"Only the Good Die Young" is a song written and recorded by Billy Joel from his fifth studio album The Stranger, released in 1978 as its third of four singles.

Attempts to censor the song only made it more popular, after religious groups considered it anti-Catholic,[5] and pressured radio stations to remove it from their playlists.

[4] "When I wrote 'Only the Good Die Young', the point of the song wasn't so much anti-Catholic as pro-lust," Joel told Performing Songwriter magazine.

In 2023, Joel said of the song "It's occurred to me recently that I'm trying to talk some poor innocent woman into losing her virginity because of my lust.

[8] Cash Box said that "Billy grabs the fun with a rollicking, handclapping beat, raspy sax solo and racy piano licks.