Vienna Waits for You
Spring Playlist Enclosed
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
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.
—Billy Joel: Vienna
Do you ever think back to the music you used to listen to over and over when you were very young? I find it so interesting how listening to our favourite albums now can still take us right back to who we were and where we were — and how they possibly helped shape us.
The Shadow and the Wisdom
When I had just started at university, Billy Joel’s album The Stranger was one of my favourites. The cover photo of him sitting on a bed, looking down at a mask lying on the pillow, sharpened my interest in the archetype that Jung calls the shadow which I was very fascinated by as a child (even though, of course, I had no knowledge of Jung then): Why were you so surprised that you never saw the stranger, did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself? A haunting and classic Joel line.
The quiet wisdom of the song called Vienna set me dreaming. The insistence — for an extremely ambitious young student like me — that life wasn’t a race really spoke to the part of me that was so impatient to do everything, to become everything, all at once, as soon as possible. The life philosophy woven into the lyrics of Joel’s songs helped shape how I saw the world—how I dreamed of living, how I made choices, and how I have managed to always balance ambition with joy.
Dreaming in My Little Garden
Thinking of this album still takes me back to the small ground floor apartment in the center of Copenhagen that a friend rented to me very cheaply for a few years back then. I would pour myself a cuppa (or a glass of sangria) and go sit in the little garden out back, letting the music drift through the open window, inhaling the intoxicating scent of the small honeysuckle tree I had saved up and planted. I longed to be able to afford to travel — to board an overnight train to Vienna, Paris, or any other old, beautiful, cultured European. Meanwhile, inspired by the song, I learn to fully enjoy and appreciate what was already within reach of my very modest budget.
It reminded me that not everything had to happen at once. That slowing down wasn’t failure. That I could dream, but I didn’t have to live in fast-forward:
Slow down, you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
Spring Is Almost Here
The reason why I am thinking of this song now is probably that March is slowly approaching. The other day I could actually feel the heat of the sun on my back as I was walking my 10,000 daily steps. I thought of all the new beginnings ahead, of all the opportunity for adventures, big or small: Catching an overnight train to Vienna, or just sitting outside with a glass of wine, dreaming about catching an overnight train to Vienna — or whatever else would make you happy.
If you want a slightly longer coffee break, and hear Billy Joel’s Vienna, you can listen to this little playlist of inspiring Spring Stories that I have created for you.
Join the Conversation
I’d love to hear your thoughts! What were some of your favourite albums when you were younger? Do you still listen to them?
