Leave A Tender Moment Alone

Album: An Innocent Man (1983)
Charted: 29 27
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this ballad from Billy Joel's 1983 album An Innocent Man, he is overcome with his feelings for a girl but isn't sure how to express them. Instead of ruining the moment by saying the wrong thing, he decides to relax and "leave a tender moment alone."
  • The An Innocent Man album is Joel's tribute to music of the late '50s and early '60s. That throwback sound was well received; the first two singles, "Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl," were huge hits. They were followed by "An Innocent Man" and "The Longest Time," with "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" the fifth single.

    Joel's audience was getting a little older by this point ("Piano Man" was 1973!) and seemed to appreciate the retro vibe. Four of those singles went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart - the only one that didn't was "Uptown Girl."
  • This features veteran jazz musician Toots Thielemans, who's famous for his harmonica playing on a number of film soundtracks, including Midnight Cowboy, and the opening and closing theme songs of long-running PBS series Sesame Street, among other ventures.

    Joel said he finally found the elusive sound he was searching for in Toots' harmonica. "I couldn't find the right instrument for that song. A saxophone? A keyboard? No, I was stuck," he recalled in an anniversary book about the musician. "Until producer Phil Ramone said to me: 'I got the guy!' And he brought Toots Thielemans to the studio. When Toots began to play, my mouth fell open wide. The man was amazing! Toots played one riff after another and every note was like honey.'"
  • Like the Supremes-inspired "Tell Her About It," this also has similarities to Motown hits of the '60s. Says Joel, "'Leave A Tender Moment Alone' sounds like an old Motown-track, like Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations and Smokey Robinson made them. I tried to sing like those Motown-guys, and Toots was like an extra voice dancing happily around mine. He really exudes some incredible energy and joie de vivre.'"
  • In a 2016 Sirius XM interview, Joel also said the rhythm was similar to a Burt Bacharach tune such as "What the World Needs Now Is Love."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gary Lewis

Gary LewisSongwriter Interviews

Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.

AC/DC

AC/DCFact or Fiction

Does Angus really drink himself silly? Did their name come from a sewing machine? See if you can spot the real stories about AC/DC.

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde of The PretendersSongwriter Interviews

The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.