Vienna is also a metaphor for a final destination in the end, including death. And this is no coincidence, as it is the resting place of his father, but Vienna also is full of cemetries, most of them under the ground. You can visit them for sightseeing, and Vienna was thus also once called the biggest necropole of the world.
When i first heard the song i felt there was something very twisted but sweet and decadent feel to it..thanks for conforming it billy..your music made the exact impact you wanted it to..almost as if someone is trying to allure a child..
Well, I´m sitting here in Vienna where I serve people coffee and tea in a pensioners´club. I´m glad I listened to this, because I never heard him talk & had no idea how funny he is!
One of the most talented singer songwriters of his generation, Iv'e got every album he released after buying "the Stranger when it was originally released. It was a real loss to music when he stopped writing and releasing new albums in the early 90's. He is sorely missed.
@mintgumsrops1 But....that IS what the song is about, he was just explaining the Vienna lyric's origin, however yes the song is about young ambitious people rushing from thing to thing and not slowing down to smell the roses, that's what the song is about. point being that you can enjoy your retirement age Too.
I'm glad I finally found out why Vienna was used in my favorite Billy Joel song. I never knew his father was German or that Joel was born from Jewish parents. I thought he was Catholic and Italian. Not important at all to me, just a misconception I had.I never liked anything he did after The Stranger, but his work up to this point was more than enough for me to become a lifelong fan.
He has plenty of good music after The Stranger but more often than not they tend to be deep cuts from albums, rather than hit singles. 52nd Street - Honesty, Until The Night, and Zanzibar Glass Houses - Don't Ask Me Why, I Don't Want To Be Alone and Through The Long Night The Nylon Curtain - Allentown, Goodnight Saigon and Where's The Orchestra? An Innocent Man - An Innocent Man, Leave A Tender Moment Alone and This Night. The Bridge - Baby Grand, Big Man On Mulberry Street and Temptation. Storm Front - And So It Goes, Shameless and When In Rome. River Of Dreams - All About Soul, Blonde Over Blue and Two Thousand Years.
I had the same assumption about being Italian (know he's partial to their restaurants), but the way he dumps on catholicism in OtGDY kinda debunks that one. 😄 Also, plenty of good hits all throughout the 80s. Just because the feel-good bops like Uptown Girl, FtLT, ISR&RTM, etc. get the most air-time, still lots of thought-provoking ones.. well, like the fellow above me listed.
Thank you Billy, this is Billy I was born in Vienna and I live in Australia since 30 years. This is the nicest thing I ever heard someone saying about my hometown! And what you said about older people is what I try to tell friends here in Australia since a long time. I am scared getting old here in DownUnder....
No not at all! Vienna has been voted the most liveable city in the world for more than ten years in a row. Australia one of the richest countries in the world with heaps of space has a homeless crisis. Families live on the streets, children go hungry. My mum is 84 and lives in Vienna recently needed a hip replacement, it took two weeks from diagnosis to get into hospital. Three days after the surgery she walked out happy and healthy. In Australia I pay $80 for five minutes to see a practitioner and surgery can take years. Fair wealth distribution and greed is what sets this two countries apart.
This might not be my favorite Billy Joel song (give it time). But it's probably his best. I started listening when I was 14. Now I'm 52. And it keeps meaning something new.
Interesting. Always felt he used Vienna metaphor as a destination-place for the madness rolling around in his (narrator's) head. Home of Sigmund Freud. If you don't get a handle on your craziness - Vienna waits for you...
Great lyrics allow you to make them subjective. When I hear this wonderful song, he says Vienna but I hear Baja. For me, Baja is where I go to get off the grid. No cell service, no e-mail, no society telling me to go, go, go. You watch the sun rise...then you watch the sun set. You interact with nature if you want...or you go into a little village and interact with nice, genuine people. It really is all right, you CAN afford to lose a day or two; when will you realize, Baja waits for you!
this is my favourite song. i always wondered what vienna in this song could mean. is the city like a heaven or something that he decided to use this word here? Now i finally know!😊N love for billy 💖
@no27i lol. I had to lol at that... "A filthy audience," indeed ;D A little tidbit of interest for the song and here I thought it was all about younger people rushing thru their lives, and to learn to slow down and smell the roses. Learn something new every day, eh ?
I disagree strongly that you "have to be crazy" to live in Germany or Austria, that's ridiculous. That's like saying "ew, how can you live in the south of the US, people used to have slaves there." It's a great song though, I like it.^^
Litary the first time I heard one Billy Joel song he became my #1 favorite singer well right next to Bruce Dickinson and my friend however besides them Billy Joel is my favorite. I love piano everything now.
