"We Didn’t Start the Fire"

Joshua S. Duchan is associate professor of music and director of graduate studies in the Department of Music at Wayne State University.

Billy Joel has sold over 150 million records, produced thirty-three Top-40 hits, received six Grammy Awards, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fans celebrate him, critics deride him, and scholars have all but ignored him. This first-of-its-kind collection of essays offers close analysis and careful insight into the ways his work has impacted popular music during the last fifty years. Using diverse approaches, this volume serves as a model for how any scholar can approach the study of popular music. Ultimately, these chapters interrogate how popular music frames our experiences, constitutes our history and culture, and gains importance in our daily lives.

Foreword by Billy Joel Introduction: "The Stranger": Locating Billy Joel in Popular Music StudiesRyan Raul Bañagale and Joshua S. Duchan Part I: "Somewhere Along the Line": Considering Tradition Chapter One: From Liverpool to Hicksville: Sgt. Pepper Meets The Nylon CurtainJoshua S. Duchan Chapter Two: Movin' Out on Thunder Road: Images of Ambition, Escape, and Authenticity in Billy Joel and Bruce SpringsteenJohn J. Sheinbaum Part II: "This Is the Time": Performance Analysis Chapter Three: Billy Joel, Piano Culture, and Rock's Road Not TakenJonathan D. Bellman Chapter Four: Form, Lyrics, and the "Short-Short-Long" Pattern in Billy Joel's MusicDon Traut Part III: "You're My Home": Imagined Locations Chapter Five: "The Downeaster 'Alexa'": Billy Joel Signifies FolkMorgan Jones Chapter Six: "Nothing Rhymes With Bethlehem": City Branding Schemes and the Strategic Deployment of Billy Joel's "Allentown"Sarah Messbauer Part IV: "Stop in Nevada": Live Performance Chapter Seven: "She's Got a Way": Gendered and Physical Embodiment in Interpreting Billy Joel in American Sign LanguageElyse Marrero Chapter Eight: Twenty-First-Century Patronage: The Road to Billy Joel's Madison Square Garden Concert ResidencyStan Soocher Part V: "Just the Way You Are": Arranging Billy Joel, Arranging Ourselves Chapter Nine: Scenes From a Music Museum: The Piano Man's Notebooks in the Rock and Roll Hall of FameJason Hanley and Kathryn Metz Chapter Ten: Disavowing Billy Joel: Taste Shaming and "Schlock" FandomJames Deaville Chapter Eleven: My Lives: Greatest Hits and the Arranging of a CareerRyan Raul Bañagale Part VI: Transcript Chapter Twelve: "Take the Phone Off the Hook": A Public Interview with Billy Joel, interviewed by Ryan Raul Bañagale and Joshua S. Duchan About the Editors and Contributors Discography