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The Entertainer Lyrics

Artist: Billy Joel
Album: Streetlife Serenade

I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another Serenader
And another long-haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game, you'll forget my name
And I won't be here in another year
If I don't stay on the charts

I am the entertainer
And I've had to pay my price
The things I did not know at first
I learned by doin' twice
Ah, but still they come to haunt me
Still they want their say
So I've learned to dance with a hand in my pants
I let 'em rub my neck and I write 'em a check
And they go their merry way

I am the entertainer
Been all around the world
I've played all kinds of palaces
And laid all kinds of girls
I can't remember faces
I don't remember names
Ah, but what the hell
You know it's just as well
'Cause after a while and a thousand miles
It all becomes the same

I am the entertainer
I bring to you my songs
I'd like to spend a day or two
I can't stay that long
No, I've got to meet expenses
I got to stay in line
Gotta get those fees to the agencies
And I'd love to stay but there's bills to pay
So I just don't have the time

I am the entertainer
I come to do my show
You've heard my latest record
It's been on the radio
Ah, it took me years to write it
They were the best years of my life
It was a beautiful song
But it ran too long
If you're gonna have a hit
You gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05

I am the entertainer
The idol of my age
I make all kinds of money
When I go on the stage
Ah, you've seen me in the papers
I've been in the magazines
But if I go cold I won't get sold
I'll get put in the back in the discount rack
Like another can of beans

I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another Serenader
And another long-haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game, you'll forget my name
I won't be here in another year
If I don't stay on the charts

Comments/Interpretations

by Nosy parker on 6/2/2008 11:56am
he pays a cheque not a check

by glass on 6/3/2008 1:15pm
A cynical, albeit correct view of today's entertainers. Tomorrow, day's superstar is yesterday's news... especially in hip-hop. For example, how many of you remember Gilbert O'Sullivan?

--my point exactly.

by Tess Steckles on 7/16/2012 6:39pm
Billy Joel is an American.

He doesn't pay a cheque because that's the British English spelling. He pays a check.

I am British and obviously spell it cheque, but I'm not foolish enough to not know that it does differ and on an American site in the lyrics of a song by an American artist, I EXPECT it to be spelt the American way.

by Nosy Parker's Brain on 12/9/2013 2:17pm
That's right. Sorry, I was on vacation.