![]() ![]() “The Stranger” is jam-packed with great tracks. My own time in Vienna was what really sold me on Billy Joel’s song. Partly due to my trips there, I became a fan of the classic film noir “The Third Man”, the haunting way the city of Vienna was portrayed in that film, and the other-worldly “Third Man Theme” by Anton Karas.īilly Joel’s intro for “Vienna” sums up all that for me and takes me back to a time and a place in a beautiful city jam-packed with history, palaces and parks, and ideal for quiet contemplation and reflection. And it’s a city full of history from its place at the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and, many years later, at crossroads between East and West during the Cold War. Vienna holds some fond memories for me, back before I had mortgages to pay and families to worry about. Whilst at university in the early 1980s I spent a couple of university summer holidays in Vienna, trying to learn German. It could easily have been written by a hippie a decade earlier, telling us all to chill out a bit more.īut I suspect if a song with the same broad theme had come a decade earlier or had been written by an artist with less of a musical background than Billy Joel, it wouldn’t have had quite such a poignant musical accompaniment. Slow down, you’re doing fine You can’t be everything you want to be Before your time Although it’s so romantic on the borderline tonight Determined to make a success of myself…(and to think, the plan so nearly worked…).īilly Joel was telling us to take some time out to smell the flowers and enjoy life, rather than hurtling through it at breakneck speed. I was one of those juveniles in a hurry back in 1977. Slow down, you crazy child You’re so ambitious for a juvenile But then if you’re so smart, then tell me Why are you still so afraid? Then the lyrics come along, with an important message for everyone in our busy modern world…a world which has got even busier since 1977… Most records don’t include deliberately discordant notes, but if Billy Joel’s objective was to capture listeners’ attention for what was to follow, he certainly succeeded. Whatever its correct description, the intro grabs your attention. The track begins with a slightly “wonky” piano intro…I’m sure there’s a proper musical term for it, but as I don’t know what that is, “wonky” will have to do for now… “Vienna” is the lead track on the second side of Billy Joel’s 1977 album “The Stranger” which I still have on vinyl. In interviews Billy Joel always cites “Vienna”, among all the songs he’s written, as one of his favourites. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |