Section of English Grammar

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Piano man (Billy Joel & Elton John)
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With 63 years old, Piano Man is still in force. Composed by Billy Joel, whose birhtday is celebrated today the 9th of may, has becomen a leyend over four decades. This was inspired by Joel´s experiences playing at the Executive Room, a piano bar in L.A, in which he was working for 6 months in 1972-73. The characters in the song are based on real people he encountered and also in his own live. He would have never suspected that such a song played during a regular gig could become a great hit for decades.

It has been covered and versionated by many musicians, among whom we could name Ana Belén (despite the lyrics of this version are quite different from the original one).

This version has been played with Elton John, another great music talent.

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
the regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He say, Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes
Da da da de de da
da da de de da da da

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be

He says Bill, I believe this is killing me
As the smile ran away from his face
Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talking with Davy who's still in the navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday,
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
To forget about life for awhile.

And the piano sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say "Man, what are you doin' here?"
Da da da de de da
da da de de da da da

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight.
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright.

How deep and bittersweet this song is... Gorgeous ballad, because the simplicity of it and the way the musician treats the text, as if he were a writer, so much emotion poured into it, and very meaningful. Telling the stories of people who feel trapped on life...

It has a very depressing underlying story: that people who, in the end, will never do anything with their lives, they will be caught in the monotonous daily routine of working and the only one think they look forward to is going to the bar on Saturdays, sharing their loneliness, but better than drinking alone.... Everyone at the bar wanted to be needed, but they aren´t, and dreaming about a time when you lean on each other for support.

Music has always the right melody and the tune for our personal mood, it puts soundtrack in our lives.

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