<P> Joel shared that the melody and chord progression for this song came to him while he was dreaming . In an interview on the Howard Stern Radio Show on November 16 , 2010 , Joel revealed that the inspiration for writing the name of the song and how it sounds in the chorus was directly taken from the last line in the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song `` Rag Doll '' ; which incidentally was also a larger inspiration for Joel 's later song , `` Uptown Girl '' . The song , which Joel had written for his first wife ( and also his business manager at the time ) Elizabeth Weber , was not liked by either Joel or his band , and Joel had originally decided against making the track a part of The Stranger , but at the request of both Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow ( both were recording in other studios in the same building at the time ) , he agreed to put the song on the final mix . However , the album 's producer , Phil Ramone , later contradicted Joel 's claim , stating in an interview that they could not afford to exclude the song because Joel did not have that much material to choose from for the album . </P>
<P> Joel shared that the melody and chord progression for this song came to him while he was dreaming . In an interview on the Howard Stern Radio Show on November 16 , 2010 , Joel revealed that the inspiration for writing the name of the song and how it sounds in the chorus was directly taken from the last line in the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song `` Rag Doll '' ; which incidentally was also a larger inspiration for Joel 's later song , `` Uptown Girl '' . The song , which Joel had written for his first wife ( and also his business manager at the time ) Elizabeth Weber , was not liked by either Joel or his band , and Joel had originally decided against making the track a part of The Stranger , but at the request of both Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow ( both were recording in other studios in the same building at the time ) , he agreed to put the song on the final mix . However , the album 's producer , Phil Ramone , later contradicted Joel 's claim , stating in an interview that they could not afford to exclude the song because Joel did not have that much material to choose from for the album . </P>
who did billy joel write just the way you are for
who did billy joel write just the way you are for
his first wife Elizabeth Weber
his first wife Elizabeth Weber