![]() It could easily have been written by a hippie a decade earlier, telling us all to chill out a bit more.īut I suspect if a song with the same broad theme had come a decade earlier or had been written by an artist with less of a musical background than Billy Joel, it wouldn’t have had quite such a poignant musical accompaniment. Slow down, you’re doing fine You can’t be everything you want to be Before your time Although it’s so romantic on the borderline tonight Determined to make a success of myself…(and to think, the plan so nearly worked…).īilly Joel was telling us to take some time out to smell the flowers and enjoy life, rather than hurtling through it at breakneck speed. I was one of those juveniles in a hurry back in 1977. ![]() Slow down, you crazy child You’re so ambitious for a juvenile But then if you’re so smart, then tell me Why are you still so afraid? Then the lyrics come along, with an important message for everyone in our busy modern world…a world which has got even busier since 1977… Most records don’t include deliberately discordant notes, but if Billy Joel’s objective was to capture listeners’ attention for what was to follow, he certainly succeeded. ![]() Whatever its correct description, the intro grabs your attention. The track begins with a slightly “wonky” piano intro…I’m sure there’s a proper musical term for it, but as I don’t know what that is, “wonky” will have to do for now… “Vienna” is the lead track on the second side of Billy Joel’s 1977 album “The Stranger” which I still have on vinyl. I kind of used ‘Vienna’ as a metaphor, there is a reason for being old, a purpose.”Īll in all, “Vienna” sounds like a pretty nice place to be.In interviews Billy Joel always cites “Vienna”, among all the songs he’s written, as one of his favourites. They allow for people who are aged to have a useful place in the scheme of things, and I thought, ‘ya know that’s a good metaphor for someone my age to consider.’ You don’t have to squeeze your whole life into your 20s and 30s trying to make it, trying to achieve that American dream, getting in the rat race, and killing yourself. “I realized they don’t throw old people away like we tend to do here in the States. “We were walking in the city and I remember seeing an old lady sweeping the street and I said, ‘Dad it’s kind of sad that that poor old woman has to do that kind of work.’ He said, ‘No, she has a job, she feels useful, she has a place in our society,’” Joel recalls. Soon after, during a walk around the city with him, Joel was struck with the inspiration for his song of the same name. Upon hearing this news, Joel went to visit his estranged father in Vienna. When I did my first tour of Europe, I was in my early 20s, and I was looking for him… I got word that my father was working in an office in Vienna, Austria. “He went back to Europe and I pretty much never heard from the guy again,” Joel said in a 2008 interview. When Joel was a child, his father and mother split with Helmut, returning to Europe-Vienna, Austria to be specific. In this song, Joel’s perspective on getting older almost entirely stems from hearing his father’s take on aging. His father, born Helmut Joel in Germany (he later adopted the name Howard), was a pianist and businessman who felt out of place in the United States. When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? Inspired by Joel’s Father You’re gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (Oooh) Further, the literal place of Vienna stands to represent the decades that many have to make the most of this crazy thing called life. So, Joel’s opinion of aging is a positive one as he proclaims that there is so much life to live in quote-unquote old age. You can’t be everything you want to be before your timeĪlthough it’s so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight). Rather than encouraging its listeners to grab the bull the horns, “Vienna” suggests that everyone take the time to smell the roses. It is, though, an unusual carpe diem-styled song. Most broadly, “Vienna” is a metaphor for growing older. “OK,” you may be saying, “but why is this New York City-hailing artist singing of Vienna? What’s going on there?” Well, slow down you crazy child, and read below for the meaning of “Vienna” by Billy Joel.
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