[2] Joel wrote the song about a doomed relationship with model Elle Macpherson.

Joel dated Macpherson for only a brief time, and shortly after became involved with model Christie Brinkley.

The song was inspired by the Scottish ballad "Barbara Allen", and is unique for Joel as it is written in iambic tetrameter.

[3] In the original demo version of "And So It Goes," Joel sings the melody simply, accompanied by a simple piano backdrop, in a style very reminiscent of a hymn.

The King’s Singers and others have developed several vocal harmony arrangements of the song, which are often performed by high school and college choirs.