Is "Close to the Borderline" Billy Joel's idea of punk?

I'd always heard this song as Billy Joel's take on -- well, let's not even say heavy metal, let's say hard rock. But today I was listening to Glass Houses and was hearing really loudly the new-waviness of the keyboards and even sometimes the vocals/guitars on "Sometimes a Fantasy" and "Sleeping with the Television On" and started thinking about how I was listening to "Still Rock N Roll To Me" in the wrong way, probably. BJ is probably not going for "trends are stupid, I ignore them and play rock n roll as it was meant to be" but rather "Names for trends are stupid, all these styles are just mild variations on rock n roll and thus I, Billy Joel, can play them as well or better than the people labeled new wave / punk / whatever." Then "Close to the Borderline" came on and I heard something in it I'd never noticed before -- namely, the rolled R that starts the line "Rich man, poor man, either way American / shoved into the lost and found." This vocal tic doesn't appear anywhere else in Billy Joel that I know of -- what can it possibly be except him saying, "look, this is my Sex Pistols song?"

Maybe I'm overthinking this.

Also, is Wikipedia's claim that GH is a response to This is the Modern World completely made up? I see no non-Wikipedia cites for it anywhere, and it seems weird to me.

Like, the Jam? That's the first I ever of that; sounds like total baloney. I've always heard a lot of Elvis Costello (or maybe the more Joel-like Joe Jackson?) (maybe Cars too) on the album myself. But either way, yeah, Glass Houses was absolutely considered his new wave move at the time, like Linda Ronstadt's Mad Love the same year. Seemed like common knowledge at the time. Not sure whether he'd heard the Dictators' sleeping-with-TV-on song or not. And I'd never thought of the "Close To The Borderline"/punk connection -- nice theory, though!

Not a bad take on it. I still think he's mocking Billy Squier though.

It would be interesting to find some old interviews where he cites exactly what he'd been listening to. It sounds like he'd maybe listened to some Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, but not sure about any punk.

Joel's take on metal

http://unionpacific.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/attila1.jpg

Sour Grapes from Old Fogeys

Speaking as someone who owns a 'Punk Steely Dan' tee, I'm not sure what to think when the same approach is taken with Mr. Joel...

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2176/9085/products/longesttimefinal_2048x2048.png?v=1648829829

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2176/9085/products/MYLIFE_2a57f4ab-8105-4352-a0c3-0990ba56daa5_1080x1080.png?v=1645118980

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2176/9085/products/alonefinal_1080x1080.png?v=1648829660

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2176/9085/products/startthefire_1080x1080.png?v=1645831376

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2176/9085/products/PianoMan_1080x1080.png?v=1647290986

The Piano Man one is kinda clever.