This is a series of posts about the music I play while writing. This time we’re up to Piano Man by written and sung by Billy Joel. Released in 1973 first as a single and then on his album, Piano Man this was his first major hit and in time became his signature song. It’s hard to imagine listening to a Joel concert and him not playing this song.
Piano Man is largely autobiographical as it’s based on Joel’s real experience play in a piano bar durning 1972. The story goes that Joel had signed a record contract with a company that wasn’t really working out when Columbia Records got interested in him. Joel decided he wanted to move to Columbia, but his current contract made that difficult so he decided to hide out for a while in L.A while Columbia’s lawyers worked to get him out of the contract. He still needed to earn a living so he took a job at a bar playing the piano while hiding out from the first record company.
The whole song came from Joel’s observations of the customers at the bar. The music is simple and so are the lyrics. It’s simple poetry and as Joel once observed they limerick like. The power of the song is in those simple lyrics and how they tell a good story in few words. For example, take the line, “Now Paul is a real estate novelist / Who Never had time for a wife” here we get the life story of a man in just two lines of seven words each. In those 14 lines we learn Paul writes novels, is a real estate agent and hasn’t been married. Similarly this leads to learn about “Davy who’s still in the navy.”
The lines about Davy bring to my mind the image of a few sailors I’ve know and I can just see Petty Officer Davy leaning on the bar drinking a beer. The conversation between Paul and Davy is likely about politics or maybe Paul’s telling stories about his time in the military.
There’s nothing overly sophisticated about this song, like the rhyme “Davy in the Navy,” but that doesn’t get in the way of us getting a full picture of the activity in the bar from the customers, to the bar tender, manager and even the waitress. The waitress in the song is actually Joel’s first wife Elizabeth Weber who worked at the same bar while Joel played the piano.
Joel has written a lot of music, having had 33 make the top 40 list and much of that far more complex music and lyrics. Still, it is the simplicity and clear story that always bring me back to this song. Like so many of the songs on my writing play list Piano Man gets my brain into a story telling mood and as the song says, “Gets me feeling alright.”
One of my favorite versions is this one:
Andrew's View of the Week 
I never tire of this song, even if I’d choose another Billy Joel song as my favorite (maybe “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”). As you say, the lyrics paint a straightforward perspective from the piano player, similar to observations the bartender might make. It’s remarkable Joel is still performing after all these years.
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He is an amazing talent.
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I’ve always enjoyed Billy Joel’s music. And once my hubby and I went to one of his concerts. It was amazing.
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I’ve never been to one of his concerts, I’ve wanted to but it’s never worked out.
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Another good oldie. I haven’t heard this one in a long time too.
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One of my favorites!
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I’ve liked that song for years / decades / since 1974. Never saw that video. Thank you for sharing Andrew.
Happy Resurrection Day!
Franknbean
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It’s always been a favorite of mine.
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Oh, wow! What a blast from the past! Piano Man has been one of my favourites for decades, but I’ve never seen this video. Billy Joel looks so young! And that hair! It made me laugh out loud with a mix of delight and nostalgia.
Those weren’t exactly the ‘good old days’, though – the ‘bar atmosphere’ comes through so powerfully, right down to the lone woman evading the handsy guys. Thanks for this – I’ll have to get out my Billy Joel albums and listen to them (yet again). :-)
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It’s been a favorite of mine since I first heard it way back when.
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Boy I love this song. I really enjoy the series you are doing on your favorite music, too. This brings me back to my high school days when this song was the backdrop of so many good memories. I still have it on many of my playlists and never tire of it. Isn’t it funny how music can be like that? We can hear the song over and over and still enjoy it more each time. I love the simplicity and I also enjoy the pictures that fill our heads of the characters as we listen. We fill in the stories with our own thoughts and interpretations. So much comes from a simple melody and words!
Thanks again for your thoughts. A wonderful post.
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I never get tired of this song – it’s one I listen to over and over.
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Billy Joel has one of those voices. Good choice to motivate your writing.
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I love this song.
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