Billy Joel New York state of mind - Billy Joel New York state of mind

What this video is

Produced in 2021 by the all-volunteer civic organization NYCNext, this music video was a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic's devastation of New York City's cultural and economic life. With Billy Joel's blessing, the organization re-recorded his 1976 Turnstiles classic as an extended collaborative performance spanning all five boroughs. The project was explicitly designed to counter the 'New York is dead'…

Why it matters

This video represents a distinct sub-genre: the civic tribute music video, in which a pre-existing pop standard is re-recorded and re-visualized as an act of collective urban identity affirmation. Its documentary-realist aesthetic, relay-vocal structure across dozens of contributors, and…

The director

Joshua Seftel (born July 17, 1968, Schenectady, NY) is an American documentary filmmaker and director. He began his career with Emmy-nominated Lost and Found (1990) about Romania's orphaned children. Credits include Emmy-winning Queer Eye for the Straight…