''Vienna'' is a song from

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

's 1977 album '' The Stranger'', released as the B-side to his " Just the Way You Are" single. Despite its initial release as a B-side, the song's popularity has grown considerably in the decades after its release. , it is one of Joel's most-streamed songs on

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Composition

The song begins with a piano melody in the right hand and chords in the left, ultimately cadencing to the

tonic chord Tonic may refer to: *Tonic water, a drink traditionally containing quinine *Soft drink, a carbonated beverage *Tonic (physiology), the response of a muscle fiber or nerve ending typified by slow, continuous action * Tonic syllable, the stressed syl ...

of Bb. However, when the verse starts the first chord is a Gm, which is the

relative minor In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major an ...

chord of Bb. A change to the vi chord doesn't always indicate a change in key, but each verse ends with a V-i

authentic cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

in Gm, indicating that a key change has taken place. The chorus begins with an Eb chord, the IV chord in Bb, which is a half step up from D, giving a rising feeling going from the verse to the chorus. The end of the chorus cadences back to the tonic of Bb with the chords C, Gb, F, Bb. Gb is the

tritone substitution The tritone substitution is a common chord substitution found in both jazz and classical music. Where jazz is concerned, it was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like Coltrane changes. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in ...

of the V chord for F, and F to Bb forms another authentic cadence. Lyrically, Joel was inspired by visiting the city of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and his father, who left the family when Joel was a child. Joel has stated that Vienna is a metaphor for old age, but also may have been subconsciously about his father. Speaking more broadly about the song's message, he said in a 2008 interview that it conveys "you don't have to squeeze your whole life into your 20s and 30s trying to make it, trying to achieve that American dream, getting in the rat race and killing yourself. You have a whole life to live. I kind of used 'Vienna' as a metaphor, there is a reason for being old, a purpose". He also said: "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 he people in Viennadon’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…'"

Certifications

Reception and legacy

It was played in a 1981 episode of ''

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'' called "Vienna Waits".

Marilu Henner Mary Lucy Denise Henner is an American actress. She began her career appearing in the original production of the musical '' Grease'' in 1971, before making her screen debut in the 1977 comedy-drama film '' Between the Lines''. In 1977, Henner wa ...

's character Elaine Nardo refers to the song while on vacation in Europe with Alex Reiger, played by

Judd Hirsch Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), John Lacey on the NBC series '' Dear John'' (1988–1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS series ...

. Due to licensing restrictions, the song has been omitted from the episode on DVD, though is intact on the Hulu versions of the episode. In a July 2008 ''

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'' article, Joel cited this as one of his two favorite songs, along with "Summer, Highland Falls". Writing in 2022, Tim Grierson of '' MEL Magazine'' attributed the song's endurance to it being featured in the 2004 film ''

13 Going on 30 ''13 Going on 30'' (released as ''Suddenly 30'' in some countries) is a 2004 American fantasy romantic comedy film written by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, directed by Gary Winick, and starring Jennifer Garner. It follows a 13-year-old girl in ...

'', prominence on social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok through the early 2020s, and its messaging, leading to a popularity that he identifies as particularly strong among younger people. He further wrote, "unlike something like '

Piano Man Piano Man refers to a male pianist. Piano Man may also refer to: Music * ''Piano Man'' (Billy Joel album), a 1973 rock album by Billy Joel ** "Piano Man" (song), a 1973 song from the album * ''Piano Man'' (Hilton Ruiz album), 1975 * ''Piano Man'' ...

,' it hasn’t been shoved down our throats for the entirety of our lives. 'Vienna' feels like something you get to discover on your own and then claim for yourself". ''PopMatters'' critic David Pike rated it one of the "41 essential pop/rock songs with accordion."

Cover versions

* In 2011, American singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

covered the song, initially sending the MP3 to her fans if they donated to her

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appeal, and then later making it available to the public via her YouTube channel. * In 2012, ''

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'' contestant Elise Testone performed the song on the 11th season of the show the week the contestants sang Billy Joel's songs. * In 2013,

Christian Borle Christian Dominique Borle (born October 1, 1973) is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in ''Peter and the Starcatcher'' and as William Shakespeare in ''Something Rotten!''. Borle also ...

performed it in "

The Phenomenon "The Phenomenon" is the twenty ninth episode of the American television series '' Smash''. It was written by Jordon Nardino and executive producer and showrunner Joshua Safran and directed by Roxann Dawson. The episode premiered on NBC on May ...

", the 14th episode of the second season of '' Smash''. * In 2015, the Austrian band

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

released their version, "Wien wort auf di", sung in an Austrian dialect of German. * In 2015,

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

covered the song under his alias

Larry Fisherman Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

. * In 2016, contestant Andrew DeMuro performed the song at the Blind Auditions on ''

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'' of the show and was made a part of

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

's team. * In 2019,

Grace VanderWaal Grace Avery VanderWaal (born January 15, 2004) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her distinctive vocals and has often accompanied herself on the ukulele. VanderWaal began her musical career by posting videos of her ...

performed Vienna during her "Ur So Beautiful" tour. * In 2019, Israeli singer Roie Labes released his version for the song in Hebrew, named "''וינה''". * In 2019, actor

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

performed the song in the eighth episode of the first season of ''

The Politician ''The Politician'' is a Caroline era stage play, a tragedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1655. Publication ''The Politician,'' along with another Shirley play, '' The Gentleman of Venice,'' was published by the bookseller Hu ...

''. The song appeared on the soundtrack for the show as well. * In 2021, Norwegian singer Anne Charlotte performed the song as the opening act of the annual Gullbarbie-concert. * In 2022, Australian singer

Gretta Ray Gretta Ray (born May 22nd 1998) is an Australian singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Victoria. In 2016, she was the winner of the national Triple J Unearthed radio competition for bands and songwriters, and the 2016 Vanda & Young Global Songwriti ...

released the song on

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, becoming a viral sensation. A recorded version was released 6 May 2022.

References

{{Ben Platt 1977 songs Billy Joel songs Ben Platt songs Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone Songs about old age Songs about Vienna Songs written by Billy Joel Columbia Records singles