Billy Joel

Released: July 9, 1986

Songwriter: Billy Joel

Producer: Phil Ramone

There's a lot of tension in this town
I know it's building up inside of me
I've got all the symptoms and the side effects
Of city life anxiety

I could never understand why the urban attitude
Is so superior
In a world of high rise ambition
Most people's motives are ulterior, oh

Sometimes I feel as though I'm running on ice
Paying the price too long
Kind of get the feeling that I'm running on ice
Where did my life go wrong?

I'm a cosmopolitan sophisticate
Of culture and intelligence
The culmination of technology
And civilized experience

But I'm carrying the weight of all the useless junk
A modern man accumulates
I'm a statistic in a system
That a civil servant dominates, oh

And all that means is that I'm running on ice
Caught in the vise so strong
I'm slipping and sliding, cause I'm running on ice
Where did my life go wrong

You've got to run, run, run, run, oh
You've got to run, run, run, run, oh

As fast as I can climb
A new disaster every time I turn around
As soon as I get one fire put out
There's another building burning down

They say this highway's going my way
But I don't know where it's taking me
It's a bad waste, a sad case, a rat race
It's breaking me, oh

I get no traction 'cause I'm running on ice
It's taking me twice as long
I get a bad reaction 'cause I'm running on ice
Where did my life go wrong?

You've got to run, run, run, run, oh
Run, run, run, run, run, run, oh

Running on ice
Running on ice
Slippin' and slidin', running on ice
Running on ice, slippin' and slidin'
Running on ice

Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer/songwriter, producer, and composer who ranks as one of the most iconic and influential artists from the mid to late 20th century.

He is the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, wrote a total of 121 songs that achieved 33 Top 40 hits in the US, a 6-time Grammy winner out of 23 nominations, and one of the best-selling recording artists of all-time with 150 million albums sold worldwide.

Joel has since continued to tour and sells out in stadiums globally. He also delved into classical music composition, arranging an album, Fantasies and Delusions released in 2001, opened a motorcycle shop on his native Long Island, and is now regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Among his numerous accolades, he was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, bestowed with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2013, and awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress in 2014.

more tracks from the album

The Bridge

From the album

The Bridge (1986)

Billy Joel popular songs

Running on IceBilly Joel

Billy Joel

The Bridge