Vienna: A Hymn for the Youthful Dreamers

 

Vienna: A Hymn for the Youthful Dreamers

by: Julliane Gayle Tan

 

Growing old seems like a dreadful endpoint or perhaps an indicator of a stagnant life. One of Billy Joel’s magna opera, “Vienna”, tells us otherwise.

 

This particular song has helped me survive my darkest hours and has even accompanied me in my most joyful days. Before dwelling into this somewhat emotional and personal take on the song, let me share some facts about it. In a Q&A session found on The Complete Hits Collection: 1973-1997, Joel said that his inspiration for the song was his visit to his estranged father, Howard Joel, in Vienna. He recalled seeing an old lady sweeping the streets—an occurrence that he questioned. His father then told him that the woman was doing something rather productive. That was when Billy Joel realized that getting old is not really something to worry about because he can still be useful even when his relatively younger years are over. Thus, “Vienna” is a symbolism for old age. 

 

(I recommend listening to it first before reading this.)

 

“Slow down, you crazy child 
You're so ambitious for a juvenile 
But then if you're so smart, tell me 
Why are you still so afraid, hmm?

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? 

You'd better cool it off before you burn it out 

You've got so much to do 

And only so many hours in a day”

 

“Crazy child” refers to everyone out there, especially those who feel like they are being left behind just because they are aging without achieving their goals. There are times when life feels like a race. However, it is important to keep in mind that we have to slow down every once in a while, and realize that we do not have other opponents aside from the previous versions of ourselves. Those versions may not have reached the expectations we set for ourselves, but they are still significant in shaping who we are and who we will be. 

 

I figured a lot of people needed to hear those lines during these times. The 24 hours we have every single day just seem so insufficient to fulfill life’s demands when it comes to school, work, and other personal endeavors. There are also people who tire themselves out for the sake of accomplishing their tasks, leading to burnouts. If you are one of those people, I hope you can give yourself a chance to “cool it off.” Doing things because of your burning passion is an impressive act, but letting that flame consume you can be detrimental to your health.

“But you know that when the truth is told

That you can get what you want 

Or you could just get old 

You gonna kick off before 

You even get halfway through, ooh 

When will you realize, 

Vienna waits for you?”

 

I believe Billy Joel wanted his listeners to understand that they can achieve their goals now or they can simply get old because there is absolutely nothing bad about that. We seem to pressure ourselves to fulfill our ambitions as early as possible as if there would be no opportunities to prosper once we get our first strand of gray hair. Turning old would not get us sucked into a portal that leads to a state of nothingness. 

 

“Slow down, you're doing fine 

You can't be everything 

You wanna be before your time 

Although it's so romantic 

On the borderline tonight, 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 

You know you can't always

See when you're right, you're right”

 

We have to realize that we cannot be everything we aspire to be in an instant. It takes years to maintain a stable career, let alone start one. We should keep on going forward, but we have to adjust our pace when it gets too tiring. We are not being chased by anyone or anything (aside from deadlines, perhaps), so it would not hurt to come to a halt from time to time. Once again, we do not have to be afraid of nearing a certain age. We never know what we might have already accomplished by then.

 

We also tend to get ahead of ourselves and jump to conclusions about what our lives will be like in the future. Hold up. We are not there yet. It is better to avoid sweating too much about matters we are unsure of. We are also prone to focus more on our failures as compared to our victories. Errors can help us learn a thing or two, but it is also significant to reward ourselves for our achievements no matter how small they are.

 

“You've got your passion 

You've got your pride 

But don't you know 

That only fools are satisfied? 

Dream on, but don't imagine 

They'll all come true, ooh 

When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

 

The last three lines struck me the most. There is indeed no limit when it comes to having dreams, but we have to face the reality that it would be difficult to achieve all of them in our lifetime. Nevertheless, not being able to achieve a couple of goals does not equate to being incompetent. The dreams we have brought to life are still worth recognizing despite the ones we were not able to reach. 

 

“Slow down, you crazy child 

And take the phone off the hook 

And disappear for a while 

It's all right, you can afford 

To lose a day or two, ooh 

When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

 

Life just seems so overwhelming sometimes. There are instances when we feel like even a simple movie marathon or an overdue self-care session needs to be set aside to make way for other tasks. We feel like we are running out of time—the sand in the hourglass moving rapidly as we breathe. If you relate to those, maybe you can spend an entire day resting without worrying too much. Life is short, but we are definitely not wasting our time when we do things that truly make us happy. The massive hourglass that is our life still has a lot of sand in the upper bulb. Ditch it even just for 24 hours and enjoy the moments when the particles are flowing down into the lower bulb. It will happen anyway; we might as well witness it while having fun.

 

So, why don’t we realize that Vienna waits for us? Getting old is inevitable, but instead of viewing it as a finish line, we can view it as another starting point. Life goes on and “Vienna” by Billy Joel explains that very well. This song is a hymn for the dreamers who are afraid of losing time, the dreamers who just want to accomplish everything before the deadlines they set for themselves, and the dreamers who need to realize that they will always be the youthful and vibrant persons they were yesterday. After all, we will always be younger before tomorrow comes. 

 

Sources:

- Billy Joel - Vienna Lyrics (https://genius.com/Billy-joel-vienna-lyrics)

- Billy Joel - Why Vienna? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWRiiH2MJ2U)