Billy Joel Tells Bill Maher He Doesn’t Care About Criticism From The ‘Woke’ Left

Legendary singer Billy Joel told Bill Maher that he’s not affected by criticism he receives from the “woke” Left, which in the past has included pushback on songs like “Angry Young Man” and “Goodnight Saigon.”

The 76-year-old singer discussed his thoughts during Monday’s episode of the “Club Random” podcast. Maher brought up how leftists are “snippy” to things they disagree with, which Joel said he’s “inured to.”  

The conversation began with Maher discussing how many of Joel’s songs evoked the post-WWII generation that was “just very different.” The host brought up the singer’s 1976 song, “Angry Young Man,” as one example.

The lyrics say, “I believe I’ve passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage/ I found that just surviving is a noble fight/ I once believed in causes too/I had my pointless point of view, and life went on no matter who was wrong or right.”

“I feel like that is the message of the age, even though some people will hear that and say, ‘Look at these two a**holes,’” Maher said.

“Boomers,” Joel agreed, offering an example of how he and Maher might be criticized for expressing those views.

Maher next mentioned how upset the Left gets when people don’t say, “Trump’s the worst.”

“Ok but even if we admit that … this is also true,” he added.

The podcast host also brought up criticism about Joel’s “Goodnight Saigon” song about the Vietnam War, which included the lyrics, “And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn’t matter in the thick of the fight.”

“Do you still feel that way?” Maher asked Joel. 

“Yes,” the singer said. 

“And you don’t care what they say about you? The woke?” Maher asked.

“At this point, no,” Joel replied. “I’m inured to it … on the other hand, I’m always trying to find out the other point of view. What’s, you know, not my point of view … somebody else’s point of view. Okay, I’d like to understand why they think that way.”

“It’s so difficult in this day and age,” Maher replied. “I mean, it is what I am always trying to do on my show. Look, this is one safe space for everybody, and I will take the heat from … both sides. I mean, I do feel like the Left, who, ironically, I’m more actually aligned with, is more snippy about it, and has a worse attitude about it, and makes me viscerally not like them more sometimes.”

At another point, the two discussed how everything, including criticism, is different now. 

“People say things all the time on [social media] they would never say if they had to say it to your face,” Maher said.

“It just always surprises me how people express this hatred,” Joel agreed. “It’s like, you hate a musician because he wrote something?”

While Joel has a history of financially supporting Democratic candidates, he’s not a political activist like some of his contemporaries. He discussed his views during a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone.

“I don’t think I’m going to be politically involved. I find a lot of people resent celebrities touting their candidate,” he said at the time. “That can actually turn more people off than it can bring more people in. I admire people like Springsteen, who gets up there and touts a candidate. He’s a citizen and he has a right to do that. My experience has always been that people resent it when they go to see you do a show and you get up on a soapbox and spout politics.”