# What are the Five Easy Pieces? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919 "2003-07-30T15:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/1 "2003-07-30T15:10:46Z")
Just rented Jack Nicholson’s Five Easy Pieces the other day. Not a real edge-of-your seat-er, but a interesting character study. I liked the film, though not as much as I had hoped. Help me out, though. What does the title refer too? Did I miss something? Am I just daft? Pieces of _music_, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/2 "2003-07-30T15:39:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by seriousart \* > \*\*Pieces of _music_, perhaps? \*\* That’s right. A traditional beginning piano student’s assignment. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/3 "2003-07-30T18:57:39Z")
Another question is “What is the relevance to the movie?” Nicholson’s character was, IIRC, an accomplished pianist (as opposed to a beginner) who abandoned the ivories to work on an oil rig or something. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/4 "2003-07-30T20:10:13Z")
Man, it’s been forever since I’ve seen this, but IIRC, when he was a music student, he had to give a recital. Instead of a challenging work or two to display his virtuosity, he selected five easy pieces. The point being, he’s been doing that ever since – just kind of sliding by rather than expending some effort and getting somewhere in his life. DD ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/5 "2003-07-30T21:09:09Z")
There is a Five East Pieces composed by Igor Stravinsky. Whether or not that is what the title refers to, I don’t know. [List of Stravinsky works (look under 1917)](http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/stravinsky_works.html) ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/6 "2003-07-30T21:14:18Z")
**EASY** not East. Drat. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/7 "2003-07-31T00:35:52Z")
The movie is probably only gonna be remembered for the diner scene where Jack tries to order something not on the menu. ## [This site](http://www.research.umbc.edu/~landon/Film%20Summaries/Summary_FiveEasyPieces.htm) suggests that the title refers to a typical practice book title for a beginning student. Dupea: I’d like a plain omelette, no potatoes, tomatoes instead, a cup of coffee and wheat toast. Waitress (points to the menu): No substitutions. Dupea: What do you mean? You don’t have any tomatoes? Waitress: Only what’s on the menu. You can have a No. 2–a plain omelette. It comes with cottage fries and rolls. Dupea: Yeah, I know what it comes with. But it’s not what I want Waitress: Well, I’ll come back when you make up your mind. Dupea: Wait a minute. I have made up my mind. I’d like a plain omelette, no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee and a side order of wheat toast Waitress: I’m sorry, we don’t have any side orders of toast…an English muffin or a coffee roll. Dupea: What do you mean you don’t make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches, don’t you? Waitress: Would you like to talk to the manager? Dupea: You’ve got bread and a toaster of some kind? Waitress: I don’t make the rules. Dupea: OK, I’ll make it as easy for you as I can. I’d like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee. Waitress: A No. 2, chicken sal san, hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise. And a cup of coffee. Anything else? Dupea: Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven’t broken any rules. Waitress (spitefully): You want me to hold the chicken, huh? Dupea: I want you to hold it between your knees. _From the screenplay by Bob Rafelson and Carole Eastman_ (Just picture Jack, the homicidal maniac, saying this. And then he clears the table with a swoosh of his hand and arm? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/8 "2003-07-31T01:46:47Z")
Great movie-- one of my favorites. Thanks, Sam, for the recap of that famous scene. I’m amazed at how may people aren’t familiar with it. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/9 "2003-07-31T01:55:27Z")
The coffee shop where the famous “hold the chicken between your knees” scene was filmed is the **Red Rooster** , just outside of Chemainus, about 30 miles north of Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. Great home-cooked food. I’ve never ordered the chicken salad sandwich, or the toast, myself. > **[8432 Trans Canada Hwy, rr 1 - Chemainus BC - MapQuest](https://www.mapquest.com/canada/bc/chemainus/v0r-1k4/8432-trans-canada-hwy-rr-1-48.876335,-123.706004)** > > View detailed information and reviews for 8432 Trans Canada Hwy, rr 1 in Chemainus, and get driving directions with road conditions and live traffic updates along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/10 "2003-07-31T03:54:12Z")
Two neat little things about this movie: 1. It was the screen debut of Sally Struthers, later to win fame as Archie and Edith Bunker’s daughter Gloria on _All In the Family._ 2. In a bit part we saw choreographer Toni Basil, who later, in the 80s, had the immortal pop hit “Mickey.” 3. When Bob Rafelson made _Five Easy Pieces_ he was already an Emmy-winning director for _The Monkees._ He also directed the Monkees movie, _Head._ ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/11 "2003-07-31T04:00:24Z")
Toni Basil also played the dark-haired New Orleans prostitute in _Easy Rider_. I just saw _Five Easy Pieces_ a week or so ago, and I thought to myself, “What’s the deal with Toni Basil having bit parts in Jack Nicholson movies with the word ‘easy’ in the titles?” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/12 "2003-07-31T04:12:11Z")
As an aside, Rafelson and Nicholson were close friends, and Nicholson co-wrote _Head_ with him. He may have had something to do with the writing of FEP also. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-five-easy-pieces/191919/13 "2003-07-31T05:36:45Z")
Bobby plays a couple of easy classical pieces: Chopin’s e-minor Prelude and Mozart’s d-minor Fantasy. There are other classical pieces in the movie, but they are NOT easy. I always thought the title was a cheeky play on words, i.e. the other 3 easy pieces were the women!