my house 'cause you're my home. — Billy Joel

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes; I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again — Billy Joel

So many faces in and out of my life Some will last Some will be just now and then. Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again. Say goodbye to Hollywood Say goodbye my baby Say goodbye to Hollywood Say goodbye my baby. — Billy Joel

The happiest times in my life were when my relationships were going well - when I was in love with someone, and someone was loving me. But in my whole life, I haven't met the person I can sustain a relationship with yet. So I'm discontented about that. I'm angry with myself. I have regrets. — Billy Joel

A typical day in the life of a heavy metal musician consists of a round of golf and an AA meeting. — Billy Joel

The joy of life is made up of obscure and seemingly mundane victories that give us our own small satisfactions. — Billy Joel

I am the entertainer, I've come to do my show You've heard my latest record, it's been on the radio It took me years to write it, they were the best years of my life It was a beautiful song but it ran too long If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit So they cut it down to 3:05. — Billy Joel

I hope it does not take the rest of my life until I find what it is I've been looking for. — Billy Joel

Billy Joel Quotes About Love

There's an old man sitting next to me, making love to his tonic and gin. — Billy Joel

...And you're the only one who knows. — Billy Joel

Call you up in the middle of the night. It's awful hard trying to make love long distance, but I really need stimulation. — Billy Joel

Sweetness flows from your appearance and your beauty makes me fall more in love with you. Anytime I feel low, I think about the good times you have given me and everything seems good again. — Billy Joel

Maybe this won't last very long but you feel so right and I could be wrong. Maybe I've been hoping too hard. I've gone this far and it's more than I hope for. — Billy Joel

Some love is just a lie of the heart, the cold remains of what began with a passionate heart. — Billy Joel

Even though I'm in love, sometimes I get so afraid. — Billy Joel

So before we end And then begin We'll drink a toast to how it's been A few more hours to be complete A few more nights on satin sheets A few more times that I can say, I've loved these days. — Billy Joel

I don't want clever conversation, I never want to work that hard, I just want someone I can talk to, I want you just the way you are. — Billy Joel

Well I never had a place that I could call my very own/That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home. — Billy Joel

Billy Joel Quotes About Music

Videos destroyed the vitality of rock and roll. Before that, music said, "Listen to me." Now it says, "Look at me." — Billy Joel

For whatever reason, not all people are born with the particular gift of being able to express ourselves through music. And, believe me, it is a gift. — Billy Joel

Hope you don't think this is Billy Joel unplugged. I'm a piano player. I'm already unplugged. — Billy Joel

I'm writing for the sake of writing music. Whether it gets heard or not isn't an issue for me. It keeps my own juices going and my mind active. — Billy Joel

I never stopped writing music, I just stopped writing songs. I've been writing music continually ever since the last album of original tunes, "River Of Dreams" in '93. — Billy Joel

I always wanted to try to be a teacher even before I was in the music business. I liked history, and good teachers made an impact on me. — Billy Joel

I'm writing new music all the time. I'm just not writing pop stuff. It's not my goal. — Billy Joel

We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes. — Billy Joel

I can't think of one person I've ever met who didn't like some type of music. — Billy Joel

I always wrote the music first, and the music gave me the mood and the lyrics were pretty much put in to give you a map, where that mood came from and where it's going. But my first love was really the music itself, and I guess I've gone back to that. — Billy Joel

Billy Joel Quotes About Matter

I believe that all important matters have to be settled here, not in the clouds somewhere after we kick off. — Billy Joel

I once believed in causes, too. Had my pointless point of view. Life went on no matter who was wrong or right. — Billy Joel

I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage. I've found that just surviving is a noble fight. I once believed in causes too; I had my pointless points of view. And life went on no matter who as wrong or right. — Billy Joel

Billy Joel Famous Quotes And Sayings

Only the good die young. — Billy Joel

I could walk away from anyone I ever knew, but I can't walk away from you. — Billy Joel

Say goodbye to the oldies, but goodies, because the good old days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems — Billy Joel

We drown our doubts in dry champagne and soothe our souls with fine cocaine. I don't know why I even care, we get so high and get nowhere. — Billy Joel

I started taking piano lessons when I was about four years old. My parents were both musicians. So I took piano lessons. I didn't like the lessons very much, but I was enchanted by music. Music always transported me somewhere. Singing made feel good and being able to play the piano made me feel good. — Billy Joel

I'm sure you have some cosmic rationale, but here you are with your faith and your Peter Pan advice. — Billy Joel

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in / There's an old man sitting next to me making love to his tonic and gin / He says, 'Son, can you play me a memory?/ I'm not really sure how it goes / But it's sad and it's sweet, and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man's clothes.' — Billy Joel

I would not leave you in your times of trouble. We never could have come this far. I took the good times, I'll take the bad times, I'll take you just the way you are. — Billy Joel

Remember how I found you there alone in your electric chair, I told you dirty jokes until you smiled. — Billy Joel

As long as there are memories, yesterday remains. As long as there is hope, tomorrow awaits. As long as there is friendship, today is beautiful. — Billy Joel

Hot funk, cold punk, even if it's old junk, it's still rock and roll to me. — Billy Joel

I'm not the kind of guy who wants to be on a pedestal. — Billy Joel

Critics have said I write without spontaneity, in cold blood. I don't. I write in hot blood. — Billy Joel

Slow down you're doing fine You can't be everything you want to be before your time. — Billy Joel

You've got to be hard, like the rock in that old rock & roll. — Billy Joel

Someday we'll all be gone, but lullabies go on and on / They never die, that's how you and I will be — Billy Joel

In every heart there is a room, A sanctuary safe and strong, To heal the wounds from lovers past, Until a new one comes along — Billy Joel

She can kill with her smile, she can wound with her eyes. — Billy Joel

Some people stay far away from the door if there's a chance of it opening up. They hear a voice in the hall outside and hope that it just passes by. — Billy Joel

There are people who have lost every trace of human kindness. — Billy Joel

Black and white is how it should be, but shades of grey are the colors I see. — Billy Joel

you may be right, I may be crazy, but it just might be a lunatic you're looking for — Billy Joel

I have long admired Steinway pianos for their qualities of tone, clarity, pitch consistency, touch responsiveness, and superior craftsmanship. — Billy Joel

It's a little intimidating to walk into a studio and know that you're going to sing a duet with Barbra Streisand. — Billy Joel

They say there's a heaven for those who wait, some say it's better I say it ain't. — Billy Joel

I look in the mirror and think, 'I don't look like a rock star.' I talked about this with Bono and we looked at each other and decided we look like a pair of bricklayers. — Billy Joel

People pay a lot of money to go see shows now, they don't wanna know about your technical problems, or if you're not feeling good, they don't wanna know we have a glitch. It's their night, you better do something to earn that money. — Billy Joel

You can speak your mind But not on my time. — Billy Joel

She's the quiet type who's into heavy metal. — Billy Joel

I can't remember faces, don't remember names, but after awhile and a thousand miles it all becomes the same. — Billy Joel

If I need a cause for celebration, Or a comfort I can use to ease my mind, I rely on my imagination, And I dream of an imaginary time. — Billy Joel

I have a theory that the only original things we ever do are mistakes. — Billy Joel

There's a deep-seated paranoia that Americans have about not being Americans or something. — Billy Joel

We're on the verge of all things new. — Billy Joel

Honesty is the best part of any art form. If you don't have that, you're kidding yourself and your listener. — Billy Joel

You want to give people a reason to hate my guts more? I'm making more money. — Billy Joel

I'm in a New York state of mind — Billy Joel

Drank a lot of take home pay. — Billy Joel

If I ever reach heaven I expect to find three wonders there: first, to meet some I had not thought to see there; second, to miss some I had expected to see there; and third, the greatest wonder of all, to find myself there. — Billy Joel

What will it take for you to believe in me, the way that I believe in you? — Billy Joel

I don't belong in limos or private jets or on stage with people cheering me but that's what's kept me grounded because I know it's not right. — Billy Joel

I tell the audience every night, "I hope you didn't pay more than face value on that ticket, because we ain't worth more than that, and you ain't gonna get any more than that." — Billy Joel

You're having a hard time and lately you don't feel so good; You're getting a bad reputation in your neighborhood. It's alright, it's alright; Sometimes that's what it takes. You're only human, you're allowed to make your share of mistakes. — Billy Joel

Every child had a pretty good shot, to get at least as far as their old man got. But something happened on the way to that place. They threw an American flag in our face. — Billy Joel

People always think I was just playing in a piano bar, but I only did that for about six months. The rest of the time I was playing in bands. — Billy Joel

You just sit home and masturbate. The phone is going to ring soon, but you just can't wait. — Billy Joel

Don't be afraid to try again everyone goes south every now and then. — Billy Joel

Even when I stop performing or stop making records I won't stop being creative. Songwriting is a good outlet. — Billy Joel

One of the last times that we played in the area before I wrote "Allentown," I remember a guy coming up to us and saying, "You're never coming back here." I said, "Why do you say that?" He said, "Well, you're probably gonna become a big star. Nobody who ever becomes big comes back here." And I felt so sad for this kid, he seemed so bitter about it. I said, "Well, I'm coming back, no matter what." — Billy Joel

They say that these are not the best of times, but they're the only times I've ever known. — Billy Joel

You can’t go the distance with too much resistance — Billy Joel

All she wanted was sax. — Billy Joel

No end to sorrow, caused by the same endless fears. Why can't we learn from all we've been through after two thousand years? — Billy Joel

Why don't the Beatles get back together? Why don't nobody sing of romance? — Billy Joel

In every heart there is a room, a sanctuary safe and strong, to heal the wounds from lovers past, until a new one comes along... So I would choose to be with you. That's if the choice were mine to make. But you can make decisions too. And you can have this heart to break. And so it goes, and so it goes. And you're the only one who knows. — Billy Joel

My friends and I are crazy. That's the only thing that keeps us sane! — Billy Joel

You only beat me if you get me to hate. — Billy Joel

I took a fresh pack of Luckies, a mint called Sen-Sen, my old man's Trojans. — Billy Joel

They say that no one's gonna play this on the radio. They said the melancholy blues were dead and gone. But only songs like these played in minor keys, keep those memories holding on. — Billy Joel

I've learned to dance with a hand in my pants. — Billy Joel

And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts... Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for. — Billy Joel

There will be other words some other day; that is the story of my life. — Billy Joel

Let me go on sleeping and I will lose myself in palaces of sand, and all the fantasies that I've been keeping will make the empty hours easier to stand. — Billy Joel

I see the winos talking to themselves and I can understand. — Billy Joel

People in music lie, but they don't expect you to believe them. People in television actually expect you to believe the lies. — Billy Joel

I've always said about 50% of what happens at a concert has to do with the audience. If you play for a dead audience you're gonna stink. If we play for a great crowd we're much better. You want 'em to make noise. It's kinda like sex, if they don't make noise, you ain't doin' it right. — Billy Joel

I'm carrying the weight of all the useless junk and modern man accumulates. — Billy Joel

When I see an entire community disenfranchised, it disturbs me. Not that I'm a message guy, per se. I write about people. I like to write about human beings, not crap political rhetoric. I've tried to avoid that all my life. When I wrote about soldiers in Vietnam, I wasn't trying to make a political statement. I was trying to write about how screwed things were for soldiers, and how they still are. — Billy Joel

I am the entertainer and I know just where I stand Another serenader and another long haired band Today I am your champion, I may have won your hearts, But I know the game, you'll forget my name, And I won't be here in another year If I don't stay on the charts. — Billy Joel

Your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation. — Billy Joel

Usually when I'm writing, I try to write fairly quickly. If a song sits around too long, it starts to take on a stink. Most of my songs are written in one sitting, two sittings maybe. Those are the ones I like the best, anyway. — Billy Joel

I would say the songs that have different lyrics. I always write the music first, and there's a couple of songs on this box set that have different lyrics from what ended up on the final recording. — Billy Joel

There's a place in the world for the angry young man With his working class ties and his radical plans He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl He's always at home with his back to the wall And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross And he likes to be known as the angry young man. — Billy Joel

I'm kind of putting my toe back in the water and seeing how it feels. We're going to be doing stuff we haven't done for years and years and years. So I'm looking forward to seeing how this stuff flies. — Billy Joel

Davey Crocket, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland. — Billy Joel

Life Lessons by Billy Joel

1. Life is full of ups and downs, and it is important to appreciate and learn from both. Billy Joel's music often reflects this, with songs that explore both the joys and sorrows of life.
2. It is important to take risks and follow your dreams, even if it means facing failure or criticism. Billy Joel has done this throughout his career, taking risks and pushing himself to create music that is true to himself.
3. Life is a journey, and it is important to stay true to yourself and your values. Billy Joel has remained committed to his values and beliefs throughout his career, and his music reflects this.