Did Billy Joel pay tribute to Richard Lewis in ‘My Life’?
Energised by the early rhythm and blues artists of the 1950s, Billy Joel was still just like any other spritely New York music fanatic until he saw The Beatles’ monumental debut on US television. When a 14-year-old Joel sat in front of the TV for the Ed O’Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964, a vocation manifested indelibly in Joel’s eye.
“That one performance changed my life,” Joel once recalled via TV Guide Magazine. “Up to that moment, I’d never considered playing rock as a career. And when I saw four guys who didn’t look like they’d come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments, and especially because you could see this look in John Lennon’s face – and he looked like he was always saying: ‘Fuck you!’ — I said: ‘I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys. This is what I’m going to do — play in a rock band.'”
In the late 1960s, Joel pursued his fascination with hard rock in his early band Atilla but only broke through to global acclaim in 1973, following the release of his second solo studio album, Piano Man. The album, and its title track specifically, launched Joel to the height of fame, and within months, he rubbed shoulders with New York’s entertaining elite.
Among Joel’s famous acquaintances were several prominent comedians and comedy actors. It has long been rumoured that Joel wrote his 52nd Street lead single, ‘My Life’, in tribute to the late comedy legend Richard Lewis, who grew up in a New York neighbourhood not far from Joel.
The song’s lyrics vividly depict a performer’s yearning to break free from societal norms and pursue a life of authenticity. One particular line, “Closed the shop, sold the house, bought a ticket to the West Coast / Now he gives them a stand-up routine in LA,” seems to trace Lewis’ career and adventurous attitude.
Lewis, known for his neurotic and self-deprecating humour, did, indeed, leave New York City in the late 1970s to pursue a career in the fertile West Coast scene. He abandoned his job and sold his belongings to bestow all of his faith in his stand-up talent. In Los Angeles, Lewis found his footing in the comedy scene, eventually becoming a beloved figure on television, with notable roles in Anything but Love and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Although Lewis certainly fits the bill for ‘My Life’, Joel revealed the true subject of the lyrics in the 2014 book Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography. “The song ‘My Life’ is based on Tony Lawrence, a guy I knew who had a job on the East Coast but decided to be a comic and move out West to live out his dream.”
Continuing, Joel opened the song to interpretation. “It’s essentially about people who are making a transition in their life, who are moving out of a particular rut that they think they’re in.”
In the video clip below, Richard Lewis explains how ‘My Life’ couldn’t have been about him.