2006-07-14 02:53:54 · 12 answers · asked by mydome 1 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
No, I think it refers to people who write those deceptive real estate ads:" Stunning country retreat with amazing views." Then it turns out to be a shack in the woods.
2006-07-14 02:59:33 · answer #1 · answered by notyou311 7 · 1⤊ 4⤋
In a interview with Blender (which is the number one hit on Google for "real estate novelist" BTW) Mr. Joel stated:
It’s an invented phrase. When I was working in a piano bar in L.A., around ’72, everybody came and dumped their day on you. Paul was a real-estate broker, and he would say, “I’m working on this book.” But he was there every night, crocked out of his skull, and I would think, “How’s this guy getting any writing done, unless he’s doing the F. Scott Fitzgerald bit: knock out a couple of things when he first gets up, after the coffee buzz, and then start drinkin’. ” Maybe he was like the guy in The Shining, and he just kept writing the same sentence over and over.
2006-07-14 03:01:30 · answer #2 · answered by anymunym 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Here's an interview with Billy Joel:
It’s an invented phrase. When I was working in a piano bar in L.A., around ’72, everybody came and dumped their day on you. Paul was a real-estate broker, and he would say, “I’m working on this book.” But he was there every night, crocked out of his skull, and I would think, “How’s this guy getting any writing done, unless he’s doing the F. Scott Fitzgerald bit: knock out a couple of things when he first gets up, after the coffee buzz, and then start drinkin’. ” Maybe he was like the guy in The Shining, and he just kept writing the same sentence over and over.
*****
So someone above me was correct in saying this song is about hidden potential that is sort of wasted away at the bar.
2006-07-14 03:04:29 · answer #3 · answered by Endocytosis 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think a real estate agent who really wanted to be a novelist. The whole song seems to be about broken dreams and such. Or maybe a person who quit a corporate job to become a novelist.
2006-07-14 02:58:06 · answer #4 · answered by Hunter S. Thompson 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well when he wrote that song he was basically "hiding out" in a dive bar strangly enough playing piano. He is basically describing the regulars that came to the bar and worked in the bar. SO the real estate novelist is probably just a regular that came in I assume.
2006-07-14 02:57:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always thought it was the idea of "real estate" by day "novelist" by night. The stereotypical novelist who haven't made it yet stuggling to pay the bills.
2006-07-14 02:55:56 · answer #6 · answered by cutengraceless 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with those who have said it's some one new to the real estate game.
2006-07-14 07:36:34 · answer #7 · answered by patoleduc68 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe he is refering to the real estate agent that writes the gushing copy about properties for sale.
2006-07-14 09:31:02 · answer #8 · answered by Hector 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe Tom the real estate novelist worte the ads in those real estate circulars...
2006-07-14 04:58:48 · answer #9 · answered by Jo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
..."Paul is a Real Estate Novelist..." he has spent his entire life selling real estate.
2006-07-14 02:58:35 · answer #10 · answered by rahkokwee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋