Billy Joel explained the meaning of his song Vienna in an interview with Howard Stern. He explained: “It was an observation that you have your whole life to live. I lot of people in their 20s think they have to get it all together by their 30s and they kill themselves trying to get the golden ring. You have an entire life to live. The lyrics, ‘slow down you crazy child’ – in other words, you have a whole life. We tend to put older people away, and it’s all about young people. Well, wait a minute, why do I have this whole lifespan? What’s the point of it? Some people will get there sooner, and some people will get there later. Slow down, you’re going to be fine. No matter what you do, be good at it, and whenever you get there, you get there.”
Lyrics
You’re so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you’re so smart, tell me
Why are you still so afraid?
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
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You’re gonna kick off before you even
get halfway through
When will you realise, Vienna waits for you
You can’t be everything you want to 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
But don’t you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don’t imagine they’ll all come true
When will you realise, Vienna waits for you?
And take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
It’s alright, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realise, Vienna waits for you?
And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You’re gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
Why don’t you realise, Vienna waits for you
When will you realise, Vienna waits for you?