One of Billy Joel’s biggest hits from his “Glass Houses” album was 1980’s “Don’t Ask Me Why:” a song about a pretentious woman who seems to have forgotten her humble roots–most likely on purpose..

It was inspired in part from a trip Billy took to Madrid, Spain…and written as sort of a spoof on the music you’d hear in Spanish movies of the 1940s.

The backstory on this song is filled with fun facts:

#1: Near the end of the song,, Billy deliberately pronounces “Ask” as “Axe” to illustrate the woman in question is not as sophisticated as she thinks she is.

#2: The piano solo was actually 15 pianos overdubbed for effect

And #3: The flamenco-style tapping in the background was actually Billy tapping out the rhythm while wearing a pair of borrowed hi-heeled shoes on his HANDS.

“Don’t Ask Me Why” topped the Adult Contemporary Charts in both the US and Canada…and here’s Fun Fact #4: It peaked at #42 in both France and The Netherlands–the only other countries where it charted at all!

“Don’t Ask Me Why” by Billy Joel is a Great Song of 1980!

For the stories behind more than 1,500 Great Songs of the ’70s and ’80s, visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk