Billy Joel on "Christmas in Fallujah"

Do you think it's fair to call it a protest song or an anti-war song?

I think it's a song about a soldier, about a marine. People can take it anyway they want. I don't get up on a soapbox and do political messages. I believe in talking about the human being, and the conditions humans find themselves in.

Were topical songs something you avoided during your career?

I never liked when a rockstar got up on stage and told people how to vote. I find it insulting. But I believe if an artist feels strongly about something, it should be reflected in their art. Ultimately, everything's political. Even love is political.

This is the second song you have written in the past year. What caused you to start writing again?

Well, the other song you are referring to was really just written as a gift from me to my wife. I had no intention of releasing that as a recording. I always thought that would be done by a singer like Tony Bennett. I actually thought of Tony when I was writing it. It was more of a mental exercise. "I wonder if I can write a song that Tony Bennett would sing?" Tony actually likes the song, or that's what he told me, but he hasn't recorded it yet. That is how I thought something like that would come out. I really had no plans to release that, but Columbia knew that I did the recording as a gift to my wife and they wanted to put it out. I was like, "Well, you're the record company, you can do what you want."

I wanted to get "Christmas In Fallujah" recorded while it was still new. I don't like a song to sit around for a long time. It starts to get moth eaten, which is why it all came together so quickly. Other than that, I have really been writing songs. I have said this many times, but I have no intention of stopping myself from writing songs. I just haven't felt the motivation to write that kind of music. I am much more interested in instrumental music these days. I have no plans of having those recorded either. I am pretty much just doing it for my own edification and mental exercise really.