Billy Joel

My interest in Billy Joel started in October 2020. I was 13 years old when my aunt and uncle were getting married. They lived down in Florida, so my mom, my grandma, my sister, and I flew down to go see it. I don't remember much from the trip; outside of one night, we stayed late at their house. I'm certain it was the day my mom, aunt, and grandma got their tattoos. We played music trivia on their Alexa ten minutes before we left their house. I only got one question right (Jump Around - House Of Pain!) I remember it took my mom a while to end her conversation with my aunt, so I went out to the car to sit in there (maybe I had a headache). I don't know how long I sat out there; I think it was rather quickly and then suddenly, You Maybe Right began to play on the radio.

Admittedly, was I obsessed the first time I heard it? No. I made a note of the name as I did all over the other songs I had heard for the first time during this trip (Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes). We went back to our hotel, and I just listened to the song on repeat.

A bit after our trip, the listening every day part came in. I was returning to in-person 8th grade (COVID), and things at school were not ... great. There was a huge issue with fighting in the halls, at lunch, and even on the bus. It really pushed me to learn how to cope with my surroundings by avoiding them. Every moment in school that I could, I was thinking, listening, and just taking in Billy Joel.

Childhood Influence

I realized the more I listened that I had always known who Billy Joel was. My dad would sing Just The Way You Are if anyone mentioned changing clothes, I was an avid fan of We Didn't Start The Fire and Uptown Girl, and let's be honest, I really REALLY liked that meme with Kermit jumping off the roof to Piano Man. One of my favorite parts about learning about him was realizing the undeniable influence he had on me without my knowledge.

My favorite Disney song growing up was Why Should I Worry? Who would have guessed that it was him? I used to be terrified of his My Lives album cover, and now I appreciate it because it shows the love he has for kids.

My parents loved showing me Tell Her About It, I bet they regret their decisions there. Not like they would have known back then that their daughter would be practically insane.

My First Shirt

I was actually super ashamed about liking him. I had no concept of fame at the time and did not know he was a world-famous rock star. To me, he was just something I could experience. So, of course, my world was rocked when I found his shirt at Target. Which is how my family found out about my love for him. (That was on my 14th birthday!) After that, it's like the shyness just slipped away. My dad was a fan too (not like me, but enough to know a lot of his songs.)

Crush

I think part of my shame toward him came from the secret fact that I had a huge crush on him. Back then, I was really shy about my feelings toward older men and him being 72 was a blow to my confidence. It didn't help that all the jokes about my crushes started then. In my defense, he was cute when he was younger, too. Still, I never liked the jokes about my crushes because it was never just about me having a weird crush. It was also about how I have "issues". I really hate that mindset, I don't think it's weird because it's not hurting anyone. I also think calling me insane for being a hormonal teenage girl was also a bit weird on everyone else's part.