Video: Homeless piano player stuns passers-by

Homeless man David Gould hopes the video will help him reconnect with his son. Photo / YouTube

Homeless man David Gould has taken advantage of a public piano project in Florida, wowing with his fast-fingers and outstanding musical talent.

A video on Facebook of the bearded man playing Come Sail Away by Styx has gone viral after a week, with over 4 million views at the time of publication.

Gould, a former Marine, has a five-song set to impress passers-by. At the end of the Facebook video he charms with the sweet line: "So easy even a caveman could do it".

He told reporters he never expected his skills would make him an internet sensation.

"It's overwhelming to me," he told WFLA.

"I can't believe it. I'm still fighting off tears. It's unbelievable. I never thought it would come to this."

Gould told CNN he learned clarinet as a child and wanted to be a music teacher but dropped out of school when he ran out of money just shy of graduation.

After the death of his wife in 1998 he developed a drug problem and lost his son to social services, he said. He hopes the viral video will help them re-connect.

"Every day, it's painful. There's not a day that's gone by since they took him from me that I haven't thought about him."

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- nzherald.co.nz