Sep 28 2022 28 mins
As the title track for the album, Billy Joel shows us his depth by using poetic license to explain the 'shadow self'. Perhaps the most exciting thing about Joel's music is he never limits himself by the basic structure of a pop/rock song. Breaking all the molds with The Stranger, Joel mixes up the expectation of verse chorus verse chorus, and challenges our ear and mind to accept a song structured more like something Beethoven would compose. He even uses two different voicing styles, one the 'bad boy' during the verse and the other 'a nice guy' during the chorus. Which one is the stranger to Billy Joel, we might never know. The interesting part is, much like ourselves, he's both and can probably easily toggle between the two within a matter of seconds.
If this isn't your favorite song on the album, we suggest spending a little time with it, letting each unique part grow on you. What's your favorite Billy Joel 'voice' - the bad boy or the good guy?