Piano Man

 In November of 1976, I took a road trip with a friend to Cooperstown.  We started Saturday morning and drove straight through to Albany, I think.  Around Detroit, we slipped into Canada with a stopover at Niagra Falls.  After that, we were on an expressway somewhere in New York State when I heard Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” for the first time.  The things you remember.

Joel has always struck me as the reincarnation of Tin Pan Alley; he has a real knack with words and music.  He’s beloved by all, save for critics and maybe himself; the drinking and four marriages suggest a certain level of unhappiness.  But nothing like that was on display last night at Citi Field for game three—Mets 9 Royals 3—of the World Series.  First, Joel sang the National Anthem; then, in the bottom of the eighth, fans did a “Piano Man” singalong.  Joel was moved enough to join in.

I hate many if not quite all things New York, but I’ll take the Piano Man any day over “Sweet Caroline.