I came to Billy Joel late in his run,
on his last golden album:
An Innocent Man.
His subsequent albums were successful,
but I think the bloom was off the rose by that point.

I first saw him at Madison Square Garden,
and then saw him later for the The Bridge tour.
I decided to buy tickets to two dates of that block.
That proved to be a mistake.
He said, between songs, “It’s good to be back here,
in New York country. Mets country.”
That got a huge response from the crowd.

It also got a huge response when he said it
the next time I was there.
He repeated material.
I was shocked and dismayed.
Billy Joel had always seemed so sincere in what he was doing.
Repeating his lines made it seem so rehearsed. That was insincere.
I couldn’t think of him the same way.

I still liked the music, but my reverence was no longer the same.
Or maybe I was growing out of Billy Joel love.
Anyway it played out, The Bridge was less impressive than An Innocent Man,
and by the time Storm Front arrived,
I didn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blew.
My faith was broken.
I was out.