Ka kammala wannan furcin: Joel ya yi tunanin wannan waƙar sa'ad da ya cika shekara 40. Ya kasance a cikin ɗakin rikodi kuma ya sadu da wani aboki mai shekaru 21 na Sean Lennon wanda ya ce "Yana da mummunar lokaci don zama 21!" Joel ya amsa masa, "Ee, na tuna lokacin da nake 21 <unk> Na yi tunanin cewa lokaci ne mai ban tsoro kuma muna da Vietnam, kuma y'know, matsalolin miyagun ƙwayoyi, da matsalolin 'yanci na jama'a kuma duk abin da ya zama mummunan abu". Abokinsa ya amsa, "I, amma ba haka yake da kai ba. Kai yaro ne a shekarun hamsin kuma kowa ya san cewa babu abin da ya faru a shekarun hamsin". Joel ya amsa, "Jira minti daya, ba ka ji na Korean War ko da
Rikicin Ruwa na Suez?" Daga baya Joel ya ce waɗannan kanun labarai sun zama jigon waƙar. Joel kuma ya soki waƙar a kan tushen kiɗa kawai. A cikin 1993, lokacin da yake tattaunawa da shi tare da mai shirya fina-finai David Horn, Joel ya kwatanta abubuwan da ke cikin sautin da ba shi da kyau ga waƙarsa "The Longest Time": "Ku ɗauki waƙa kamar 'Ba mu fara Wuta ba.' Gaskiya ba waƙar kirki ba ce... Idan ka ɗauki waƙar da kanta, mummunan. Kamar yadda likitan hakori drill. "