Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Billy Joel - Piano Man - Friggin awesome lalalalaala



It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory?
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes"

La la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Chorus:
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As the smile ran away from his face
"Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place"

Oh, la la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talkin' with Davy who's still in the navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinkin' alone

Chorus

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see
To forget about life for a while
And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"

Oh, la la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Chorus


They say this song is actually based on real events that happened while billy joel was playing at small piano bars or bars in general while he was getting screwed over with a contract. THe people in the song real and everythign about them real and the waitress who is practicing politics is his first ex wife.

Piano bars are notorious places for various people who have given up on life or who are at dead ends. The place of the "confirmed bachelor" as the cliche goes.

In any event, the song is great because it just illustrates so well how a simple musician can inspire so many people and great sing along tune

1 comment:

Svejjen said...

Argh... just wait until I can play it on the piano...