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Piano Man Lyrics

Performed by Billy Joel
Review The Song (74)

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, di da da
La la, di di da da dum

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 all feelin' all right

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke and he'll light up your smoke
But there's some place that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As his 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, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

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 businessman slowly gets stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinkin' alone

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 got us all feeling alright

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 their 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, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

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 got us all feeling alright

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My innermost interpretation | Reviewer: Drew | 5/16/12

This song is basically telling the listener to relax and let go of the events so they can unwind and be themselves(generic interpretation). But what I truthfully think and can relate to is that life can be a blur and we don't have time to screw around or someone will have to retell us the story.

about | Reviewer: Caleb | 4/20/12

actual, piano man is what billy joe was called as a child and this was an experience he shared with many people, the ones who where lucky enough to know billy joe where more fortunate than most

Piano Man. | Reviewer: Steve C. | 1/3/12

So the businessman gets STONED?? I just thought that it was a poetic rhyming with alone and that the word was "Done", as in gets done with his job, anyway, glad to see what the last stanza's line about the beer smelling was, I was wondering WHAT the hell the Beer SMELLED like!:)

ANd the best Billy Joel song.

Sensations | Reviewer: MarKoala | 12/29/11

Bueno, esta canción representa algo diferente para cada persona, a algunos los hace sentirse felices, a otros no les gusta, otros se sienten melancólicos, otros empiezan a tratar de ver cosas ocultas dentro de ella y realmente "ven lo que quieren ver". Pero hay algo muy cierto en esta canción... que cumple su propósito pues nos hace olvidarnos de nuestras vidas por un momento para concentrarnos en otra cosa...

You know what I think this song is about? | Reviewer: Grody | 12/5/11

I think this song is about a guy who plays piano at a bar. Hey, look, Wikipedia agrees with me:

"'Piano Man' is a fictionalized retelling of Joel's experience as a piano-lounge singer in Los Angeles at the Executive Lounge and Joel has stated that all of the characters depicted in the song were based on real people."

put it to rest | Reviewer: ??? | 11/15/11

so... to put to end this hate on Jesus guy, and to show that ecryone is right, let me say one thing in general about art. art is, just like this sone, what you interpret it to be. "piano man" can be about jesus and the cross.
jesus guy did a great job comparing it to the bible, so nice job doing that... not neccisaraly meaning i agree with it, but...

just as well, it could also be about an avrage day at the bar. people comeing to forget there sorrows and finding a feeling of togetherness... agan, im not saying i agree with this, but...

so lets just drop this whole thing and talk about what is really important. the song, and how YOU interpret it, not how we think others are wrong.

Really | Reviewer: Anonymous | 11/14/11

I never thought this had anything to do with Jesus or God but if that's what pepole want to think then go ahead you can but I think it's abour just sitting back, relaxing, and forgetting the world around you

answer to bunko paniczny | Reviewer: Gab | 11/1/11

Yeah you're right, it's a real nice song, and I don't know why, I also've been lovin' it 'till I'm very young... and for your question, I think that "real estate novelist" means that that guy is working in the real estate, but like many novelist is unknown and has very small incomes, even if he's tryin' hard... I know it's a bit simple, but most of the time, people who write songs go with simple things meaning deeper things, wich are really personnal, so you can have your own deep meaning for that, and the writer has its own, that can be really hard to find.By the way, I think it's "carnival" instead of "carnivore"...

what the hell... | Reviewer: bunko paniczny | 10/14/11

I love the song, yeah? always did; since i was 7 or 8? but for the life of me-WHAT in the HELL is a "Real Estate Novelist"??? does anybody have ANY idea? I understand EVERY single lyric in the whole song-but I have NEVER heard ANYONE referred to as: "A Real Estate Novelist"...so what gives?

This is how it goes... | Reviewer: RedMoonRising | 10/3/11

Piano Man is by far Billy Joel's best song because it speaks directly to the soul of everyone that listens to it. We've all felt alone, watching others, trying to just get by. We've been the Naval officer stuck in a job we probably don't want to stay in. We've been underemployed, lost, and in need of resting and finding ourselves again. After my longest relationship and I broke up, I listened to this song all the time. It makes me feel better. A little somber, but a little better.
You, sir, who feels the need to relate this song to the story of Jesus' life, have a problem. Not everything in this world is supposed to be related to a god that not everyone worships. And the people before me had a point: Billy Joel was Jewish, so there's no reason he'd ever write about Jesus. Really, there's no reason for me to post on this subject purely because reasonable points have already been made and therefore I am just venting about how ignorant you are, sir.

Some kid musician in high school | Reviewer: Anonymous | 9/13/11

When ever i hear this song, i feel like i'm billy playin' the piano. It makes me feel good and i forget about most things around me, but all this religious talk with the song is puting it off for me. In the analitical essays i did on this song there was no mention of religion, it may sound crude and disrespectful, but i'm just puting it out there

It's a beautiful piece With a good tune. | Reviewer: Jenna | 9/6/11

Everyone is focusing on the tiny negatives when the negatives don't really matter. Let's all at least try to find the positives or, 'look on the bright side' because it's not really that hard at all. One positive is, this song has got a great melody. A second and third positive is he's got a great voice, followed up with a great beginning, middle and end! Why should we care where he got the lyrics from?! It's a great song.

to the person who thinks this about jesus | Reviewer: Anonymous | 9/2/11

This comment is a little late but I just wanted to add in that I'm religious but when I first heard this song and every time I hear it, Jesus getting Hung on a cross is definitely not the image I get. No where near the image I get. And when I read what you posted on here i sensed a little bit of craziness. Just sayin.

re: piano man+story of jesus | Reviewer: kitty | 7/10/11

really? the song is NOT about the story of jesus, smart one. plus, you got all the details of jesus' life wrong, starting with your very first interpretation. jesus died on friday, not saturday. and then all the people you're assuming are meant to be biblical figures are just people... it's meant to be one of billy joel's stories based off of his experiences. the piano man and jesus may have some similarities, but you're missing the song's meaning.

To the story if Jesus guy | Reviewer: Mark | 6/27/11

Now i'm an atheist so religion is not my thing but one thing I do know is you ruined one of the greatest songs of all time. This song is about spending time in a place where you can sit back with a drink and literly forget about the world around you. That is what this song is about. I first heard this song when I was 2 and since then it has been locked into my top 2 ever since. I'm 22 now so you can all do the math.


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------ Performed by Billy Joel

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------ 05/26/2012

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