I remember the first time I ever heard a Billy Joel song, I was 9 years old. I was watching "13 Going on 30". I saw Jennifer Garner struggling to move forward and I heard the words that would help me make sense of life. The words that would motivate and drive me, while simultaneously keeping my feet on the ground.
I eagerly rewound the movie and ran to ask my mom whose voice these captivating words belong to.
“Slow down, you crazy child. You’re so ambitious for a juvenile.”
Little did I know, I had just been introduced to the lyrics that would help me through the trials of tribulations of my teenage years and help me come into my own.
“But then if you’re so smart tell me why are you still so afraid?”
To me, Billy Joel’s "Vienna" is more than just a metaphor, it’s a reminder. A reminder to all of us, who are or ever were, bursting at the seams with life, who want nothing more than to seize every experience possible, who have big dreams and even bigger aspirations, and want to break free from the confinement of their much too small towns. This perfectly crafted medley of words resonates within me unlike anything I have ever heard.
“Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?”
Within everyone a fire burns for something they are passionate about. Whether it be life itself, the dire need to throw themselves into anything and everything they can, a relationship, or something unknown. I felt like I had so much fire within myself that I couldn’t possibly wait for my life to begin. I couldn’t wait to reach adulthood and go after all the things I thought I wanted. These words told me, and everyone else who was, or ever will be, itching for their lives to begin, that our lives have already begun. And that we shouldn’t wait for 18, 21, or whenever to start living.
“Slow down you’re doing fine, you can’t be everything you want to be before your time”
It never occurred to me to enjoy the moment I’m in. Even knowing that it’s a better way to live, I’ll admit that it's extremely hard to do. When I was 10, I was dying to see the PG-13 movies my parents wouldn't take me to. When I was 15, I couldn’t wait to drive. When I was I was 16, I couldn’t wait to go to college and escape. And now that I’m 20 I find myself waiting to graduate college, begin my career, fall in love. My whole life I have always been waiting, anticipating, preparing for the something in the future, something that I can’t have yet.
“Though you can see when you're wrong, you know, you can’t always see when you’re right… you’re right”
I think we all have moments of self doubt. It’s so easy to say ‘no’ to yourself and tell yourself you’re wrong or something is too hard or too big of a dream. Think about it, how often do you really look at something you did, or something you want to do and think to yourself “I’m right.” I think we need other people to tell us that a lot, to reassure us that we are moving in the right direction. But there are those rare instances when you realize that what you have done or what you aspire to do, is right. We should all have more of those realizations.
“You got your passion, you got your pride. But don’t you know that only fools are satisfied”
Ever since I could remember, the idea that satisfaction is unattainable has been ingrained in me. I had this vision in my head that once I got an A on my senior paper, got that pay check, once I got into my top college, or once I got a 4.0, only then, would I be satisfied. But I wasn’t. I'm not. And that’s okay. I’m always searching, reaching, for that next thing. Always wanting to be better. It’s okay to want more. It’s okay to not be satisfied. Billy Joel taught me that.
“And you know that when the truth is told that you can get what you want or you can just get old”
This line sticks out as one of the most compelling of all. It encourages us all to not let our dreams, hopes, and wishes pass us by. We must actively go after them, and live, as opposed to just simply existing.
“When will you realize… Vienna waits for you”
To the lyrics that gave me a voice when I felt like I couldn’t find the words on my own, that reminded me to slow down, to take it all in, to not rush through my life but embrace each moment, to live each memory. To the man whose words got me through the most arduous times, thank you. Thank you for reminding me that I have time to get to my Vienna.
And so do you.
