Lyrics
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 says, "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."
la la la, di da da
La la, di di da da dum
Chorus:
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 all feelin' all right
Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke and he'll light up your smoke
But there's some place that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As his 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"
Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum
Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life
And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessman slowly gets stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinkin' alone
Chorus
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 got us all feeling alright
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 comin' to see
To forget about their life for a while
And the piano, it 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?"
Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum
Chorus:
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 got us all feeling alright
Having not seen the video clip made for this song in a long time, I was actually surprised to see it was in color. I remembered it being in black and white. Which would have been appropriate considering the melancholy and depressive nature of this song. It is in fact a bit too melancholy and depressive. That doesn't mean I don't like the song. But I like it a lot less than I used to. Surprisingly I really liked the movie I've linked this song to though.
The Movie: The Fabulous Baker Boys (Steve Kloves, 1989)
The Fabolous Baker Boys is a downright pleasant and relaxed movie. That's even more remarkable because it is about disillusionment and regret. There is hardly a moment in this movie in which one of the characters doesn't seem to be profoundly dissatisfied with her or his life. Jeff Bridges is one of the main reasons why the movie is still such a joy to watch. He is Jack Baker, a pianist who together with his brother Frank (Beau Bridges, Jeff Bridges' real life brother) plays the piano in small clubs and restaurants. They do this for fifteen years, playing nice, classy, but not very complicated tunes. Not very complicated, because Frank is much less talented than his brother. Frank is mostly important because he takes care of the money and the schedule. Jack Baker can be best described as a piano-playing Dr. House. He is a cynic curmudgeon who doesn't seem to experience much fun and seems sick and tired of playing the same old tunes with his brother. Although he doesn't have much better things to do. He lives alone in a loft with his old dog, only being accompanied sometimes by a girl whose single mom is constantly sleeping with different guys. Naturally, more and more clubs start to reject the two brothers and they decide to refresh their act by bringing in a female singer. In a quite funny scene they audition some horrific singers, only to be saved by Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer). She comes in one and a half hour late and is a prostitute. But she can sing!
As you can see there is nothing really groundbreaking about this plot. But, not unsurprisingly, Jeff and Beau Bridges have really great chemistry together and are very believable as hardworking pianists. It is made very clear that neither brother thinks that what they are doing is great art. It is simply work and they have to approach it in a pragmatic way. And the movie fully supports this. There are a lot of American movies about great mavericks who aspire to do great things. It is nice to see a movie once in a while about simple pragmatists who just want to make a decent living. knowing that they'll probably never be big-time musicians. This is made even clearer when Susie eventually leaves them. She, a great singer, doesn't do this to make a great career as a singer, but to sing silly songs in commercials about vegetables. This leads to the great line, near the end of the film, when she says that she only sings about the unimportant vegetables. The relaxed mood of the film is also enhanced by the great cinematography. There is hardly an ugly shot in the movie and we see everything in very 'warm' colors. The editing is also very relaxed. There are slightly longer takes than usual, making the movie seem completely un-rushed.
But it all wouldn't work without the actors here. Although they are very much helped by the sharp and snappy dialogue, filled with quite some humor. American movies (and TV-shows) are very good at giving cynic curmudgeons wonderful things to say, and this one is no different. And Jeff Bridges sure knows his way around such dialogue. He may be playing a disillusioned, unhappy character (with a good heart of course!), but he plays his character as someone who is slightly amused by his own unhappiness and the dullness of his job, and by his brother who seems to take everything way too seriously. He never makes Jack Baker a depressing character. And I don't think he could do it. There are few actors who seem to enjoy themselves so much while acting and who seem to be so relaxed to doing it. It's no surprise he plays The Dude in The Big Lebowski. These qualities make us care much more about him when near the end of the movie he does finally snap a couple of times and gets really angry at both his brother and Susie. But the real star of the movie is Michelle Pfeiffer. Her role basically consists of being sexy and flirting with Jack. She got an Oscar nomination for it and it is absolutely earned. She is damn good at being sexy and flirting with Jack. Her performance culminates with one of the most sexy scenes I have ever seen. It is pointless to write about it. Just watch this scene.
http://vimeo.com/47799871
