“(When) Billy Joel attempted suicide back in 1970 (by drinking furniture polish), it failed to kill him and he wrote the song “Tomorrow Is Today” as the suicide note,” (Songfacts). “Later on, he was asked if he could write a song that could help prevent teenage suicide. Joel agreed, but the first recording concerned him because it had a dreary and depressing tone that he thought might give troubled teens the wrong message. So, he created a new version, ‘You’re Only Human (Second Wind),’ with bouncy, joyous beats and lyrics about personal forgiveness and optimism for life.
… Joel noticeably hesitates with one of the verse lines and laughs after it. He decided to keep this mistake … because it seemed to be proof of his personal fallibility, as in the line ‘You probably don’t want to hear advice from someone else, but I wouldn’t be telling you if I hadn’t been there myself.'” The track was released on Joel’s 1985 album Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.
Built in Bb overall, the track features a short chorus in Db major (first heard at 0:59 – 1:14), but it seems that the lyrics-packed verses and energetic groove are very much the main drivers here.
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