At a 1996 lecture appearance
Billy Joel shared a few anecdotes and observations about the song that rocketed him to superstardom. It is my pleasure to relay some of those tidbits to you now.
Piano Man's lyrics are a series of limericks. Take a look at the stanzas of the song. They all read like a limerick. Example:
John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
He's a quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be
Piano Man doesn't go anywhere melodically. Joel said that everytime he goes into a hotel piano bar or is at a function where a live piano player is performing at a bar, the piano player sees him enter and immediately launches into playing Piano Man. However, each stanza of the song is played to the same melody, so that after the pianist finishes a verse he's back where he started and is unable to gracefully finish. Joel said that when this happens he always shoots a glace at the pianist as if to say "I told you so."
Piano Man is always the last song in a live concert. Typically it's the last song of the encore. While touring with Elton John the duo always perform this as a duet.
The piano bar that inspired Piano Man no longer exists. Joel said that several years ago he went back to where the piano bar that inspired the song was, but found an office building in its place. The bar is just gone, and there's no sign that it ever existed. Joel wondered if perhaps he just imagined the entire experience.