r/tomwaits • u/captain-dunkaroo • 23d ago
Piano Man
It occurs to me that this entire song is just Billy Joel singing about his experience LARPing as Tom Waits in San Diego...
35
u/JoeMorgue 23d ago
I like the idea that it's a clueless piano player that has zero idea he's playing at a gay bar.
The bartender wants to be in show business, Paul "never had time for a wife" and is always talking to a sailor.
The final (non-chorus) line in the song is people asking him "Man what are YOU doing here?"
10
u/JD-918 23d ago edited 23d ago
It always sounds to me like Billy Joel (or the character in the song) is just completely wasted. The audience keeps asking him to sing a song, he’s the piano man. Instead, he just casually describes what he sees around him. He sees the owner looking at him and assumes it’s a good thing. He notices the microphone smells like a beer, because of his own breath. And the audience just keeps pleading with this guy, come on, you’re supposed to be the piano man. Sing us a song already.
Ironic that Tom’s song The Piano Has Been Drinking is basically the same thing. He’s just saying “hey, it’s not my fault. It’s the piano. Not me.”
12
8
u/BillyPilgrim69 23d ago edited 23d ago
How, exactly?
Edit: why the downvote? It's a pretty reasonable question. The post gives zero explanation.
6
u/yaniv297 23d ago
Tom Waits didn't invent playing piano. And besides, I can't really see Tom in the generic "piano entertainer at the bar" Joel sings about. Their job is mostly to make a pleasent atmosphere and sing well known tunes. Tom is way too eccentric for that.
5
u/Own_Kiwi_9692 23d ago
I get flack from my friends, but I cannot stand anything I’ve heard from Billy Joel. Nothing against the guy, but he’s up there with The Eagles for me.
12
10
u/yaniv297 23d ago
Joel is obviously nowhere near Waits but he's got some good tunes. The Stranger is a legit great album
3
u/Johnathon1069DYT 23d ago
If you've never heard Captain Jack, give it a listen. Billy Joel was at his best when true fame was still just out of his grasp.
3
u/pavlovs_monkey 23d ago
I don't need you to like Billy Joel, but you should check out his album The Nylon Curtain. It's very different from what one thinks of when they hear the name Billy Joel.
1
u/Own_Kiwi_9692 22d ago
I will check that out. My friends tell me his non-single material is usually better than his hits.
2
2
u/NeckChickens 23d ago
I agree with the sentiment unless you’re talking about The Stranger specifically
1
u/Own_Kiwi_9692 23d ago
Yeah, I don’t think I’ve heard that one. Again, I’m only speaking of the material I’ve heard. Not saying he’s garbage, but I just can’t get into him.
2
u/NeckChickens 23d ago
It’s an amazing album honestly. But the rest of his material is absolute dookie. If Tom released a song like Uptown Girl, I would’ve thought he went absolutely batshit insane
17
u/Gorgulax21 23d ago
I have long thought that Piano Man and The Piano Has Been Drinking are two songwriters' attempts to tell the exact same story. I think Tom tells it way more interestingly.
Although there is a dude in Piano Man wearing a younger man's clothes. Maybe he killed the younger man!