Piano Man lyrics

If I only had the words to tell you
If you only had the time to understand
Though I know it wouldn't change your feelings
And I know you'll carry on the best you can.
If I only had the urge to tell you
If you only knew how hard it is to say
When the simple lines have all been taken
And the radio repeats them ev'ry day.
If I never find the song to sing you
If you always find it hard to comprehend

He always found it hard to take her
She wouldn't listen to advice
And though he never tried to make her
She often thought it would be nice
Oh, and now she's headin' out to California
It's been a long time comin'
But she's feelin' like a woman tonight
And she left a little letter,
Said she's gonna make a stop in Nevada
Goodbye. Goodbye.
She tried for years to be a good wife

From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande
Well, he started with a bank in Colorado
In the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
And his age and his size
Took the teller by surprise
And the word spread of Billy the Kid
Well, he never traveled heavy

Today I'm livin' like a rich man's son
Tomorrow mornin' I could be a bum
It doesn't matter which direction though
I know a woman in New Mexico
Oh worse comes to worse I'll get along
I don't know how but sometimes I can be strong
And if I don't have a car I'll hitch
I got a thumb and she's a son of a bitch
I'll do my writing on my road guitar
And make a living at a piano bar

When you look into my eyes
And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul
It always comes as a surprise
When I feel my withered roots begin to grow
Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home
When you touch my weary head
And you tell me everything will be all right
You say, "Use my body for your bed

Well it's a rainy night in Paris
And I'm sitting by the Seine
It's a pleasure to be soaking
In the European rain
Now my belly's full of fancy food and wine
But in the morning there'll be hell to pay
Somewhere along the line
Sweet Virginia Cigarette
Burning in my hand
Well you used to be a friend of mine
But now I understand
You've been eating up inside me for some time

You got to open your eyes in the morning
Nine o'clock comin' with out any warnin'
And you gotta get ready to go
You say you went out late last evenin'
Did a lot of drinkin'
Come home stinkin'
And you went and fell asleep on the floor
And then your lady comes and finds you asleepin'
Starts in to weepin' 'bout the hours you been keepin'
And you better get your ass out the door
Ain't no crime

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Making 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"
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody

You see her sitting with her coffee and her paper
With her high top sneakers of italian design
With a long cool stare she aggravates the tension
Makes up her face while she makes up her mind

Now you're in trouble, maybe she's an intellectual
What if she figures out you're not very smart
Or maybe she's the quiet type who's into heavy metal
Boy, you got to get it settled

it seems like I've been lost in let's remember
if you think I'm feeling older and missing my younger days
oh, then you should have known me much better
'cause my past is something that never got in my way
ohh no
Still I would not be here now if I never had the hunger
and I'm not ashamed to say the wild boys were my friends
ohh
'cause I never felt the desire until their music set me on fire

Why can't I lay low
Why can't I say what I mean
Why don't I stay home
And get myself into some boring routine
Why can't I calm down
Why is it always a fight
I can't get unwound
Why do I throw myself into the night

I'm on the outside
I don't fit into the groove
Now I ain't a bad guy
So tell me what am I trying to prove

Why can't I cool out
Why don't I button my lip

Saturday night and you're still hangin' around
Tired of livin' in your one-horse town
Like to find a little hole in the ground
For a while
So you go to the village in your tie-dye jeans
And you stare at the junkies and the closet queens
It's just like some pornographic magazine
And you smile
Captain Jack will get you high tonight
And take you to your special island

Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are

Don't go trying some new fashion
Don't change the color of your hair

Come out Virginia, don't let me me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
But sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one
They showed you a statue and told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
But they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done.....
Only the good die young

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
And she can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But she's always a woman to me

She can lead you to love
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe
And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I, and The Catcher In The Rye

Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Maciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

She waits for me at night, she waits for me in silence
She gives me all her tenderness and takes away my pain
And so far she hasn't run, though
I swear she's had her moments
She still believes in miracles while others cry in vain

It's all about soul
It's all about faith and a deeper devotion
It's all about soul
'Cause under the love is a stronger emotion
She's got to be strong

Hey Lord, take a look all around
And I'd a-find where my baby's gonna be.
Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight
'Cause she is far across the sea.
Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight
And make sure that she's gonna be alright
And things are gonna be alright with me.

Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight
And make sure that all her dreams are sweet.

If you search for tenderness
It isn't hard to find
You can have the love you need to live
But if you look for truthfulness
You might just as well be blind
It always seems to be so hard to give

Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

I can always find someone
To say they sympathize

Some folks like to get away
Take a holiday from the neighborhood
Hop a flight to Miami Beach
Or to Hollywood
But I'm talking a Greyhound
On the Hudson River Line
I'm in a New York state of mind

I've seen all the movie stars
In their fancy cars and their limousines
Been high in the Rockies under the evergreens
But I know what I'm needing
And I don't want to waste more time

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep
I must be looking for something
Something sacred I lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross

And even though I know the river is wide
I walk down every evening and I stand on the shore
And try to cross to the opposite side

Uptown girl
She's been living in her uptown world
I bet she never had a backstreet guy
I bet her mama never told her why

I'm gonna try for an uptown girl
She's been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for a downtown man
That's what I am

And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind