"Piano in the Dark" is a song by American singer-songwriter Brenda Russell (featuring backing vocals by Joe Esposito).

It was through this process that she wrote the lyrics to "Piano in the Dark" as the title seemed to fit with the music her co-writers sent her.

[2] In the early stages Russell did not understand what the title would refer to, eventually deciding it was about " ...this woman.

[3] "Piano in the Dark" was released in early 1988, nine years after Russell's previous charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 (1979's "So Good, So Right").

The first version, filmed in black-and-white, shows Brenda looking depressed in her apartment as she tosses cards in a derby and thinks about her lover, a long-haired blond man playing on the piano.