Piano Man

Billy Joel ~ Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II; Billy Joel, piano and vocal

I remember the day, back in high school, when our band director, Mr. D., pointed out the hip and funny little lick that Billy Joel plays on the piano during the song “My Life”. It occurs right before back-up singers Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus, from the band Chicago, sing “Keep it to yourself, it’s my life”. The fact that Mr. D. listened to music like this told me that, maybe, it was okay for me to listen to this stuff, too. That there was value to be found in … some … of that music that, in my mind, I had to stoop to listen to.

As I’ve indicated several times, I’m not a rocker, I’m not a roller. I like my music to come at me from the perspective of harmony, melody and some rhythmic elements to keep it all organized. Anything beyond that is just for gimmick purposes.

But I took to the song “My Life”, learned it by listening to it, and found that I liked it. The same thing happened with “Just The Way You Are”. And then again with “New York State of Mind”.

I guess this constitutes being a fan, I decided. I’d never been a fan of something before. What do you do when you’re a fan of somebody, I asked my friend Mark. “Greatest hits album.” They make those? He rolled his eyes at me.

The fact that all of Billy Joel’s songs are different from each other indicated genius to me. I had always associated the marriage of genius to music as something that happened only in classical music: Bach, Mozart and that bunch. It has taken me a while to recognize the genius of Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney and John Lennon from The Beatles, and Donald Fagen from Steely Dan.

People always want to hear Billy Joel play his first hit “Piano Man”. He has always claimed that it’s not that great of a song. It repeats the same eight bars over and over again, with a little interlude here and there. The verses use the same chords as the chorus. But in a way, that’s what makes it genius. A person who plays in a bar like the one in the song wouldn’t want to learn anything more elaborate than “Piano Man”. Art imitates life.

Credits: To the band Chicago. Great tunes, guys. It took me a long time to understand the title “Twenty-five or Six to Four”. But I got it. No need to write back. Thanks.

This is the seventh of my final forty-five CD's.