VIENNA BOYS CHOIR Wiener Sängerknaben
VIENNA BOYS CHOIR Wiener Sängerknaben
VIENNA BOYS CHOIR Wiener Sängerknaben
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Program Notes – page 16<br />
Vienna (1977)<br />
Billy Joel (b. 1949)<br />
Vienna was first released on Joel’s 1977 album, The Stranger. In 2008, Joel himself named it in a New<br />
York Times interview as a song that made him think; it is a song about celebrating life at any age.<br />
Elsewhere Joel explained that to him, Vienna-the-city is a crossroads, and as a result, a metaphor for<br />
the rest of one’s life. After tracking down his estranged father whom he had not seen in 15 years, Billy<br />
Joel experienced Vienna as a place where cultures meet and mingle. Not only cultures, but generations<br />
as well: Joel was struck at how old people were very much part of the city’s life. Joel said it made him<br />
realise that he should not fear old age. He came up with the phrase "Vienna Waits for You", used by<br />
the Vienna Tourist Board as a slogan – which brings to mind another saying, this one attributed to one<br />
Gustav Mahler: "When the world comes to an end, I shall move to Vienna. Everything happens fifty<br />
years later there."<br />
Text:<br />
Slow down, you crazy child<br />
You're so ambitious for a juvenile<br />
But then if you're so smart, then tell me<br />
Why are you still so afraid?<br />
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?<br />
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out<br />
You've got so much to do and<br />
Only so many hours in a day<br />
But you know that when the truth is told<br />
That you can get what you want or you get old<br />
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through<br />
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?<br />
Slow down, you're doing fine<br />
You can't be everything you want to be before your time<br />
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight<br />
Too bad but it's the life you lead<br />
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need<br />
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know<br />
You can't always see when you're right, you're right<br />
You've got your passion, you've got your pride<br />
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?<br />
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true<br />
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
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