"It’s in 6:8 time, which is a waltz. It’s a long song. And the topic is a bit depressing...”: Billy Joel ponders surprising new interpretations of his much-loved track Piano Man

Billy Joel has been talking about his long career and about the theories about his early hit and theme song, Piano Man.

That song was based on Joel’s own experiences and describes the various characters that its narrator sees frequenting the bar where he plys a living. Now in an interview on NBC’s Today programme, he has addressed fan theories that the bar where these people meet could be an LGTBQ venue.

The song was only a moderate hit – it reached Number 25 in the US and was never released as a single in the UK – but became a fan favourite and has become a staple of easy listening radio stations around the world. 

“At the time, I was totally shocked that (Columbia) wanted to put it out as a single,” said Joel. “It’s in 6:8 time, which is a waltz. It’s a long song. And the topic is a bit depressing. It didn’t go gold or anything, when it came out. But it got a lot of airplay.”

Billy Joel on ‘Piano Man’ fan theory, ‘Uptown Girl,’ plans after MSG - YouTube

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One of the characters, Paul is a ‘real estate novelist’ who ‘never had time for a wife’. He sits at the bar talking to Davy, who’s ‘still in the Navy and probably will be for life.’ When the interviewer Willie Geist suggested Paul never ‘found time’ for a wife because he was busy working on his book, Joel brought up the gay bar theory.

"Well, there’s this new theory there now, that it’s actually about a gay bar," said Joel. "I was reading this. And I said, 'Oh, I see how that could be.' Paul is talking to Davy, who’s in the Navy, you know. He doesn’t have time for a wife. I never considered that, but I see it now. It’s very funny, actually."

Billy Joel - Piano Man (Audio) - YouTube

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Joel ended his decade-long Madison Square Garden residency in July after playing 150 shows over a ten year period, but he insisted that has no plans for putting up his feet just yet. “I’m not going to stop doing shows,” he said. 

“That’s what I do. I asked a couple of contemporaries – (Don) Henley, Springsteen ‘what are you going to do now?’ and they’ve said the same thing ‘I want to keep performing’. Why? ‘Because that’s what I do’. 

"What else am I going to do? Stop doing shows and sit around and watch TV and turn into a vegetable? No I don’t want to do that.”

Earlier this year Joel released Turn The Lights Back On, his first pop single in more than 30 years. He hasn’t released a pop album since 1993’s multi platinum River Of Dreams.