A Year Of Billy Joel

Famous Last Words

Song: Famous Last Words

Album: River of Dreams (1993)

It took 12 months and more than 350 posts but here we are at the end of A Year of Billy Joel and the end of the the last Billy Joel pop album. Fittingly, the last song is called “Famous Last Words.” It may not have seemed prophetic at the time but over the years Billy Joel has stayed mostly true to his word. Outside of two songs released in 2007, there has been no new pop music from Billy Joel since River of Dreams.

While I wouldn’t bet against Billy Joel surprising us all with a new record someday, I don’t think the odds favor it happening at this point. After all, Billy Joel has nothing to prove to anyone and if he’s content in his semi retirement I don’t see any reason for him to upset that situation. If in fact River of Dreams goes down as the last pop record Billy Joel gives us, he went out on his own terms with a record that was better than I expected and feels like something miles away from a last gasp.

The second half of the River of Dreams record is stronger than the first and it ends on a surprisingly strong and upbeat note with “Famous Last Words.” In this song Billy Joel finds himself alone with the summer behind him, ready to say goodbye to a time and a place. It’s probably wrong to say he has no regrets but I don’t think he’s letting those regrets stop him. Listening to this song today it seems odd that there was any speculation about Billy Joel’s future after this record. Outside of perhaps only Hank Williams, no artist has more clearly telegraphed their future with their last record. Sure we’d like to have more music from Billy Joel but I don’t think anyone feels cheated with what we’ve gotten.

Just like Billy Joel did with “Famous Last Words” it is now time for me to say goodbye to this project. I could write about Billy Joel for a long time to come but this feels like the right time and place to stop. Of course, much like Billy Joel, I won’t really be going away.

While I have written about every song I’ve set out to cover this year this site will remain available for anyone who wants to read it in the future and I may still post the occasional update if there’s some notable Billy Joel news. I’m still hearing from fans thanks to this project and I may share some of those thoughts here or revisit certain songs at a later date. What I’m saying is, this is the end, but let’s leave the door open. This may be the last words I have to say, but they may not. 

Also, we’ve seen an unusually high number of Billy Joel public appearances recently and after this he just might decide to hit the road, giving me a chance to finally see him live or he may take me up on my lunch offer (it could happen).

While only time will tell what the future holds I’d like to wrap this up by saying that this has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I think that what I’ve done here makes my feelings about Billy Joel self evident: I’ve gone from completely dismissing his work to realizing that think he’s one of the greatest pop artists of all time. I came into this project with a lot of ideas about Billy Joel and today I can admit that I was wrong and I’m happy to be wrong. Along the way I also learned a lot about myself and my family, not bad for a project I began on a whim. 

If there is a lesson to be taken from A Year of Billy Joel it’s that I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss things, be it an artist, a person or a place. This is how I plan to approach things going forward and maybe you will too. There’s no harm in giving things a chance, we might be surprised with what we discover. 

We’re almost done now but before I go I’d like to thank some people. First, thank you to my wife Nina Bargiel who married me and somehow ended up a Billy Joel widow; her support and patience made this possible.

Thank you as well to my my mother and father who played key roles in the stories that appear in this project. I am grateful for the friends and family who supported this project and spread the word about it and I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to this project by writing a piece, commenting on posts or emailing me with valuable and helpful information.

I also owe a big debt of gratitude to writer Randee Kestenbaum who provided this project with a big boost of publicity. The same goes for Bill Leff, Ken Plume, Dan Pritchard, Gene George, Brodie Foster Hubbard and Andrew Lowden who gave me airtime to talk about this thing during the year. I’d also like to thank everyone at the Low Times podcast including Maggie Serota, Daniel Ralston and Tom Scharpling who let me share some thoughts related to this project on their site.

Finally, thank you to Billy Joel whose music has enriched our lives and made this all possible. While I have finished this project I am not done listening to his music.

Thanks for everything, see you all soon and as Billy Joel is known to say at the end of shows: Don’t take any shit from anybody.