Billy Joel » Tracks » Piano Man

Billy Joel – Piano Man (5:37)

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About This Track

“Piano Man” was Billy Joel’s first major hit and is considered Joel’s signature song. The verses of the song are sung from the point of view of a bar piano player who focuses mainly on everyone else at the bar: John the bartender, the waitress, and bar regulars like Paul and Davy. Most of these characters have unfulfilled dreams, and the pianist’s job, it seems, is to help them “forget about life for a while”. The chorus, in bar-room sing-along style, comes from the bar patrons themselves, who plead, “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 feeling alright.”

“Piano Man” has been released as a single and on several albums.

“Piano Man” is a fictionalized retelling of real people Joel met during his days as a piano-lounge singer in Los Angeles, after the failure of his first album, Cold Spring Harbor. Joel’s own personal feelings about this failure are expressed in the failed dreams of the characters in his song. At the time, Joel was trying to get out of a bad deal with the record company Family Productions, so, according to Joel, he was “hiding out” at the bar, performing under the name Bill Martin while Columbia Records tried to get him out of the deal.
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Albums featuring this track

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  • TWHsr

    Still good.

    yesterday morning

  • kisnapraforgo

    "Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star If I could get out of this place"

    Sunday afternoon

  • thisgirldesire

    one of my favorites. <3

    last week

  • XT500

    Just like this song, I refuse to get old!

    last week

  • futchadoc

    I loved this song since I was a little kid and it was on one of the tapes my parents played in the car on road trips!

    18 days ago

  • TWHsr

    Can't get enough of this.

    20 days ago

  • Druid66

    Basically his life story up to that point, if memory serves. A lot of poignant stuff in here... "Davy who's still in the Navy, and probably will be for life" is a lot of biography in two lines.

    21 days ago

  • tomkolbe

    what a fantastic song

    21 days ago

  • TheLukieBoi1

    Every time i was in the car with my Dad we'd listen to this song.

    last month

  • gungh0

    Wish I could sit in that bar & hear him sing me a song.

    last month

  • dechrisi

    can't explain my feelings...it's...just...awesome

    last month

  • DeathNoteAddict

    First heard this song from my parent's music... It's old, but brilliant... Absolutely brilliant. <3

    last month

  • MikesDmusic

    Friends of mine used to claim Billy hid in their closet to get ideas for songs. It can seem that way.

    March 2012

  • Rockinfreddy

    großartig

    March 2012

  • RocketmanPaul

    Go on sing us a song Billy

    March 2012

  • JuniorMcCartney

    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 younger man's clothes"

    March 2012

  • Miss_Calvero

    ♥

    March 2012

  • TWHsr

    Love this, takes me back.

    March 2012

  • rockandrolljoe

    Billy Joel

    March 2012

  • zeralus

    SING US A SONG, YOU'RE THE PIANO MAN. PUT SOME COKE ON MY DICK TONIGHT

    February 2012
See all 509 shouts

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