Billy Joel’s catalogue is packed with instantly recognizable classics — songs that have soundtracked weddings, road trips and countless personal memories. From piano-driven anthems to jazz-tinged explorations, his work is so carefully crafted that it’s easy to forget just how meticulously he approached his craft. But even for a songwriter as thoughtful and disciplined as Joel, not every idea hit the mark the way he intended.
Joel has long been candid about his songwriting, treating it as both a profession and a craft rather than an effortless gift. That approach means there were times when he felt like he was simply spinning his wheels — and he’s been honest about one particular song in his catalogue that he now views as a rare misstep: “When in Rome.”
Released on the Storm Front album in 1989, “When in Rome” emerged from a familiar proverb — “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” To Joel, however, that familiar phrase ended up sounding trite when translated into a pop song. He has described the track in blunt terms, calling it “one of my crappy songs” and admitting that the idea didn’t live up to its potential.
“It’s a cliché: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ It’s one of my crappy songs. I wish I could take that one back.”
For an artist who agonized over every melody and lyric, that kind of self-critique is revealing. Joel’s frustration wasn’t about production or performance — it was about the song’s lack of depth, thematic originality, and the sense that he was creatively tapped out when he wrote it.
Part of Joel’s disappointment also stems from how “When in Rome” sat within the broader context of Storm Front. Just one track later on the album is “And So It Goes,” a song that Joel considers among the strongest of his career. That contrast only highlighted how underbaked “When in Rome” felt by comparison.
While Storm Front helped revive Joel’s chart success and produced several memorable hits, this particular cut has never been celebrated by the artist himself. It serves as a rare example of Joel publicly acknowledging that not all his output met his own standards.
Even for a songwriter of Joel’s stature, admitting that a song didn’t work is part of understanding his own creative process. His willingness to critique his own work — especially something that made it onto a major album — reflects a broader philosophy: that songwriting is a discipline, and you can’t always rely on phrases or familiar turns of language to carry a song.
In a career filled with enduring classics — from “Piano Man” and “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” to “Uptown Girl” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire” — Joel’s frank comments about “When in Rome” remind fans that even the best artists have moments they’d rather leave behind.
