HE’S GOT A WAY ABOUT HIM

Billy Joel has explored his synesthesia a little — but purposefully not enough to demystify it.

The Piano Man told me for the book Tasting the Universe that he wants to be careful not to get too clinical about his rare ability to see corresponding color to musical genres and even letters lest it vanish. And who would blame him? Synesthesia has helped him be the prolific songwriter the world loves. It provides inspiration. This interview first appeared in that book.

“If I figure it out, somehow the sorcery disappears. Because I don’t want to become formulaic with it; I kind of like the spontaneity and the mystery of it all. It’s very intriguing to me.”

Mr. Joel expresses something all we synesthetes feel — there is an ineffable quality to the gift. To ascribe it to unpruned neurons or lack of chemical inhibition alone — two of the dominant theories — somehow takes the magic away. And further, we can’t imagine life without these impressions and even like them. Perhaps synesthesia is a function of consciousness as much as anatomy.

Dr. Richard Cytowic, a pioneering neuroscientist, does recognize that synesthesia is an emotional experience, “accompanied by a sense of certitude (the ‘this is it’ feeling)” which he compares to William James’ description of religious ecstasy, and noesis (an illumination accompanied by a feeling of…