Please keep in mind that all scores are subjective and come from my own ideas of how to review and think about Billy Joel’s discography. A perfect score for a song is 20, while the lowest score a song can receive is a 5. The scores below are generic examples of what the score might mean, but each song will have a specific explanation for each number. Some of the songs have a short story attached, which are my own writing inspired by the same themes as the song.
Music
The score for music is probably the one where I am most vulnerable to critique, as not only am I not a musician, and have never studied any music theory at all whatsoever, but, it could also be argued (and has been, by some) that I am tone deaf, and cannot sense rhythm. However, I am obsessed with music, and spend most of my day listening to it, so I should earn some points for that.
4 – I love the music in this song! (example)
3 – the music in this song is good
2 – the music in this song is not great
1 – the music in this song is barely tolerable to me (example)
Poetry
This was the hardest score to title, as what I want to observe with it is not quite just ‘the lyrics’, which is what it is broadly referring to, but the poeticism of the lyrics. How poetic are the lyrics of this song? Is language being utilized in a unique, beautiful, and pleasing way? Do the lyrics evoke vivid imagery, are they moving me emotionally, are they resonating spiritually? How good are the words that are being used? Is it quotable? Do I find myself reflecting on the words after the song is over? If this were not a song, but just a poem, how good would it be? I know overall this seems like a lot of questions, but they are meant to evoke a tone and attitude that I am using towards the song when I assign it this score.
4 – these lyrics are beautiful, and can stand alone as a poem, and are memorable (example)
3 – these are some good lyrics, definitely some standouts
2 – the lyrics are okay, not the strongest, but not bad either
1 – the lyrics are not great, and are not well written, or not given care and attention to (example)
Change
This category is included because I personally enjoy songs that have variety in them. The question that you can ask for this score is: ‘if I hear five seconds of this song, have I basically heard all of it?’ I enjoy songs where that isn’t the case, where the music fluctuates, there’s key changes, there’s louder or quieter singing, it becomes more or less passionate, and /or there are instrumental solos or building climactic moments.
4 – there’s a lot of variety in this song (example)
3 – there is variety in this song
2 – there’s a little variety in this song
1 – there’s not really any variety in this song (example)
Insight
In my early drafts for this website, this category was called ‘wisdom’ and ‘profundity’. Basically, does this song say something that is unique? Is it original in its message? Does it have something that is insightful into the meaning and purpose of the world, relationships, people, etc. Has Billy Joel been able to capture something in this song that is original? This category is specifically about the message of the song, not the use of language in conveying it. There is a distinction between this category and the ‘poetry’ category.
4 – this song is saying something truly original, and I struggle to think of another song that says something comparable (example)
3 – this song has some interesting insights, but I can think of at least one other place I’ve heard something similar
2 – this song touches on something original, but isn’t quite there
1 – I can think of several places that say this exact same thing (example)
Good
This is definitely the most subjective category, and all it is is my own personal opinion of whether or not this song is ‘good’. Do I think it’s a good song? Do I like it? Would I recommend it to other people? Do I think Billy Joel is doing a good job with this song?
4 – this is a great song that I love (example)
3 – this is a pretty good song
2 – this song is not bad
1 – this song is not great (example)
Besides the score that a song receives, it can also receive any of the three tags listed below, if it qualifies for them.
Learning Desire
This tag is used to indicate that if I were a musician, with the ability to play music, I would want to know how to play this song.
Piano Man
This tag comes out of a particular comment my father once made when we were in the car listening to Billy Joel. I do not know what song we were listening to, but whatever song it was, my dad said “you know, you can tell that Billy Joel was just trying to write another Piano Man.” While at the time I took great offense to this statement, I do concede that there are several songs that Billy Joel has that really do sound like just another Piano Man, and, considering that this is his most famous song, I thought it might be an interesting tag to include.
Fun
Is this a fun song? This one was originally part of the score, but it felt to me like a yes or no question, and also, I don’t think a song needs to be fun to be a good song. So, I demoted it to a tag.
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