Root Beer Rag

"Root Beer Rag" is a song from Billy Joel's 1974 album Streetlife Serenade. An instrumental track in a very fast ragtime style, it was later released as the B-side of the "Honesty" single, and a live version was included with the DVD that was part of the 30th anniversary re-release of The Stranger.

Numerous cover versions of the song exist, notably by Ten Grands VIII and by Wise Guys. The original Billy Joel version was also used as the theme music to a 1980s sports program in New Zealand broadcast by TV One. It was also used in the 1980s on Radio Bayern 3 in Germany for the Saturday and Sunday late morning show called Musikbox. The song is in C major and makes up one of three studio instrumentals that he has released.

"Root Beer Rag" was also the name of a Billy Joel newsletter (now defunct) published in the late 1970's to early 1980's.

In the liner notes, unlike other songs on the album, which under the title tells about the inspiration or story behind each song, on this song Joel notes simply "I love root beer". He goes on to say:

I got my first Moog Synthesizer. This was in the mid 70s and I got my first Moog and I put it on every record. I said 'I have to write an instrumental where I can use this Moog Synthesizer. It kinda turned me off the synthesizers forever after. That's why I wrote that song. Just purely out of stupid self indulgence!

—Billy Joel, An Evening of Questions & Answers and Perhaps a Few Songs