April 5, 2016

Vienna Waits For You

Last week I talked about travel movies, and today my post is tied to a song. This post is best read with "Vienna" playing in the background.

I remember hearing Billy Joel's "Vienna" as a teenager stuck in a small town with small-minded people and being like...this song was written to me. It was on the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack, but I don't know anything about the song apart from the lyrics (feel free to fill me in on any facts you may have), and I barely know a handful of Billy Joel's songs.


"Vienna" was burned to several different CD mixes and played loudly throughout my college years. A lot of songs reflect our lives at different points in time, but "Vienna" has somehow managed to serve as a parallel story line to half of my life.

Even as I listen to it again today, it's still perfectly inspirational with a strong hit of reality. I was a super overachiever in high school, just desperate to get out and on my way. As soon as I did, my ambition to succeed changed tracks from school to volleyball coaching and I was putting in sixty-hour work weeks without even thinking twice about it.


I was heading for a serious energy crash. What did I actually want? What was I afraid of doing? I stepped back from my life, and realized my "Vienna" was actually to be a volleyball player again and to do it in Europe. I literally stopped having a cell phone ("take the phone off the hook") and eventually deleted my Facebook ("disappear for a while"...or forever!).

"Vienna" was the metaphor for what I really wanted out of life.

So, enjoy these photos from my walks around Vienna, these wonderful words from Billy Joel, and maybe you'll realize, as I did, that "Vienna" waits for you, too.


Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me,
Why are you still so afraid?


Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do
And only so many hours in a day.


But 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
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you?


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.


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 got your passion, you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you?


Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...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 realize...Vienna waits for you?


When will you realize...Vienna waits for you?


MummyTravels

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