I'd like to turn my attention to a different kind of feeling--that of nostalgia. Nostalgia is, imo, one of those emotions that is quite hard to find in the musical world. Love, hate, and anger are popular, but who cares about nostalgia?
Billy Joel does. And in his work, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, he manages to produce one heck of an intriguing work.
The first thing to notice is the length. Coming in at 7:33, Scenes is much longer then the average piece. Sure, some Elton John--Someone Saved my Life Tonight--and some McCartney pieces--Hey Jude--are of similar length. They, however, have a repeating chorus that dominates throughout the song.
Scenes does the exact opposite. It has the chorus appear only twice. Once to start the song and once to end it.
Let's start there.
Like so much of Joel, the piece is introduced by a piano. Then it hits the chorus.
quote: A bottle of white, a bottle of red Perhaps a bottle of rose instead We'll get a table near the street In our old familiar place You and I-face to face
The atmosphere is set. The slow moving music establishes calm, and the words evoke the Resaurant feel. The exposition continues.
quote: A bottle of red, a bottle of white It all depends on your appetite I'll meet you any time you want In our Italian Restaurant.
After a brief interlude with an expressive horn piece and some general piano, we hit the "dialog" portion. In it, the narrator speaks to his friend, reminiscing about their past.
quote: Things are okay with me these days Got a good job, got a good office Got a new wife, got a new life And the family's fine We lost touch long ago You lost weight I did not know You could ever look so good after So much time.
The piece quickens.
quote: I remember those days hanging out At the village green Engineer boots, leather jackets And tight blue jeans Drop a dime in the box play the Song about New Orleans Cold beer, hot lights My sweet romantic teenage nights
Now a sweet horn/trumpet and then piano combo pushes the piece into a very quick narration.
quote: Brenda and Eddie were the Popular steadies And the king and the queen Of the prom Riding around with the car top Down and the radio on Nobody looked any finer Or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner We never knew we could want more Than that out of life Surely Brenda and Eddie would Always know how to survive.
The narration moves on for several minutes longer, detailing in vivid detail how Brenda and Eddie broke up.
Finally, it concludes perfectly. After some amazing music (not sure what it is!) we come back to the chorus. Now it is sad and ironic--a reflection on those "teenage years."
quote: A bottle of red, a bottle of white Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight I'll meet you anytime you want In our Italian Restaurant.
In conclusion, Scenes is a fantastic work that has two amazing highlights: when it heads into the true narration, and when it ends.
posted
No, really, I can. I'm working my way through "The Billy Joel Keyboard Book," which contains full (unabridged) piano parts for a number of his songs, and that one was my latest project. So, yeah, I'm bragging. Other songs I can pretty much "do" from that book include "Captain Jack," "New York State of Mind," "Piano Man," "My Life," "Just The Way You Are," "And So It Goes," and "Movin' Out." Songs that I don't think I'll ever be able to play with any degree of subtlety include "Pressure" and "She's Always a Woman."
posted
I can always recognize what Tom is playing.
(You won't understand the depth of that compliment unless you know me, but trust me, it's a very strong one.)
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posted
Interesting to see myself a year ago. My posting style hasn't changed radically -- at least the grammatical aspects. Interesting.
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Tom, I have a similar book for Elton John songs. I like to play Yellow Brick Road, Rocket Man, Candle in the Wind, and I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues. There's no way I'll ever be able to play Honky Cat, though. Or Crocodile Rock.
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