"Piano Man" was Billy Joel's first major hit and is considered Joel's signature song. The verses of the song are sung from the point of view of a bar piano player who focuses mainly on everyone else at the bar: John the bartender, the waitress, and bar regulars like Paul and Davy. Most of these characters have unfilled dreams, and the pianist's job, it seems (with the help of alcohol), is to help them "forget about life for awhile". The chorus, in barroom sing-a-long style, comes from the bar patrons themselves, who plead, "Sing us a song / You're the piano man / Sing us a song, tonight / Well, we're all in the mood for a melody / and you've got us feeling alright."

"Piano Man" has been released as a single and on several albums.