Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:10 am
When I said I was going to cover The Stranger in its entirety, I knew (as did you all) that what I really meant is that I was going to have to deal with “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant.” This song is a singular, magnificent creation; it does not want to be reckoned with. I would not set about doing an arrangement of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I would not put “my stamp” on side two of Abbey Road. But here I am, staring at seven and a half minutes of beautifully written, arranged and performed music and forcing myself to follow through on my threat to Jerbify it.
When they did this song in Movin’ Out on Broadway, they changed the lyric from “summer of ’75” to “summer of ’65.” The song makes a lot more sense that way, honestly – the references to both engineer boots and “greasers” place the action comfortably in the mid-sixties. “Seventy-five” sings a lot better, though, and I couldn’t make my mouth say it the other way, so I guess Brenda and Eddie are just weird anachronisms buying paintings from Sears. (That quirky detail about their home décor is my favorite line in the lyric.)
I’ve always been moved by the story of Brenda and Eddie, but I’ve never been entirely sure who the narrator was; I decided that it was the Piano Man himself, sitting at the bar on a break, telling the story to an old girlfriend from the old neighborhood who happened to stop in. In order to make my intentions clearer, I skipped one of the sections of the song; it happens to be the most iconic section, but part of the gestalt of this project has been about hearing things in different ways. And look, the good news is my version’s only five minutes long.
I chose not to mimic Billy’s legendary Long Island diction here, but it was hard not to sing “Brenda Renetti” and “boddla weitz” after hearing it that way for thirty-five years.
When I was in Portland last weekend, I met some of the teenage band members of a local production of 13, and all of the guitarists yelled at me for writing such hard chords. I hope that now they will listen to my execrable guitar playing on this track and enjoy the smug satisfaction of knowing that while I can write it, I most certainly can’t play it.
On to side two!
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Music and lyric by Billy Joel (1977)
Jason Robert Brown: piano, percussion, guitar, harmonica & vocal
Recorded at Casa JRB, Los Angeles, CA, 2/1/12
3 comments
Can’t wait to hear “Vienna”!!
I’m trying to remember how I subscribed to this blog. If I recall correctly, this used to be a blog about a composer and the music he wrote. Also, I love Billy Joel, who doesn’t, but NO ONE decides they want to listen to Billy, and then listens to a cover instead. I hate to say it too, but this is affecting my enjoyment of your music (LFY in particular). Now all I can picture is Jamie writing Hardy Boys fan fiction in his 40’s.
[FROM JRB: What a weird comment! When I was 11 years old, Simon & Garfunkel reunited for a concert in Central Park which was broadcast on television. I didn’t know the songs all that well, but I clearly remember being moved by the two of them singing the Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up Little Susie,” a song which had clearly inspired them and through which they communicated an uncomplicated affection both for each other and the music they grew up with. Likewise when Joni Mitchell released Both Sides Now, we got to hear a singular artist bringing her own soul to the music she loved in her youth. Never mind Todd Rundgren’s Faithful album, or Shawn Colvin’s Cover Girl, or, oh let’s get crazy, Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” or Brahms’s variations on themes of Haydn and Paganini. As a composer, my own act of creation mystifies me – why do I pick that chord? why do I want the melody to go in that direction? – and interpreting the work of other artists at best helps me to understand my own creative impulses, and at least comforts me that such mystification is part and parcel of the process.
But hey, if none of that is interesting to you, I’ve only got five songs to go before I’m done with this particular project. In the meantime, there are more than thirty other songs on my SoundCloud page available for you to listen, free of charge. And if you feel inspired to reinvent one of them for yourself, perhaps you’ll find that some people are encouraged not just by your finished products but by the sounds of your explorations and inspirations.]
I’ve told Ollie (Guitar 2 for Portland’s 13, Mr “Hard Chords” himself) that you referred to him in your blog. He’ll feel famous. You’d be proud of how the pit is sounding, by the way. (Who knew teens could play loudly AND softly?)
Haven’t heard a Billy Joel Mashup before. What a cool way to give the “Piano Man” his own voice in the story. Speaking of mashups, have you heard BJ’s combination of “River of Dreams” and “Lullabye”?
The comments are closed.