Don't Ask Me Why (Billy Joel song)

"Don't Ask Me Why"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album Glass Houses
Released July 24, 1980
Format 7"
Recorded 1980
Genre Pop rock, soft rock, folk rock
Length 2:59
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Billy Joel
Producer(s) Phil Ramone
Billy Joel singles chronology
"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"
(1980)		 "Don't Ask Me Why"
(1980)		 "Sometimes a Fantasy"
(1980)

"Don't Ask Me Why" is a Billy Joel song released in 1980. The lyrics talk about the oddities of life that have become obvious over time. It is more characteristic of a track that would have appeared on Joel's earlier albums in that it has a lighter folk sound as compared to the harder, more rock oriented tracks found throughout the album; the song supported public perception that Joel was a middle-of-the-road artist.[1] The background track contains all acoustic and Latin percussion instruments performing in an Afro-Cuban rhythmic style. An eclectic, instrumental "Latin Ballroom" piano solo, played over the bridge section after the second verse, is also featured in part of the song; Joel states that the mix for the midsection includes "fifteen pianos overdubbed on top of each other."[1] The song spent two weeks at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]

It was released as the third single from the album Glass Houses and later included on Greatest Hits Volume 2.

Chart positions

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Canadian Singles Chart[3] 4
Dutch Singles Chart 42
French Singles Chart[4] 42
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 19
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 1

Personnel

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bordowitz, Hank (2006). Billy Joel: The Life & Times of an Angry Young Man. New York: Billboard Books. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8230-8248-3. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 127.
  3. ↑ "RPM 100 Singles (Vol. 34, No. 2, October 25, 1980)". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  4. ↑ "InfoDisc : Bilan des Ventes par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2016-10-16.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.