Lyrics for Vienna as interpreted by fletch699

Vienna Lyrics
Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me why
You are still so afraid?

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you an just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

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
Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself
That you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong

But you know you can't always see when you're right
You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook
And disappeaar for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you.

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LittleBriddie
03-04-2003

Rated 0 
I love this song. I can't believe nobody has posted on this one yet. I heard it for the first time on a rerun of Taxi when I was probably 10 years old. I searched all over the Internet last year until I found it, and then I bought The Stranger album. Anyway, to me, this song is pretty self-explanatory. The narrator is just telling this "crazy child" to enjoy life more. Maybe he's a college student who is freaking out about having to go into the real world soon ("if you're so smart tell me why are you still so afraid?"). He's telling the kid to calm down because there is plenty of time to get life in order. He's encouraging him to keep looking forward to the future ("dream on/But don't imagine they'll all come true") without committing himself to it yet ("you can't be everything you want to be before your time"). Vienna symbolizes some kind of future happiness. It isn't going to pass him by because "Vienna waits for you". This is a really hopeful song. The overall message reminds me of John Lennon's "Instant Karma" - "we all shine on/like the moon and the stars and the sun." Basically, everything is going to be alright.

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eaglesfan81
03-22-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with you on this song, it is very underappreciated. If you have Billy Joel's box set, on the 4th CD he gives a great explanation on what this song is all about. He even plays it solo and just hearing him and the piano play that song with no other instruments after he told what it meant is awesome.

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ondra
09-25-2004

Rated 0 
My mom used to sing this song to me. Her name is Vienna.

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Jack in Jill
10-24-2004

Rated 0 
This song is about taking life slowly. When your kid, you just want to grow up and your not appreciating the time you have to be young and have fun. Why try to be grown up, when you can just have fun and not worry about everything?

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spankthru
05-16-2005

Rated 0 
Oooh I love this song so much! Although I'm still a bit puzzled as to the meaning of this song. Can't find the box set anywhere here in Oz...

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lyss222
07-11-2005

Rated 0 
i read somewhere that billy wrote this song while visiting vienna, after watching an elderly woman proudly sweeping the sidewalk in front of her home. apparently he was inspired by how much old age and wisdom were appreciated there. i think "vienna waits for you" is saying don't be in such a hurry to move life along. everything, including *your* "vienna," will come in due time.

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stephlovesyou
07-15-2005

Rated 0 
i fricken LOVE this song.. the lyrics and everything.
its soo good.

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benjyedwards
07-27-2005

Rated 0 
I just rediscovered this song. Used to listen to the Stranger all the time in high school. I always presumed Billy was lecturing himself in this song.

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destroymebaby
08-18-2005

Rated 0 
I love this song but what does he mean by Vienna? Is it a person or place or something else?

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prtygrl734
01-16-2006

Rated 0 
i LOVE this song
and the idea of Vienna is the place. Vienna italy is a place known for love, and it is just in general a place that is highly reputed
so the idea is that you dont have to make it all the way to Vienna so early in life, it will still be around when you are ready for it.


and yea - i love this song so much

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f1ckm1ch
01-24-2006

Rated 0 
vienna is in austria.what you meant was venice italy.and yes i simply love this song too

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T_D_Phoenix
03-24-2006

Rated 0 
I don't see why the entire world doesn't absolutely adore this song, and I'm kinda glad they don't if you know what I mean.

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ledgepantsd2nd
03-27-2006

Rated 0 
this song is amazing!the lyrics are brilliant.i listen to it everytime im upset and it always cheers me up. It gives a little boost!

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Hisoka
04-04-2006

Rated 0 
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you an just get old

What does this mean? I get the rest of the song, but I dont get this part at all. What does telling the truth have to with getting what you want?
If it means setting a goal is the only want to get what you want, why does it end the verse with

When will you realize,
Vienna waits for you

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lookbeyond
04-23-2006

Rated 0 
The reason I love this song so much is that there are so many different ways to interpret it, and all of them are right.

Here's one I haven't seen yet:

Unrequited love.
The narrator is more mature, in love with this frantic young person who's rushing everywhere, stressing eirself out and it hurts the narrator because ey loves em. The narrator's expressed eir feelings but the young person is freaking out because ey is afraid--of commitment, of taking the time to enjoy eir life.

"Vienna" represents everything that a relationship with a stable person could offer someone.

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you an just get old

This is saying that, when you have the option of happiness in front of you, you can either embrace it or get old before your time.

The "borderline" is the line between friendship and romance.

You got your passion you got your pride
But don't you know only fools are satisfied?

If you just accept whatever you can get that's simple, without aspiring to anything greater, you're a fool.

Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true

My favorite line in this song. You can imagine all the ideal futures you want, but you're being an idiot if you pass by something beautiful and REAL in pursuit of something that may never happen.

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musicnerd08
05-08-2006

Rated 0 
I LOVE this song. It just means so much to me. Here's my take on it.
The song's about someone, most likely a woman, who's pushing herself so hard, when she doesn't really need to. She's incapable of slowing down. Vienna represents a haven from the world, which she desperately needs but can't find. The singer is trying to tell her that it's ok; she can take some time out and not miss much of anything.
My favorite line: Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true. That just sums it up right there. You can make all these plans, but you have to realize that things never turn out quite like you want them to.

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neurotic.housewife
05-09-2006

Rated 0 
Supposedly, Billy's father lives in Vienna. The story I heard is about the old woman he saw while visiting his father there. Obviously, in the bigger picture (as you've all said) the song is about not rushing around while you're young ... that it's all waiting for you and there's no need to hurry to get it ... it will be there. All in all, it's one of Billy's best songs and one of my faves.

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Ashley765
07-11-2006

Rated 0 
This is such a deep and beautiful song, I can listen to it over and over again.

The narrator is talking about a young person who still sees life as an adventure and is rushing out in the world, but doesn't take time to enjoy life to its fullest, while that is really the most essential thing. I think lots of people can relate to it. If you take one step at a time, you will get where you want as well; just don't rush in case you miss out on something. This person hasn't realized that yet.

Life is not a destination, it's a journey.

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sadnessoreuphoria
10-11-2006

Rated 0 
His father lives in vienna, austria. It's a metaphor for the rest of your lives. It's the meaning of crossroads "a place of exchange and comingle" Billy says. So hes there and meets an old lady sweeping the street. Here we don't pay attention to old people. There they value their older people. "Vienna waits for you." The older people still feel like they can contribute to the community. ["Why Vienna?" The Complete Hits Collection (Disc 4)] just summarized it i hope it helpeddd

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ikvoria
11-05-2006

Rated 0 
oh. i thought vienna represented heaven.

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johntkucz
11-07-2006

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LittleBriddie's first interpretation was right on and succintly and thoroughly well explained. My only take was that Vienna is not a place but a person, some woman who the subject has fallen in love with and wants to race off and do everything quickly. I definitely have been that person (haven't you?:) at one time or another and Joel captures the advice with serious brilliance.

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nbellacruz
12-18-2006

Rated 0 
my favorite billy joel song. i listen to it all the time, it gets me through =)

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addicted2u
01-14-2007

Rated 0 
i think lookbeyond is right on the button. this can be interpreted in many ways but to me it means this. vienna can be a person or a place or anything. and the narrator is telling someone that they need to slow down and enjoy life before they can get true happiness. and that true happiness is vienna. it can be a love story or just a song about trying to achieve goals in life. but either way, you need to stop trying so hard to reach those goals so fast because vienna will wait for you and you will get to vienna when the time is right.

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ikvoria
01-15-2007

Rated 0 
smart people can be afraid too, though. sometimes, smart people are the most afraid because they KNOW, they know what's in the world waiting for them. and vienna is what's waiting for this person, and the narrator, in his ignorance, is telling her not to worry about it, but she's scared because she knows. to her, vienna represents something different, vienna represents the end of something, maybe her time, and she can't let it end.

i once read a book about a man who was obsessed with slowing down time. and because he was so obsessed with it, time seemed to go faster when he was thinking about it, so he tried to stop thinking about it but he couldn't because of the thought avoidance paradox. and because nobody can slow down time, he became more and more afraid until eventually he realised that the only way to stop time was to kill himself.

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piano_keys
02-09-2007

Rated 0 
what an amzaing song...this song reminds me of high school mostly
in high school my class spent some time in vienna and it seemed like, in vienna at least, the pace of every day life was a little less crazy...and this song just brings back so many good memories of that beautiful city...

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