Dear John and Doves and Fay…
This past week my wife put on TV part one of a documentary on Billy Joel. Because of Fay’s challenge a couple weeks ago, some of us here have been thinking of him since then. Anyway, I have. I devoured that documentary. My wife said Part 2 wasn’t available yet.
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I hope the River of Dreams he finally found is that one that proceeds with clear water from the Throne. Not all people, not all Saints truly, like changing an object de’ art and pretty much Joel’s lyric schemes are certainly those. “Let him have his music!” I hear them saying… actually… not metaphorically. So I apologize and though many of Joel’s songs need a faith update, I will pray Billy is the one that gets to do it.
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But, [oh ooooh…] IN FAITH AND HOPE, I ADMIT, I LOOKED AND DREAMED...
I’m sorry… I changed perfection. I looked at “VIENNA” as a Christian awaiting “OO RAN US” or greek for “HEAVEN.” As such, the song only makes sense for the end of the day…when rest comes. Noah’s Rest. Rest in Christ’s Work. On my calendar… that is today, July 27, [assuming we get there] amazing! Pentecost. A New Paradigm after tomorrow though. I can handle it.
BUT RIGHT NOW I AM EXPECTING HEAVEN. And...
I want Billy Joel to be a COMPLETED JEW. That was on my mind when I went to the lyrics of
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Vienna, by Billy Joel
I thought, in this 3 syllable noun “Vienna”, He was reaching for the joy of final “rest.” I questioned… Wouldn’t it be great if there were a 3 syllable word for that CITY: HEAVEN in Greek or Hebrew?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wccRif2DaGs
G<3772. ouranous> HEAVEN, HEAVENS, SKY
VIENNA, USED FOR REST, FOR HEAVEN, NO WAIT…
“A METAPHOR FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE”
Redeemed by Date Watchers lyric to
Ouranous [oo ran us]
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Background on “Vienna”
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In one of many Q&A sessions Joel held throughout the 1990s, he was asked by an audience member why he chose Vienna as a metaphor for life and its occasional crossroads.
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He explained it as the city being a melting pot of people of all cultures and status. Also, as a personal connection, his father left his family for the city and later in life Joel would catch back up with him in Vienna and they would chat about the societal differences of the many people in the city, as well as their purpose in life.
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In a July 2008 New York Times article, Joel went into great detail about the song:
Why did I pick Vienna to use as a metaphor for the rest of your life? My father lives in Vienna now. I had to track him down. I didn’t see him from the time I was 8 ‘till I was about 23-24 years old. He lives in Vienna, Austria which I thought was rather bizarre because he left Germany in the first place because of this guy named Hitler and he ends up going to the same place that Hitler hung out all those years! Vienna, for a long time was the crossroads. During the Cold War, between the Eastern Bloc, the Warsaw Pact nations and the NATO countries was the city of Vienna… Vienna was always the crossroads – between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. So the metaphor of Vienna has the meaning of a crossroad. It’s a place of inter…course, of exchange – it’s the place where cultures co-mingle. You get great beer in Vienna but you also get brandy from Armenia. It was a place where cultures co-mingled. So I go to visit my father in Vienna, I’m walking around this town and I see this old lady. She must have been about 90 years old and she is sweeping the street. I say to my father “What’s this nice old lady doing sweeping the street?” He says “She’s got a job, she feels useful, she’s happy, she’s making the street clean, she’s not put out to pasture”. We treat old people in this country pretty badly. We put them in rest homes, we kinda kick them under the rug and make believe they don’t exist. They [the people in Vienna] don’t feel like that. In a lot of these older places in the world, they value their older people and their older people feel they can still be a part of the community and I thought 'This is a terrific idea – that old people are useful -and that means I don’t have to worry so much about getting old because I can still have a use in this world in my old age. I thought “Vienna waits for you…” There is also a lot of inside stuff on the song. The beginning and the end is very Kurt Weill. That kind of sick, middle-European, kinky decadent thing.. cabaret kinda…. there’s a lot of crazy stuff going on. We are seeing the result of it in this ethnic warfare in the Balkans which is a tragedy. This century started out with this Assassination of the Archduke in Sarajevo and that begat World War I which begat the Russian Revolution, then you had the Depression then that begat World War II and then that begat the Cold War and all that’s over but they’re still blowing each other to smithereens in Sarajevo. So this whole thing is going on in middle Europe – it’s Kurt Weill. And some composers, Dvořák, Smetana – they captured it."
Billy Joel has confirmed most of this account on other occasions, such as this 1994 career retrospective in Billboard…
VIENNA IN ITALY, A METAPHOR FOR HEAVEN?
In greek HEAVEN is “OURANOUS”. [oo - ran - us instead of Vi - en - na]
===== NOW I LOVE SINGING THESE! ===== ===== REDEEMED LYRICS BEGIN ===
SLOW DOWN! You crazy MAN-CHILD!
You're so ambitious. “Put on your “MEEK” and “MILD!”
But then if you're so smart tell me?
What is the plan He laid?(Mmmmm???)
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 FORE THE day (Ay!!!)
But you know that when the truth is told
Saints will get what they want
BUT SAINT, YOU’LL NEVER get old!
You're gonna
FLY OFF
before you even get halfway through (Oooh!!!)
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When will you realize,
“Ouranous” waits for you?
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Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want before eternal time!
Although it's so romantic on RAPTURE’S borderline tonight (Tonight?)
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Too bad, but it's the life we lead
SO MUCH COMING we forgot BASIC REST we need
Though WE can see when WE’re wrong!
You know you can't always see when you're right (You're right!)
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You got your passion, you got GOOD GOD PRIDE!!! [Boast? Boast in this, that he understands and knows ME!]
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on! Can you imagine?
Those DREAMS all come true? (Oooh????)
When will you realize,
“Ouranous” waits for you?
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MUSICAL INTERLUDE …
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Slow down crazy man-child.
Phone’s off the hook! Soon…You’ll disappear for a while!!!
It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two (oooh)
When will you realize,
“Ouranous” waits for you?
.
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
BUT SAINT, YOU’LL NEVER get old!
You're gonna
FLY OFF
before you even get halfway through (Oooh!!!)
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Why don’t you realize, “Ouranous” waits for you?
When will you realize, “Ouranous” waits for you?
==== ==== ====
G<3772. ouranous> HEAVEN, HEAVENS, SKY
VIENNA, USED FOR REST, FOR HEAVEN, NO WAIT… “A METAPHOR FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE”
…but the rest of my incorruptible life includes HEAVEN… forever.
Why don't you realize, Vienna waits for you?
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
===== ===== ===== ORIGINAL LYRICS BEGIN ====
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? Mm
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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 (Ay)
.
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 (Oooh)
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 (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're right)
You got your passion, you’ve got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true (Oooh)
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
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MUSICAL INTERLUDE
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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 (oooh)
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 (oooh)
Why don't you realize, Vienna waits for you?
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
===== ===== =====
Written by: Billy Joel
Album: Vienna
Released: 1977
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Isn’t it something Doves. OO RAN [waits for] US!
See you all soon. Dennis Watson, La Quinta, CA