Weird Al Yankovic Parodies Billy Joel’s ‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me’ With ‘It’s Still Billy Joel to Me’ in 1983

In a rare, unreleased performance from 1983, a bespectacled, mustachioed and curly haired Weird Al Yankovic very cleverly parodied the Billy Joel song “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me“. Yankovic instead made the song about the Piano Man and substituted the lyrics of the chorus with “It’s Still Billy Joel to Me“. Very meta.

So he tried to change his musical style
He tossed all his ballads in the circular file
Then he found the punk sound
Breakin’ ground all around
It’s still Billy Joel to me…

Woah, it doesn’t matter what the critics say about him
‘Cause he doesn’t worry how they feel
When you’re record’s sellin’ millions and it’s goin’ triple platinum
You don’t worry ’bout your next meal
‘Cause money is no big deal
Don’t you know about the record business, honey
You gotta be trendy if you wanna make some money…

Now everybody’s sayin’ that he sure sounds funny
But it’s still Billy Joel to me

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.