Disclaimer: This is a satirical piece for the Tattler’s April Fools’ issue
Music is dead. Just like many things in the world today, music has run its course only to have crashed and burned spectacularly into a million pieces for the extraterrestrials to discover it thousands of years after the destruction of humanity. But even in a time of hopelessness and despair over the death of music, there are always songs that preserve some of music’s greatness and humanity—these are the true diamonds in the rough. I have graciously gathered all of them for the playlist below so you too can spend a nine o’clock on a Saturday, in your armchair, contemplating the greats, and yearning for a time that will never return.
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
A classic song for the soft rockers and the non-soft rockers. A song that describes the loneliness and vibrancy inside a busy bar, sung from the perspective of the eponymous “piano man,” the lounge player. Characters are introduced, such as the fame-seeking bartender, and customers such as “Davy, who’s still in the Navy / And probably will be for life.” But despite their differences, all of them can unite under the soothing notes of the piano and the music, which should be an important lesson in our own lives: music can help bond and put aside our hate to share some Billy Joel.
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
Pianist Frederic Chopin once said, “Man is never always happy, and very often only a brief period of happiness is granted him in this world; so why escape from this dream which cannot last long?” If only he had been born one hundred and sixty years later when Billy Joel spread his masterpiece, “Piano Man,” to the unfortunate masses of the world, I’d argue, he would have instead lived a long life of joy..
What is a piano? Is it the instrument developed by Bartolomeo Cristofori initially to regulate volume, with its eighty-eight near-alternating black-and-white keys? I’d argue not; it is a tool for self-expression, for emotion to burst out of the cold confines of man; it is a tool both to mourn and to celebrate, but it is also a tool of deep thinking and introspection. Billy Joel, with his own “piano,” examines the human condition: one of fear, dreams long gone, desire for self-examination and improvement, and our own position in the world. Behold: the perfect song.
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
Joel released this song on November 9, 1973, seven months and eleven days after US combat troops left Vietnam. Did “Davy” commit war crimes against the Vietnamese populace? And if so, how much did the Nixon administration spend to hide this information from the public?
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
This song sucks
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
piano
