[2] The song was written by Joel, Freddy Wexler (who also produced the track), Arthur Bacon, and Wayne Hector.

[7] Joel stopped making pop music after River of Dreams in 1993,[8] although he continued to receive offers from other artists to collaborate on new material.

Wexler recalled that they "found these very unique points of commonality in the first 15 minutes of sitting together" and ended up chatting for two hours.

Two years after their original meeting, Wexler presented Joel with "Turn the Lights Back On", who agreed to record it.

The music video features artificial intelligence technology developed by Deep Voodoo, which was used to portray younger versions of Joel performing the song.

[13] Set in Manhattan's United Palace, the music video begins with Joel flipping a notebook page containing the lyrics for "Famous Last Words", the final track on his River of Dreams album.