Draft:Summer, Highland Falls
1976 song by Billy Joel
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"Summer, Highland Falls" is a song written and sung by Billy Joel, and the second song recorded on his fourth studio album Turnstiles in 1976. It follows an atypical format as the lyrics do not contain the title or a chorus. The song is one of Joel's lesser known with 26 million streams on Spotify as of June 2026,[1] but has achieved a sort of "cult classic" status among his fans.[2][3]
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Declined by Fade258 15 months ago.
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Submission declined on 9 January 2025 by LexiCrafter (talk). This draft is not adequately supported by reliable sources. Wikipedia's verifiability policy requires that all content be supported by reliable sources.
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Comment: YouTube is not a reliable sources. Fade258 (talk) 09:05, 10 May 2025 (UTC)
| "Summer, Highland Falls" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Billy Joel | |
| from the album Turnstiles | |
| Released | May 19, 1976 |
| Studio | Ultra Sonic Studio in Hempstead, New York, U.S. |
| Genre | Soft Rock |
| Length | 3:19 |
| Label | Columbia Records |
| Songwriter | Billy Joel |
| Producer | Billy Joel |
Origins and composition
The song's title, which is conspicuously absent from the song itself, refers to a town in upstate New York. Joel said that he wrote the ballad during the summer he returned to Highland Falls, New York from Los Angeles, which formed the song's title. When asked on the inspiration for the song Joel claimed that during the time he spent in Highland Falls he felt that "life wasn't as simple as it used to be," that he recognized he "had faults [he] needed to correct," and that "the relationship [he'd] had with a woman wasn't as perfect as [he] wanted it to be."[4]
Joel said in an interview that the song is a testament to his "manic depressive" tendencies, which is reflected in the music's composition.[4] The song opens with an arpeggiated piano introduction coupled with rising and falling power chords, which Joel claims gives the song its "manic energy."[5] The lyrics also demonstrate this sentiment due to the fact that the only repetition the song has are the words "it's either sadness or euphoria."
Reception
Upon release, neither the song nor the album fared exceptionally well. Turnstiles stalled out at 122 on the United States Billboard 200[6] and in his Shea Stadium concert Joel introduced the song by claiming that it "was not a hit single in any way, shape, or form."[7]
Despite the lack of commercial success, Joel said that while the song "was never a single" he "thought that [it] was a very important song for [him]."[8] His longtime drummer Liberty DeVitto agreed, claiming that upon hearing the song it was the first time he felt that Joel was a great songwriter.[9] Joel's first daughter, Alexa Ray, said on Joel's Sirius XM channel that it is her "favorite of [her] father's songs."[10]
The song is considered one of Joel's best by his fans.[11] A Rolling Stone reader's poll named it as his best deep cut of all time[12] and in his Millennium Concert fans voted for Joel to play it over the alternative of Vienna;[13] one of his most popular songs.[14]
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