AI technology helped conjure an image of the singer crooning the tune at his commercial peaks
Billy Joels from every decade share the same worry — “Did I wait too long to turn the lights back on?” — in the video for Joel’s first new song in 17 years, “Turn the Lights Back On.”
The clip uses AI technology to transition from early Seventies Piano Man Joel, all bushy-haired and befogged with cigarettes, to late Eighties Storm Front Joel, who was probably more concerned with pleading his innocence from starting fires than whether he’d forgotten to flick a light switch at home. And then there’s River of Dreams Joel from the early Nineties, who wore sunglasses inside and probably didn’t even think about the lights, especially since he sang so gaily about walking in his sleep in the middle of the night. All this, of course, leads to present-day Joel, who looks rightly pleased with recording a great song worthy of his legacy a few months before he turns 75. The quartet of Joels all sing the song in a montage at the end, which has a sweeping effect similar to the song itself.
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Earlier this month, Joel gave the tune its live premiere at the Grammys. His leather jacket called back to his Storm Front days.
Joel described his changing relationship with the nature of songwriting recently in an interview with The New York Times. “I remember stressing when I would release a recording, ‘Is this going to be a hit?’” he said. “What are the critics going to say? Are people going to like it? I don’t have any of that now. I just sang a song. That’s it. If they like it, great. If they don’t, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t good.”