Has anyone from the band ever acknowledged that Old City Bar
probably takes some cues from Piano Man?
- They have nearly identical chord progressions (OCB is in Bb, Piano Man is in C).
- They're both in 3/4 time.
- The lyrics detail lonely people in a bar.
(12-22-2020, 02:26 AM)DarkMacek Wrote: [ -> ]Has anyone from the band ever acknowledged that Old City Bar probably takes some cues from Piano Man?
- They have nearly identical chord progressions (OCB is in Bb, Piano Man is in C).
- They're both in 3/4 time.
- The lyrics detail lonely people in a bar.
Interesting. As a long time fan of both Billy and TSO, I'm ashamed to say I never made the connection.
On the other hand, I once noticed that "Believe" has a very similar chord progression to the verse of the much less well-known Billy Joel song, "Worse Comes To Worst," from the Piano Man album.
(12-22-2020, 04:31 AM)Mangar Wrote: [ -> ] (12-22-2020, 02:26 AM)DarkMacek Wrote: [ -> ]Has anyone from the band ever acknowledged that Old City Bar probably takes some cues from Piano Man?
- They have nearly identical chord progressions (OCB is in Bb, Piano Man is in C).
- They're both in 3/4 time.
- The lyrics detail lonely people in a bar.
Interesting. As a long time fan of both Billy and TSO, I'm ashamed to say I never made the connection.
On the other hand, I once noticed that "Believe" has a very similar chord progression to the verse of the much less well-known Billy Joel song, "Worse Comes To Worst," from the Piano Man album.
I have known Piano Man since my youth (I grew up on Long Island, it's pretty much a necessary part of the dialect) and Old City Bar since 2009 or so. I made the connection only the other night when I was futzing around on guitar and noticed the similarity.
I should clarify - the chord progressions are extremely similar, not just the keys as I'd stated above.
I'll have to listen to Worst Comes To Worst now, will report back later.
There's definitely the same progression going on but I would think that's entirely coincidental. The chorus of Believe is your standard "Axis of Awesome 4 chord song", yet I wouldn't say it stole from Don't Stop Believin'. And of course, the lyrics/themes/melodies are way different.
(12-22-2020, 07:02 AM)DarkMacek Wrote: [ -> ]There's definitely the same progression going on but I would think that's entirely coincidental. The chorus of Believe is your standard "Axis of Awesome 4 chord song", yet I wouldn't say it stole from Don't Stop Believin'. And of course, the lyrics/themes/melodies are way different.
Oh, I totally agree, I don't think there was any intentional borrowing from Billy when Savatage wrote "Believe," I just noticed the connection when I was trying to learn to play Believe on the piano and it occurred to me that I was hitting the same chords as I did when I was trying to learn "Worse Comes To Worst." But that's pretty typical of popular music. I just mentioned it here because we were talking about Billy Joel / TSO connections. Incidentally, they both have songs named "Vienna," too.
(12-24-2020, 05:46 AM)Mangar Wrote: [ -> ] (12-22-2020, 07:02 AM)DarkMacek Wrote: [ -> ]There's definitely the same progression going on but I would think that's entirely coincidental. The chorus of Believe is your standard "Axis of Awesome 4 chord song", yet I wouldn't say it stole from Don't Stop Believin'. And of course, the lyrics/themes/melodies are way different.
Oh, I totally agree, I don't think there was any intentional borrowing from Billy when Savatage wrote "Believe," I just noticed the connection when I was trying to learn to play Believe on the piano and it occurred to me that I was hitting the same chords as I did when I was trying to learn "Worse Comes To Worst." But that's pretty typical of popular music. I just mentioned it here because we were talking about Billy Joel / TSO connections. Incidentally, they both have songs named "Vienna," too.
... now I can't stop imagining Kayla Reeves singing Billy Joel's Vienna. Thanks, lol.