Q: Context: "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" is a song by American singer-song writer Billy Joel from the album Piano Man. It was also issued as a single in the UK backed with "If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You)."

Question: who wrote the ballad of billy the kid?
Let's give stream of consciousness below
The relevant information to answer the above question is: "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" is a song by American singer-song writer Billy Joel from the album Piano Man. So the answer is American singer - song writer Billy Joel.