Hey when Billy Joel says “it’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday” in Piano Man, why does he say that? Is Saturday night the slow night for that bar? That’s absurd.
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When I worked at a club Fridays were always the busy nights, Saturdays were usually the half empty or worse nights. On Friday people are in a good mood to party because work is over. On Saturday people are too burned out because of work was our theory.
Is he talking about the quantity of the crowd, or the quality of it?
Perhaps the crowd was behaving particularly nicely and were getting involved with the show, rather than just getting drunk and ignoring the music while fighting over sports?
Maybe on Saturdays people have fun things they like to do and the piano bar is consequently empty? It's Monday and Wednesday that the existential dread is strong enough to bring them in.
It's the afternoon, but more importantly it's a gay bar and only the narrator doesn't realize it's a gay bar. The song makes a lot more sense that way.
The place is a gay dive bar in the 1970's. He is lucky to have regulars in the place. 1970's gay bars got raided a lot by police, so people probably kept irregular hours to avoid raids.
I once worked a very shitty job where, every day at 10:15 am on the dot, the radio played Piano Man. Every. Single. Day. And I was not allowed to change the station. I've never burned a building to the ground but that was the closest I've ever come to it. To this day, Billy Joel is my nemesis.
When Elton John says "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids, In fact it's cold as hell" in Rocket Man... since when is Hell perceived to be cold??? I thought it was "hotter than Hell", fire & brimstone, etc. 🤔
It’s the kind of verse where if you didn’t know who wrote it you’d be like “damn somebody can’t lyric for shit.” But Taupin is the man so I’m just wondering why he was so lazy that particular time. Like I’m not failing to appreciate the brilliance here that verse sucks
Taupin has form on lazy songwriting. I give you "I sat on the roof and picked off the moss / now some of these verses they've got me quite cross" what the actual? Poor Elton busting his hump writing the catchiest tunes in history and THIS is what you give him to work with?
He says raise your kids but then there’s no one there to raise them. Wouldn’t you be there to raise them? If you did (raise them) then how would there be no one there?
Apart from the whole Dante thing, “as hell” can be used for anything. “This band is loud as hell” or “that math test was hard as hell” or “this jar lid is tight as hell.” So Mars can be cold as hell.
He’s the guy singing and playing at a piano. Saturdays are probably the worst night for him to be heard, there’s gonna be a million drunks asking for “time in a bottle,” people with terrible voices singing as loudly as possible.
There's a big difference between the original video, where the bar has about six patrons (and doesn't seem like it could possibly be a viable business), and the 80s version where it's crowded.
Check out the side-eye he gives on "I'm sure that I could be a movie star" in the 1973 version. Damn, Billy, you don't have to be such a dick about it.
I think it’s based on his self imposed exile in California early in his career but it’s been a long time since Casey Kasem explained these things to me.
He’s dunking on everyone and everything in the song. Davy, the waitress, the old guy, the bartender, every patron. This is his way of saying the bar sucks, too. The piano itself is lucky to come out unscathed.
Considering Joel had only released one album at the time, which he hated & thought had killed his chances of a career entirely, & basically fled to the opposite side of the country to get out of his record deal (iirc?), I would not be shocked if he's saying "yeah I fucking suck too"
The worst thing is playing piano bar and having someone request it. No. I'm sorry, but I don't want to play the same goddamn oom-pah-pah left hand for seven long minutes while nothing else happens without even lyrics for a diversion.
Maybe it's a factory-adjacent bar, where there's little traffic on the weekends. Mostly, say, car assembly workers for lunch or after work. Who have a pianist on staff for, uhh... Reasons?
It's in a area of town with lots of offices but few residences. Weekday martini lunches and a quick drink before heading home drives the bar businesses, but there's hardly any patrons on the weekends.
One gentleman is apparently making love to his tonic and gin, so he’s either a partner in an incredibly kinky piano stage show or he’s just shithoused.
I thought the patrons were putting actual bread, instead of money, in a jar for the piano man. Like just squishing individual slices of white bread into a Mason jar, night after night. I didn't know if he wanted it, and I was afraid to ask, for far longer than I'm proud of.
Seriously, that always bothered me (aside from all the other stuff people have mentioned). "SING us a song, you're the piano man" .. what kind of logic is that? That's like "Take my picture, you're the supermodel."
Former NYC club owner here. The bridge and tunnel crowd shows up on a Saturday night. Cool kids during the week. By “pretty good” he means the people in the crowd are pretty cool for a Saturday, not that the crowd’s pretty pretty big.
He added a lot more than that. Before he came, I saved lives crowdfunding. I've since lost a friend who I could have helped if he hadn't come on the scene. Crowdfunding potential on currently available platforms is much much weaker.
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It's an entertainment.
Next, why do people clap?
I don't understand
I'm not really sure how it goes”
You’re going to have to be more specific than that pops.
Worst request EVER.
who is still in the Navy
and probably will be for life
Billy is trying to take credit for the entire concept of people going out to drink.
Perhaps the crowd was behaving particularly nicely and were getting involved with the show, rather than just getting drunk and ignoring the music while fighting over sports?
For a Wodansday...
I stand corrected. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pause
I've nearly lived 40 years and never heard it pronounced any way other than "wens-day" or "wends-day".
Early Joel was actually very good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRlsu-4BNv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEPV4kolz0
Leave us alone, you schmuck
'Cause we're all list'ning involuntarily
And that's just our damn rotten luck ♫
Then they moved out. I thought Casey died. Never heard him again.
Have never heard him but he’s a legend along with the Wolf Man ☺️
Oh wait…
"Aww shuddup, Piano Man!"
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-executive-room-the-bar-that-inspired-billy-joel-to-write-piano-man/
But that Bill Martin guy, he’s good, more people are coming to see him!
Say: .... In this case. And I could agree.
they’re a crowd, but NOT a good one!
To leave their best girl home now on Saturday night
Man, what are you doin' here?
In other words, he’s a pimp.
Now the Christian states have TwitterX
I remember what happened when the Backpage domain was seized.
Twitter was my home for years. He burned it down and pissed in the ashes.
But mostly they’re interchangeable.