Piano Man Sheet Music
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The ‘Piano man’ was Billy Joel’s first major hit. It peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been released as a single and on several albums. The song was based on his experience as a piano-lounge singer in a bar in Los Angeles where he worked for 6 months in 1972 after the failure of his first solo album “Cold Spring Harbor”. At the time Billy was trying to break free from a record contract and was performing under the name of Bill Martin. The song lyrics were based on real people that he met during his days as a piano-lounge singer.
Despite the popularity of “Piano man” and the fact that it was regarded as his signature composition, it was not one of Billy’s favourites. Apparently Billy’s own words were “I have no idea why that song became so popular. It's like a karaoke favourite. The melody is not very good and very repetitious, while the lyrics are like limericks. I was shocked and embarrassed when it became a hit.” Yet Paul McCartney has said that it was the song he would have most liked to have written.
The song starts with a harmonica part which was said to have been inspired by Bob Dylan. Dylan was the first person Joel saw that used a strap to hold the harmonica so he could play another instrument at the same time.
On July 10 2006 “Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel” was re-released containing 18 of his biggest hits. Many of the reviews however, have made claims that it did not truly represent the very best of Billy Joel. It has been recommended that if you were looking to purchase an album containing the very best of Billy Joel you should purchase the 'The Essential Billy Joel' album which consists of 36 tracks including 16 of the tracks from the ‘Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel’ album.
Piano Man Sheet Music (Digital Download)
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Piano man: The very best of Billy Joel
Piano man:The very best of Billy Joel was a greatest hits album. It was released on the 15th of November 2004 and re-released on the 10th of july 2006. The CD contains 18 of his most popular hits and also includes a DVD with 10 of his most popular music videos. Below is a complete track listing.
Disc: 1
1. Tell Her About It 2. Uptown Girl 3. Piano Man 4. New York State Of Mind 5. River Of Dreams 6. It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me 7. We Didn't Start The Fire 8. Goodnight Saigon 9. My Life 10. She's Always A Woman 11. She's Got A Way 12. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant 13. Innocent Man 14. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) 15. Only The Good Die Young 16. All About Soul 17. Honesty 18. Just The Way You Are 19. Just The Way You Are
Disc: 2
1. Tell Her About It 2. Uptown Girl 3. Piano Man 4. New York State Of Mind 5. River Of Dreams 6. It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me 7. We Didn't Start The Fire 8. Goodnight Saigon 9. My Life 10. All About Soul
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Billy Joel release the hit “Tell her about it” in 1983 and was on the album “An innocent man”.
The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for 1 week.
The single reached gold certification by the RIAA for sales in the US.
The song was said to have been inspired by his ex-wife Christie Brinkley of whom he claimed was the first woman he could talk to about anything. The song has a 60’s feel to it and was written for a film called “Easy Money” featuring comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who was also in the music video. |
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This was another 1983 release on the album “An innocent man”. Uptown girl is possibly one of the most popular songs Billy ever released and is still very popular today. The single reached number 3 in the Billboard charts in the US. The song reached number 1 in the UK and was the second biggest selling single of 1983.
The lyrics are based on a working class “downtown man” who was trying to win over a wealthy “uptown girl”. The song was also inspired by his ex-wife Christine Brinkley. Billy has also based the song around himself as he considerers himself a working class man and was therefore surprised that Christine, a supermodel, took interest in him. He even stated "The fact that I can attract such a beautiful woman as Christie should give hope to every ugly guy in the world!"
He said on an Australian TV show in 2006 that the song was originally called uptown girls as he found himself dating various other women, which he would have previously considered to be ‘out of his league’. Billy mentioned that he even dated Elle McPherson for a period of time. Christine Brinkley featured in the music video along with Joel who was portrayed as a car mechanic working on her car.
Additionally the song was briefly featured in a Simpson’s episode and covered by west life as a way of raising money for comic relief. |
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New York State of Mind appeared on the album ‘turnstiles’ in 1976. The song was not as hit when it was first released but received more popularity in later years. The lyrics were inspired by his return to New York after spending the previous three years in Los Angeles. There were various other songs on the turnstiles album which reflected his feeling about his time away from New York such as "Say Goodbye to Hollywood", "I've Loved These Days", "summer, Highland Falls".
New York State of Mind was said to have been one of the most famous song written about New York City. The song is often played after sporting matches featuring the New York Knicks, New York Mets and the New York rangers. Additionally Joel performed the song in New York as a tribute to the victims of the New York bombings that took place on the 7th of September 2001, which in turn re-kindled the popularity of the song.
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River of dreams, released in 1983, was essentially inspired by a dream Joel had where he was walking in his sleep. It has been suggested that the lyrics portray a spiritual journey where he is searching for some kind of meaning to life. |
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Billy Joel released ‘it’s Still Rock 'n' Roll to Me’ in 1980 and was from the album ‘Glass Houses’. The song was number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 for around 2 weeks around July and august of 1980 and reached number 14 in the UK singles chart. It was actually Billy Joel’s first number 1 hit in the US although it was not considered one of Joel’s best songs. The song also reached platinum certification from the RIAA for sales in US. The lyrics were essentially based around Joel’s reluctance to move with the times in order to appeal to a younger and more ‘hip’ crowd. |
What surprisingly resulted in an incredibly intense song, Goodnight Saigon, is a tribute to those that fought in the Vietnam War. The lyrics concentrate on the point of view of the soldiers knowing that they were in a strange land and though this may be the dream of many to travel, this was not a pleasant visit. He describes how rudimentary and primitive life was and how killing became instinctual. Ultimately it is an anthem of unity and it’s rise to popularity came as was no surprise, despite that the producer, Phil Ramone says there were no expectations that anything spectacular would come from the song and that it was released because of the meaning that it held for Billy Joel and those that lost their lives in Vietnam.
Joel does not often perform this song in a live performance but each time he does the place comes apart. On some occasions Joel has even brought some of the old Vietnam War veterans to perform this song with him on stage.
In the UK when this song was released it was on a single sided AA along with the track “Leave a Tender Moment. |
In “she’s Always a Woman” Joel identifies his first wife, Elizabeth Small, in an affectionate way, and although it is a great song he no longer performs it live saying he has lost the passion for it resulting in an unconvincing performance. At the time that Joel and Elizabeth first met, while she was married to Joel’s drummer at the time, John Small. The relationship resulted in his attempted suicide where he drank a fair quantity of furniture polish. In an interesting twist it was in fact his lover’s spouse that rushed him to hospital, probably saving his life.
Joel received a great amount of critique for this song, he was accused of being a woman hater. In an interview with USA Today in 2009 he cleared up what he was trying to say although he believes that the lyrics are totally unequivocal. In essence it refers to the fact that while some may see this woman in a particular light that she is always a woman to him.
In 2010 this song was reborn and used in an advert for John Lewis, the British Department chain store. It covered by Fyfe Dangerfield who was made famous by the Guillenots, a British band. This song reached the British top 10. This was not the first time that a Billy Joel had made it into the top 10 as a cover from another band and was preceded by “Just The Way You Are”, done by Barry White in 1979 and in 2001 West Life made it right up to the top of the charts in their cover of Joel’s “Uptown Girl”.
The John Lewis advert has activated a fair amount of interest in the original track of Joel’s which had by then only achieved number 53 in the UK singles charts but this time in 2010 it climbed all the way to 29. While Joel was doubtful, wondering if this would destroy the song, it turned out to create a brand new audience for him. While he had always believed that adverts were a negative form of publicity he has now seen a positive aspect of it that has made him think twice. Since the release of this version Joel claims to have stayed in touch with Fyfe, listening to some of his recordings and is of the impression that he adheres very much to the initial recording. In fact Joel even acknowledges that the new adaptation may be a better one than his.
Pinks was another feather in Joel’s cap the choice of this song at her on her wedding day when her and Carey Hart got married in Costa Rica. She decided to walk down the aisle without shoes as the song played. |
This was yet another song that Joel wrote about his first wife Elizabeth Small. He gave it to her as a gift for her birthday. The couple were married for 9 years until they finally ended it in a divorce in 1982. Not a stranger to pretty women he later married super model Christine Brinkley. Prior to its release, he performed this song on a show for Saturday Night Live 3 months in 1977.
Joel explained that the origins of the melody came from a dream that he only remembered a few weeks later while he was in a business meeting. He left the meeting in a hurry and wrote the entire set of lyrics in one go. His producer, Phil Ramone, suggested a drum pattern that he adopted into the song.
Until the release of this song in 1978 Joel’s biggest hit had been “Piano Man” which had reached the number 25 spot on the US charts. “Just the Way You Are” was his very first breakthrough into the UK charts and in fact won him a Grammy Award for Song of the Year while the entire album, “The Stranger” was given a Grammy for Record of the Year as well.
Joel admitted in an interview in 2008, 30 years after the songs initial release, that he was surprised to win the award saying that the song wasn’t even Rock ‘n Roll. He described the tune as more of a rhythm and blues style track saying it reminded him of Stevie Wonder’s work.
Interestingly enough he changed his mind about putting this song onto the album after he finished the recording. That is until Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow heard it and they persuaded him to include it. Joel says they were listening to it together and he called it a “chick song”.
This track was covered twice by prominent artists. First by Barry White whose version soared into the number twelve position on the UK charts. It was also covered in a duo between Frank Sinatra and Isaac Hayes who did an extended version with a long introduction. The song is no stranger to well known musicians, the original included the jazz player, Phil Woods on the saxophone. |
This is a ballad of disappointment saying that tenderness and sympathy are so easy to find but that honesty and sincerity are not at all. It also extends to the falseness of people in general and that promises are more often than not, empty.
This was Joel’s third song that was released from 52nd street that entered the Top 40 and was covered by Beyonce in 2008 for her album “I am Sasha Fierce” |
Joel sings about those who are scared to take risks because of past experiences often taking what they have learnt and imposing them on others who are innocent of the wrongs that have been done to them. The words of the song came from personal experience says Joel, influenced heavily by his romantic teenager phase, while the music was inspired by composers Leiber and Stoller in recordings made by The Drifters and Ben King.
As a tribute to the music of the sixties and seventies Joel did the entire album “Innocent Man” in that style of music. He admitted in an interview with Kutner and Leigh in 1000 UK Number One Hits that writing these songs came so naturally to him and that instead of his usual method of perfectly placing every note, they flowed so naturally. |
Listening to this song the familiar grind of working your fingers to the bone for some status strikes a familiar note. It refers directly to the working class who immigrated to the United States trying to achieve the American Dream overworking themselves in more than one job. The question Joel is asking here is, is all of that hard work really worth the material objects? Hackensack, quoted in the first verse of the song is in fact a suburb in New York City.
The upbeat tune that the song is currently sung to was not the original melody that Joel had in mind. The first time he performed the song in the studio for his band they recognized the ballad immediately as “Laughter in the Rain” done by Neil Sadaka. He decided to change the tune to the rocking tune which makes for a catchy track.
The song became a stage production opening in 2002 on Broadway and running for about a year. The production was such a hit that it went on tour and lasted for another three years from 2004.
The car screeching sounds heard in the background were made by fitting a microphone to the exhaust end of Doug Stegmeyer’s, the bassist’s, car. The car was a 60’s Corvette which gave some great footage to work with. They let the car tear down the road having a great deal of fun with it while the album’s producer, Phil Ramone sighed, letting boys be boys, saying that they may not even use much of it anyway. Joel says it is one way to learn to self edit. |
This song is all about being independent and perhaps doing things a little differently with much the same outcome as everyone else. This was the theme song for the favorite eighty’s comedy “Boston Buddies”. The vocals are not Billy Joel’s but rather another similar sounding singer had to come in due to the rights on the tune. This song is very appropriate to this series which it is about, Peter Scolari and Tom Hanks who are two roommates and they dress up as women so that they can stay in the women’s only establishment, The Susan B. Anthony, which is named after a famous women’s liberation activist, when their house burns down. This is not the last Tom Hanks has seen of this song. In fact in an episode of 30 Rock he also sang it after mocking himself.
Peter Cetera and Donni Dacus from the group Chicago have joined Joel in the chorus to sing the backing vocals which harmonize very well with the lead vocal. In the first verse there is reference to closing up and living on the West Coast. This apparently refers to the comedian Richard Lewis who would have been in the catchment area of Joel’s influence at the time, being born in New York and brought up in New Jersey. These lyrics also feature in a rock album “Number One” from one of Britain’s bands, ‘A’ giving Joel some credits.
Billy Joel and Elton John are the two well known pianists in the music industry and both had received hits on the Billboard Top40. ‘My Life’ was Joel’s seventh hit on the chart but between the two it was Elton John who was first to break into the charts 4 years before Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ with his track ‘Your Song’. |
A young man dares to attempt to seduce a catholic girl using the angle that it won’t pay to be good and that in time she will eventually give in to someone, so to let it be him. He teases her but in the end she still refuses him. Despite having a cheerful rhythm it was never a very popular song lingering in the lower ends of the charts when it was released in 1977. But all it needed was to be heard by a radio station at a catholic university in New Jersey and the song was banned.
All of this negative publicity had the younger generation pouring into record stores to see what all the fuss was about sending the single spiraling into the upper end of the charts. Joel says that it was a simple song where the girl retained her innocence and although he felt there was no need to get upset over it he did make an official request to the authorities that had originally banned the song to please ban his very next album.
The girl Virginia in the song was Virginia Callaghan, a girl from Joel’s boyhood, who he had had a crush on. He says Virginia never noticed him until he performed his first gig with a band at a local church in 1964. He noticed that not only was Virginia staring at him but so were many other girls. He says that girls was his initial reason for getting involved in music and by the end of the show the priest handed each member of the band a small packet of cash. Joel says that he realized this was the life, girls and money! And thirteen years later he was able to use this inspiration in this lively track.
This number was originally recorded with a reggae beat which was changed by Joel because his drummer at the time, De Vito didn’t like it. Despite not liking it, it was De Vito that leaked the initial version by mistake.
Joel described in an interview his opinion on Catholicism, saying it had an extreme focus on sin, adding that has gothic influences with visions of incense and bells. He said he just wanted to write a song about it. |
The song looks back at the teenage years where the popular kids in school seemed to have had it all made back then and their future planned out perfectly. 20 years later, looking back, it seems as though things did not turn out quite the way that everyone had anticipated and even those who were not so popular in school years has had their day, gotten married, a great job and a successful lifestyle.
Billy Joel, the musician, composed the music first as he usually did and slotted the words from several of his incomplete songs afterwards. It is very much inspired by the Beetle’s music of that era, in particular Abbey Road.
It is said that the first line “Bottle of white, bottle of red” which is repeated a number of times during the song, comes from a real life situation when a waiter asked him his preference of wine. The reference to “Bottle of Red, Bottles of whites” is also a name of an Italian pizzeria in Long Island.
The second part of the song where the rhythm changes, comes from a string of lyrics written even long before he wrote “The Stranger”. They have been reordered to fit in here. The song goes on to talk about the king and queen of the prom, Brenda and Eddie. These lyrics come from a tune he wrote called “The Ballad of Brenda and Eddie”.
In an interview with USA Today Joel talks about the source of inspiration for this track. It was an Italian restaurant across from Carnegie Hall where the food was really good. Though he went there often, he was not recognized and often struggled to get a table. One day he popped in to the restaurant at a time that he was performing at Carnegie Hall and was recognized instantly. From then he didn’t have a problem getting a good seat. |
Originally released in 1971, this song was re-released 10 years later as a single. In 1982, the year following its second release, it broke into the charts reaching number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the same year as its original release, “He’s got a Way” a femme version brought out by Merilee Rush. The song was covered by another two artists, first by Bernadette Peters in 1996 and then again by Michael Sweet 11 years later in 2007, preserving the romantic undercurrents of the song.
Shortly after the song was recorded Joel decided against putting the track on the album saying it was “corny”. He also admitted having trouble singing it but finally got the hang of the tune.
The song is sung from the man’s perspective about a woman that has made an impression on him. He is while he is frantically searching for grounds to feel these feelings, he finally buckles and accepts the fact that there need not be a reason. |
A song that was heavily inspired by the political situation, in his liner notes of The Piano Man you can find and excerpt where Joel explains how this song was written after having a conversation with John Lennon’s son Sean. He rattles off a list of events surrounding the cold war era with repercussions that his generation had inherited as the result.
This is not the first time this rapid lyrics style has been used. REM used it in their track “It’s the end of the world as we know it” and even Bob Dylan used this technique effectively in his song “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. This has worked out well because there is no ‘real melody’. Joel says that the reason this is because he wrote the lyric himself, something he does not normally do. In an interview with Billboard Magazine he said “It’s terrible musically “
Despite what he says about the song, Joel admitted on the Howard Stern Show that he does not dislike it and though it is not one of his favorites he often struggles to recall the words during live shows. He says that he even searches the audience for cues as they mouth the words. Many have asked about the possibility of a sequel to which Joel replies he has no intention to do it.
Possibly one of the biggest critics of the song was Blender Magazine in their article “Run for your life! It’s the 50 worst songs ever!” Coming 41 out of the top 50, the magazine reproaches Joel for attempting to fit the history of an entire era into a mere 4 minutes although it is almost 5 minutes long. They also said that the events were rambled off in no particular order, downplaying the significance of the Tiananmen Square Massacre by integrating it into the same line where he mentions “Rock and Roller Cola Wars”.
A hilarious version of the song, sung in the voice of Homer Simpson, was also used in one of the Simpson’s episodes as a reminder of conspiracies of the past.
Joel’s song is indeed a lesson in history, discovered an elementary school teacher from Menasha. She took the song and extracted themes for her fifth graders exercises back in 1990. When the record label got wind of this, they decided to hand out 40 000 cassettes with the song as well as a 10 minute long dialogue by Joel himself. |
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