The Piano Mule Explained · 5:11pm Sep 30th, 2013
I'd like to talk to you all about a little something I'm rather proud of. It took quite a lot of work, and I think it came out pretty damn well in the end. So, I would like to share a bit about the story. A few ideas that were changed, some explanations, and so on.
So if you haven't read it already, go READ IT.
Go ahead. I'll wait.
You done? Good! Now we can actually talk about the story without any pesky spoilers!
Well lets start way back at the beginning, with how I even got this idea in the first place. This was inspired by a streamer I watch on Twitch (I won't name who) who one time sang his own rendition of Piano Man while waiting for coffee to brew. Just watching him be able to sing, entertain us all, and still interact with chat at the same time, blew me away. In part, this was the inspiration for this story, and the song in particular.
One other thing really inspired me. Overlord-Flinx's story Discordia: Turn on the Lights was the other big thing that pushed me to make this a reality. He made a whole story about taking songs and transforming them into original works that still work within the same beat and music of the original song. These two things are the whole inspiration behind the story.
Now, lets get to the meat of it, the story itself.
First off, this doesn't take place in any particular town. I wanted to keep it just like an average town. The only exception being this town is seaside.
Mulists. I guess I should explain this. If you didn't get it before, the main character of this is a mule. This actually wasn't part of the original version. In my first draft, it was just a normal earth pony. It was my amazing pre-reader/ editor xjuggernaughtx who suggested making him a mule, since it is a sad, down-on-his-luck character. A mule generally can be seen as a sad creature, and that does really match the story. Plus, there are so few mules in MLP, they are rather rare of a sight in my mind.
Hence, the mulist thing. Its racism, but against mules. There have been very few shown in the show, so I would assume there aren't too many. Certainly they aren't the dominant race. So, some people would feel superior to them.
The bar was an interesting thing I came up with. It was going to be in a bar from the beginning just from the song, but the name of the bar and its owner spawned from a stupid little joke. I knew it was a bar, and the first thing that popped into my mind is FUBAR. FUBAR is military slang for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition/Reason/Repair (there are a few different variations on the R). So, in order to make this joke, the bar owner was named Fou, which also has a fitting meaning behind it. I'll quote it exactly.
From Merriam-Webster dictionary: fou adjective
Definition of FOU
Scottish
:DRUNK
Origin of FOU
Middle English (Scots) fow full, from Middle English full
First Known Use: 1535
So yea, the bar owners name means drunk or full, and the sign, with the flickering 'O' spells out FUBAR.
And we come to the main point of the story, the song. Piano Man by Billy Joel. I tried to work the lyrics around to still fit the tune, while still making sense to the story. I feel it worked moderately well. I also had to be concerned about FIMfic's policy about not using copyrighted lyrics, and had to check with a mod to see if I should even bother continuing writing the story. They said it should be fine if only a few of the lines are the same.
Key. Yes this is his name. It isn't a great name, but its his name. Originally I wanted to leave him unnamed, and let the reader kind of become him, but it really didn't work with the lyrics naming him in the actual version of the song. The thought behind his name was rather simple, what was his special talent. He is a piano musician, so it would relate to that. And Key, after piano keys, is what I came up with.
Piano Mule. Yea, it isn't perfect, but it worked. Piano Mare would have been perfect lyric-wise, but it was already really established that the main character was male. Previously, he was called the 'Keyman', after his name, but it really didn't flow as well. Plus, Piano Mule reminds readers that he is a mule.
Dawn I came up with from a previous story of mine, The Dark Ages: The True Tale of Equestrian History, though it is not the same character. Just the name is the same, and the original bartender in the lyrics is John, and Dawn is rather close to that. (fair warning, if you want to read that story, I will admit it isn't my best work, and is incomplete. I wrote it years ago, and it certainly isn't up to my standards now.)
Now Colgate's a dental novelist, who never had time in her life. And she's talkin' with Dashie, who's still bragging brashly, and probably will be for life. This is one of the most interesting lines, and possibly the most confusing to people. Normal people probably not know what a dental novelist is beforehand. Well, Mr. Joel has actually explained this entire song, and its meaning, including this part. The original song lyrics say real-estate novelist, and it literally means he is a real-estate agent, and is writing the 'Great American Novel'. So, she is a dentist, and writing the 'Great Equestrian Novel'. And Dash is just Dash, bragging all the time, and she will be for life. Of course they don't notice being sung about, because Dash is the center of attention for herself and her audience.
Ballad, the waitress, was just taken from a random list of ponies. List can be found HERE. She is a purplish unicorn mare, who first appeared in Lesson Zero while trying to get Smarty Pants. Her cutie mark is a lyre.
The story of him having to part from his own piano was something my pre-reader came up with. It makes it all the more sad, since he can only practice his craft on a crappy broken down bar piano now.
Fou's background story was also the invention of my pre-reader. Fou lost his wife and child, counteracting the lively nature of the bar. It's a nice counterpoint, having a hard-edged character in a story. Him 'trying' to learn humor, that's just touching on a coping method for loss. I didn't really want to get to deep into that and make it too sad, but just mentioning that fact fives a nice explanation for the character.
And the piano sounds like a manticore! And I suppose that I've fallen from grace! They drink in the bar and put bits in my jar. And say, 'Key, you're too good for this place!' This was easily my favorite line in the song. A musical instrument sounding like a monster, his fall into the dregs of society to have to play in this bar, getting tips, and everyone saying he deserves a better gig. This just flowed nearly perfectly for me, and it really sticks out to me.
The song was them. Its a bit of poetic stuff, saying they are the song, but I liked it. The song is all about the patrons, and they sing about it each time. They are its subject, and its consumers. Its soothes their sorrows, and lets them vent to all the world in a bond of camaraderie. I think its a nice bit of wordplay.
And it bringing them back together. They all come back. They all have their own reasons, but all the regulars come back. The bar is a second home to them, and this song is their lullaby, their anthem of their lives. It tells their tale, and makes them want to return.
Well, that about wraps up all my over analyzing ranting. I hope you enjoyed the story, and the bit of insight I may have given you through this post.
Oh, and I just have to give a huge thank you to xjuggernaughtx once again. Without him, this story would be much worse off. He made this readable, and much more complete. And I can't keep my tense's straight for the life of me. So, once again, my infinite thanks to you xjuggernaughtx. You are amazing.
I was happy to do it. And that explanation of FOU is an added layer of awesome! I didn't know that, so it makes it all the more clever.
When I read the story, I was wondering if you had heard Mr. Joel's documentary on the song... obviously it (no pun intended) struck a chord with you, to ponify that as well. Or mule in this case.
Listening to Billy Joel's explanation of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" made that song one of my favorites of his... and made me buy the Abbey Road album from the Beatles to listen to what inspired him! Kind of out of order, but it's really cool to see/hear the inspiration behind something else that's great.
1386146 It's always great to hear the connections that readers form. Thanks for sharing!