Brinkley writes in her memoir that it started out as a song for a "mystery girl" Joel had been having phone conversations with, but when his relationship with Brinkley began, he finished it in her honor. Their relationship was then immortalized in the hit song's iconic music video, in which Brinkley appears in.

The model “never wanted” to end things with the ‘Uptown Girl’ singer, but in the end had to make the decision to leave.