The Nylon Curtain is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on September 23, 1982, and produced by Phil Ramone.

[6] Saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Richie Cannata left the band prior to recording, so Joel, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, drummer Liberty DeVitto and guitarists David Brown and Russell Javors recorded the album mostly by themselves, thus making it Joel's first album since Streetlife Serenade not to feature a regular saxophonist, although Eddie Daniels plays clarinet on the closing track "Where's the Orchestra?"

Regarding the album's themes, Joel has stated "It was during the Reagan years, and the diminishing horizons in America at the time [meant that] all of a sudden you weren't going to be able to inherit [the kind of life] your old man had.

"[7] He said that although he doesn't provide solutions to the dilemma, he "hope[d] the record speaks like someone in that age group, if only just to tie us all together as people, as an entity.

Joel wrote the melody for "Allentown" eight years before finishing it, later completing the lyrics in time for inclusion on The Nylon Curtain.

Joel wanted to avoid creating a political song that took sides, instead opting to describe things entirely from the soldiers' point-of-view in the midst of the action.

[9][10] The song opens and closes with the sound of the rotors spinning on a Bell UH-1 Iroquois (or "Huey"), a military helicopter which was heavily used during the Vietnam War.

The B-side of The Nylon Curtain opens with "She's Right On Time", an uplifting love song, to contrast with the more serious tone of the preceding "Goodnight Saigon."

", is about a man who goes to see a live play expecting a musical, only to realize that it's a regular stage show; according to Joel, this is a metaphor for life, specifically the realization that it's not as grand and over-the-top as it is sometimes made out to be.