If someone decides to play Billy Joel’s Piano Man live and doesn’t sound angry and pissed off singing it then they aren’t doing it justice and don’t understand the song.
Discussion
That’s far from my favorite Joel tune. I get what you’re saying though.
I think ‘52nd St’ is a brilliant album but “Honesty” was usually a skip-over. I have more appreciation now after Rick Beato recently did a breakdown . Check it out if you are into music theory: https://www.youtube.com/live/U8Z6V07HBCo?feature=share