Picture this: you’re in a bar by yourself having your favorite drink, trying to escape all your worries. Then, in walks the piano man, sitting on his bench, taking all of your troubles away.
On today’s agenda, I’ll be talking about Billy Joel’s Piano Man. Even if one claims they’ve never heard a song by Billy Joel, you’re sure to enlighten them that they have by simply playing the opening tune of this song. It’s popular harmonica riff cannot be forgotten and it is recognized by many people, whether they are intense music fans or simply just casual listeners.
Before diving into the nitty gritty of the song, let’s take a few moments to establish some background info about it first. Piano Man was released on November 2, 1973. While spending six months in hiding due to an inescapable record contract, Billy Joel had been earning his living wage through playing piano at a bar. Finally, after all was settled with his unwanted contract, Billy Joel signed with Columbia Records, where he soon after produced Piano Man.
As previously mentioned, one of the most prominent aspects of this song is the harmonica riff that plays as soon as that song starts. Billy Joel uses a diatonic harmonica when performing this song. The diatonic is also known as the “blues” harmonica and is made up of ten holes that can produce sound by blowing or drawing air into the holes.
When one listens to the harmonica riff on its own without any other instruments in the song being played, it sounds lonely. This feeling of loneliness is not originally felt in the song due to the accompaniment of the others instruments. However, on its own, the true bluesy nature of the harmonica is emphasized, causing the listener to share Billy Joel’s sentiments. It’s possible that Billy Joel chose to play harmonica in this song in order to highlight his own feelings at the time he was working as a piano man in a bar. Instead of making music like he had wanted to, he was caught in the middle of musical politics, forcing him to put his artistic endeavors to a halt.
Since listening to the song with only the harmonica playing is not the usual way a person would hear the song, it comes off as strange and some might say it even feels wrong. However, without the harmonica, the song would be incomplete, as I discovered when listening to a version where the harmonica tune is converted into piano. The piano cover causes the song to feel more upbeat and takes away the slight sense of melancholy that we picked up on with the harmonica.
The harmonica plays an important role throughout the song. Had it not been included, the song would feel incomplete. It has a special quality being that it supports the other instruments throughout the song, allowing it to carry the song while also managing to not remain in the spotlight the entire time.
Cliffs 