Billy Joel Wears Yellow Star of David at New York Show Amid Rising Neo-Nazi Activity

[DFW]

18. When he was in the Soviet Union

He wrote a tribute song to the Russian people ("Leningrad" ) and then closed his show there with "don't take any shit from anybody," a tall order in the Brezhnyev era.

This gesture is a major one for Joel, who rarely tended to make any kind of statement beyond his music, though he often addressed contemporary themes in his songs, like the dying rust belt ("Allentown" ), the dying out of professions and people being priced away from their homes ("Downeaster Alexa" ), Vietnam Vets ("Goodnight Saigon" ), depression ("Only Human" ), etc.