There is something so romantic about Billy Joel’s lyrics. I have been listening to ‘Vienna’ on repeat and can’t get enough. I feel like he is singing directly to me. I had to know if he was referring to Vienna, Italy... Turns out he is referring to Vienna, Australia where his dad moved. Still intrigued, I did a little research into the meaning of the song. Apparently Vienna treats the elder with respect and lets them work within in the city. This helps appease the mind of growing old because your life will still have meaning. “Vienna waits for you…”

With the knowledge that your life will always have meaning, Billy Joel preaches the importance of slowing down. If he thought we moved too fast in the 70’s, I would be afraid to know how we define our lives today. Rather than putting a phone off the hook, we need to leave our cell phones behind for a while. Sometimes I even humor myself with “Airplane mode.”

My favorite part of the song is the part that makes me think. “You’re so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need / Though you can see when you’re wrong / You can’t always see when you’re right” This part really is true…I have a hard time living in the moment. The best metaphor I have is from golf. When I was first learning my swing, the pro would yell at me for my gaze not following the stroke. I would immediately snap my head to look forward. I always wanted to see the target. It is so hard to follow the ball as it moves when you know where you want it to go. Of course I am doing myself a disservice. This is not an easy quality to fix because it is part of your personality. I can absolutely see when I am wrong and even have others help point it out. However, most the time when we are right, there is no good or bad reaction. With that said, it is very hard to keep track of all the times you have been right. The teacher with the gold stars does not follow you through your life. So perhaps the solution really is to slow down; only then can we begin to account for the good in ourselves. XO