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