"Piano Man" lyrics

"Piano Man"

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Making 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."

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

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 some place 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."

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talking 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 drinking alone

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

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 coming 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 doing here?"

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


Thanks to Alan Vaytsman for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Billy Joel
According to a 2010 interview, Billy Joel described real-life people from the bar "Executive Room" as the characters of this song. He revealed, "John was the bartender. Paul was this real-estate guy who wanted to write the great American novel, and Davey was a guy who was in the Navy. It's a true story and I knew when I was doing the gig, I said, 'I gotta get a song out of this,' and it worked out. Even the girl in the song that says, 'And the waitress is practicing politics, as the businessmen slowly get stoned,'—that was my first wife. She was working there too, as a waitress."
Billy Joel told Alec Baldwin during an appearance on Baldwin's "Here's the Thing" show, "Piano Man was not a hit record. It was a turntable hit. In other words, it didn't sell through, but this is back in the early '70s. In those days they still had FM progressive radio. Disc jockeys could spin whatever they wanted."
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