The Entertainer - Billy Joel

The Entertainer
Streetlife Serenade (1974)

But I know the game
  You'll forget my name
  And I won't be here
  In another year
  If I don't stay on the charts

"The Entertainer" is the highlight of Streetlife Serenade and its only hit, though a moderate one. It is a fast-paced and sardonic take on the music industry.  Lyrically, it contains some of the best lines written about the music industry and some of the best lines and quips from Billy Joel's early albums. They just roll up one after another just like the layering of instruments in the song that build and build upon each stanza. The music and lyrics seamlessly complement each other.

        It's the perfect follow-up to the "Piano Man," and Billy writes about that song too and the decision to cut it down for the single version played on the radio (which was still longer than 3:05)

Ah, it took me years to write it,
        They were the best years of my life.
        It was a beautiful song.
        But it ran too long.
        If you're gonna have a hit,
        You gotta make it fit--
        So they cut it down to 3:05.

"The Entertainer" is Billy at his cynical best, not unlike his stance on the music scene in 1980's "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me." Billy has stated that he wrote the song based on watching the rock music television programs of the 1970s such as The Midnight Special and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Billy disdained those types of programs with their kitschy style, and rotating list of musicians, but at the time, it was a necessary evil to appear on these programs to promote one's records. This was before the age of music videos.

"Another serenader in another long-haired band." Although "The Entertainer" is not just about himself, Billy has been in "long-haired" bands like Attila. Credit: BillyJoel.com site.

Billy sometimes added an extra (second) verse to "The Entertainer" in concerts during the early and mid 1970s. The verse was cut from the final recorded version of the song in order to keep it short enough to be released as a single:

I am the entertainer
I'm dressed in the style
I wear all kinds of sparkles
I flash the crowd my smile
But when the night is over
And I stand without my clothes
Perspiration stains and varicose veins
My eyes look shot
My belly's got a pot
And there's a pimple on my nose

"The Entertainer" was a moderate hit, reaching #34 on the Billboard charts in 1974. It was cut to get closer to 3:05. The song plays even better in concert than it does on record, and is still popular in Billy's live set today.

Billy discusses "The Entertainer" on SiriusXM.

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I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another serenader
And another long-haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game
You'll forget my name
And I won't be here
In another year
If I don't stay on the charts

I am the entertainer
And I've had to pay my price
The things I did not know at first
I learned by doin' twice
Ah, but still they come to haunt me
Still they want their say
So I've learned to dance
With a hand in my pants
I let 'em rub my neck
And I write 'em a check
And they go their merry way

I am the entertainer
Been all around the world
I've played all kinds of palaces
And laid all kinds of girls
I can't remember faces
I don't remember names
Ah, but what the hell
You know it's just as well
'Cause after a while
And a thousand miles
It all becomes the same

I am the entertainer
I bring to you my songs
I'd like to spend a day or two
I can't stay that long
No, I've got to meet expenses
I got to stay in line
Gotta get those fees
To the agencies
And I'd love to stay
But there's bills to pay
So I just don't have the time

I am the entertainer
I come to do my show
You've heard my latest record
It's been on the radio
Ah, it took me years to write it
They were the best years of my life
It was a beautiful song
But it ran too long
If you're gonna have a hit
You gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05

I am the entertainer
The idol of my age
I make all kinds of money
When I go on the stage
Ah, you've seen me in the papers
I've been in the magazines
But if I go cold
I won't get sold
I'll get put in the back
In the discount rack
Like another can of beans

I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another serenader
And another long-haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game
You will forget my name
And I won't be here
In another year
If I don't stay on the charts

Videos

"The Entertainer" from the 1976 concert video "Billy Joel Tonight.

Billy performs "The Entertainer" from a live mini-concert on UK television in 1978. Russell Javors, a talented musician and composer himself, gets into it on rhythm guitar.

Billy Joel sings "The Entertainer" from a concert at the Capital Theater in New Jersey in 1976. Video fades away before the song is over.

Billy discusses how "The Entertainer" was written and recorded in a Q&A session. It was "inspired" by watching the television show The Midnight Special which Billy was not fond of, though he did appear on the show in 1975.

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