Bruce Hornsby reviews “Community” – song by Greendale School

“People have made fun of my songs before. That’s fine with me.”
Photo by : Peacock

Some say Pierce Hawthorne was way ahead of his time when he wrote the Greendale Community College song. Others would argue that it is a clear copy of “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby. But what can you do? That’s just how it goes. Pierce (Chevy Chase) falls into this scenario in Communitys Season 1 episode “Advanced Criminal Law,” after being asked to use his piano and songwriting magic for the musical cause. He insists he will be able to write a song as good, as timeless, that “the devil is going to piss God’s pants,” but a few days pass and he has nothing to show for it. Pierce plays the first two notes over and over; his sheet music also looks like a Chinese takeout menu. “I’m no better a songwriter than you or Billy Joel,” he confesses to Annie Edison (Alison Brie). “I steal everything. You backed the wrong horse. I have nothing.” When Pierce’s throbbing cosmic womb of creativity finally strikes, it goes something like this, to the tune of Hornsby’s mega-hit:

Standing in line at a bookstore

Waiting for the bell to ring

How to go to class

Dancing in underwear

Air conditioning repair

So you can get a job…

The song actually becomes the anthem of Greendale, which Pierce performs again later in the season – and it’s as closely associated with the school as the E Pluribus Anus flag. Hornsby, who is currently on a national tour, has a good sense of humor when it comes to approving parodies. “I’m glad people still like it,” he said in a recent conversation. “I haven’t watched it in a while, so I’m going to dig into my old memory here.”

Are you generally someone who is happy to give permission to use your music in film and television? What is the Bruce Hornsby standard for this kind of thing? Community Moment?
I used to be a little stricter and tougher about it – a little more due diligence, if you will. Now I don’t care so much about it. That often happens when you get older. Strict licenses no longer play an important role in life. Still, I get maybe more than ever. Last year my song “The Show Goes On” was in the second season of The bear. It’s fun to see how The Way It Is continues to be mined by the hip-hop community for new material. I’ve released two songs of that nature this month, but let’s just say I’m not stressing about it anymore. It’s a good time to listen to some Bruce Hornsby music.

The visuals of this scene are interesting. It was very early in Community‘s running, so you haven’t necessarily had previous episodes of the show to get a sense of the sense of humor.
That’s right. I don’t remember exactly how I came up with that idea, but I’m pretty sure it was something like, “Hey, Chevy Chase is playing a character at some kind of outdoor gathering at a school with a piano. He’s going to play ‘his new song,’ which is to say, new lyrics to your music.” That was a pretty quick yes for me. I thought What the hell? There were people who made fun of my songs. I don’t care. When I saw the finished version, I thought it was pretty screaming. Especially the two people who were sitting on the bench in the background kibitzing and saying, “Hmm, can he sue us?” I thought that was great. I know Chevy Chase a little bit, which helped me.

I know that you were a musical guest at SNL when Chevy was the host in 1992. Is that how you met?
Yes. I played alongside Robbie Robertson. I had the pleasure of helping him and his band – we wrote a song together called “Go Back to Your Woods” which we played that night, and I also sang a verse on “The Weight”. Chevy and I got along well because we’re both fans of Bill Evans, who is a great jazz pianist. We emailed back and forth about music over the years. I haven’t seen him in a very long time. I knew he was a pianist and was very interested in the language of jazz.

Did you email him a critique of his piano playing in this episode?
No, I didn’t. It was solid and usable. It was playable.

If you were to give this school song a grade in terms of education, what would it be?
Oh, that’s a tough one. I’d give it a high mark for uniqueness. There’s nothing else in the pretty large library of “The Way It Is” covers. This is unique. There’s nothing that sounds like it. Chevy is a creator with his own style.

Community is a type of show that has gained influence over the years —
I am not someone who tries to keep up with the current zeitgeist. Well, I am more interested in all of this now than I was when the Community episode came out. I didn’t know about any reaction at the time. I just hope people laughed about it.

Do people enjoy addressing this parody with you?
Not really.

You’ve got to be kidding me! Really?
I have not received much feedback on this. I have never been stopped at an airport or asked about the Community Version of “The Way It Is” so far. Maybe now the avalanche will start. It’s nice to get recognition for that.

“The Way It Is,” as you mentioned, has also been sampled by successful hip-hop artists in their songs who were heavily drawn to the piano melody. What is it about its structure that makes it so ripe for sampling, whether it’s Tupac or a Chevy Chase character? Is there a common factor here?
That’s a difficult one. It’s a bit of a know-it-all explanation for why something is so often associated with so many different artists with different styles. I always thought The Way It Is was a novelty record in the best sense. It sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time. Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing is a related song, the way Mark Knopfler played it solo on top 40 radio and I also played The Way It Is solo. There are not one but two improvised piano solos. That’s hardly the formula for a hit on the radio. It was a unique sounding record and maybe on the tenth or fifteenth listen people started to notice the lyrical content. That’s my reluctant explanation in hindsight.

Have you ever had to threaten to sue someone for sampling your work without permission?
Not with “The Way It Is.” I had to go after a country group that had heavily plagiarized their song “Mandolin Rain.” That was a rare moment when I had to do something like that. Of course, once you’ve recorded a song, it’s fair game. Even if you don’t like what someone has done, you can’t really stop it and say, “You can’t use that.” It’s out there in the world. I think legally they can do whatever they want. They can make fun of it like Chevy did, or they can curse it out and out or write a death metal song. There’s not much the writer can do about it. Maybe I’m wrong. But in The Way It Is world, there haven’t been many lawsuits.