Motoring my way to the dump earlier, turned on the radio, randomly caught "Piano Man" by Billy Joel.
A straight ahead, rock solid, viciously honest, slice of life.
It's not like I didn't know this; I always knew this; it's just that things hit you differently as you age.
Snapshots of people; snapshots of life.
The old man who is making love to his tonic and gin; the bartender who believes he could be a movie star if he could just get out of this place; Paul who never had time for a wife; Davy who will probably be in the Navy for life; the waitress who is practicing politics as the businessmen slowly get stoned ( they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone).
None of them happy; none of them where they want to be. And they know that will never change.
So they rely on the piano man to cheer them up; to play them a memory, to play them a melody, 'cause you got us feeling alright.
They look to the piano man for some happiness and "to forget about life for a while". But from the piano man's perspective the piano sounds like a carnival and the microphone smells like a beer.
He doesn't want to be where he is either.
Life for most people is one massive disappointment; Billy Joel captured it all in one song.
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