Billy Joel

Released: October 17, 1989

Songwriter: Billy Joel

Producer: Mick Jones (Foreigner) Billy Joel

[Verse 1]
Call me a joker, call me a fool
Right at this moment I'm totally cool
Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife
I feel like I'm in the prime of my life
Sometimes it feels like I'm going too fast
I don't know how long
This feeling will last
Maybe it's only tonight

[Chorus]
Darling, I don't know
Why I go to extremes
Too high or too low
There ain't no in-betweens
And if I stand or I fall
It's all or nothing at all
Darling, I don't know
Why I go to extremes

[Verse 2]
Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I'm shot
Sometimes I don't know
How much more I've got
Maybe I'm headed over the hill
Maybe I've set myself up for the kill
Tell me how much
Do you think you can take
Until the heart in you
Is starting to break?
Sometimes it feels like it will

[Chorus]
Darling, I don't know
Why I go to extremes
Too high or too low
There ain't no in-betweens
You can be sure when I'm gone
I won't be out there too long
Darling, I don't know
Why I go to extremes

[Verse 3]
Out of the darkness, into the light
Leaving the scene of the crime
Either I'm wrong
Or I'm perfectly right every time
Sometimes I lie awake, night after night
Coming apart at the seams
Eager to please, ready to fight
Why do I go to extremes?

[Bridge]
And if I stand or I fall
It's all or nothing at all
Darling, I don't know
Why I go to extremes

[Chorus]
Oh, I don't know
Why I go to extremes
Too high or too low
There ain't no in-betweens
You can be sure when I'm gone
I won't be out there too long
Darling, I don't know
Why I go to extremes

[Outro]
I don't know why
I don't know why
I don't know why
I don't know why
I don't know why
I don't know why
Out of the dark, into the lights
Either I'm wrong
Or I'm perfectly right
I don't know why

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 Essential Billy Joel

From the albums

Billy Joel popular songs

I Go to ExtremesBilly Joel

Billy Joel

The Essential Billy Joel