Infamy: Ellie's Satirical Emulation of Billy Joel's "Vienna"

Hurry up, don't take your time
Run faster, the moment won't wait in line
If you're running short of time
Tell me why can’t you get a move on?

There's a fire, how can we survive?
You’d better grab your coat and try to save the sky 
Playing the hero card
But feels more like a moth to the flame.

Chase your name at any speed
Build it quickly, ignore the seams
They’ll remember you for what you ruined
When will you realise infamy waits for you?

Speed up, go wear your crown 
Come on,  make it perfect before they frown
Pushing  you to the edge, craving for more of the show
Too bad, perfection is sweeter when it’s forced, you know
We’ll cheer up the chaos before you hide
You always know when you’re right
But hiding the wrong out of sight.

You have your passion, wear it fast
Polish every move, make it last
But don't you know only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but chop chop, don't fall behind
When will you realise infamy waits for you?

Hurry up, don't take your time
Blast your phone, never step away
You can't afford to lose a single day, ohh
When will you realise infamy waits for you?

Chase your name at any speed
Build it quickly, ignore the seams
They’ll remember you for what you ruined
Why don't you realise infamy waits for you?
Why don't you realise infamy waits for you?

Ellie's Reflection on Her Emulation

Billy Joel’s album The Stranger is one of his masterpieces and a breakthrough, featuring masterful storytelling and strong melodies. For my song emulation, I chose “Vienna.” I wanted to take his reflective advice by asking people to slow down and enjoy life, and turn it into something overwhelming and satirical. I kept on telling the readers to “hurry up” and “speed up”, but the pressure is meant to be absurd, so they realise they actually need to slow down instead of rushing, and not actually take the “advice” from my emulation. Also, I used hypophora in lines like “There’s a fire, how can we survive?” to ask a question and guide the readers towards reflection. For the answer, I used satire in the line “you’d better grab your coat and try to save the sky,” exaggerating the idea that people would do anything just to be the “hero” or be famous. The metaphor in “feels more like a moth to the flame” shows how people are drawn towards attention and fame recklessly. I also changed Joel’s “When will you realise Vienna waits for you?” to “When will you realise infamy waits for you?” to match the theme of chasing speed instead of quality, keeping the structure of adding the line to different paragraphs, reminding the reader every time they see it to never follow infamy and slow down.

Based on Billy Joel's "Vienna"

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'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

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
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've 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
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you crazy child
and 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?

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?