Billy Joel's Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Long before I had an iPhone of my own I would spend long car rides listening to music on my mom's iPod. Her music might have been a little old, but I didn't really mind. Most of the songs passed by in a blur of 80's synth or soulful guitar, however, there was one song that caught my attention every time, Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant". Growing up on Long Island I'd always been a fan, but at such a young age I could never fully grasp what most of his songs were about. Instead, every time it would come on I would just dance around snapping my fingers to the beat, not a care in the world. But, like "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is about growing up and facing reality, I had to grow up too. At first, I thought the song was
about failure. Brenda and Eddie married too young and realized their mistakes too late to fix their lives. I took this as a cautionary tale about jumping headfirst into a situation without examining the possible repercussions. When I thought about it in this way the song seemed bleak each time I listened to it. Eventually I started avoiding the song altogether because I disliked focusing the harsh truths of real life. But, after a while I missed my old favorite and added it back to my playlist. As I listened to it again, I had a crucial revelation. I realized that the song is not so much about failure as it is about letting go of past mistakes. Although Brenda and Eddie's marriage didn't work out, they still "both [found] a way to get by". In the end they picked up the pieces and moved on. Listening to "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" taught me that sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to and that's okay. There's no point in focusing on what you could've done better because you can't change the past. Instead, you have to concentrate on improving the future. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" had a great huge on my life and forever changed the way I think about failure. Now, I don't focus on what I did wrong, but on what I can do better.
about failure. Brenda and Eddie married too young and realized their mistakes too late to fix their lives. I took this as a cautionary tale about jumping headfirst into a situation without examining the possible repercussions. When I thought about it in this way the song seemed bleak each time I listened to it. Eventually I started avoiding the song altogether because I disliked focusing the harsh truths of real life. But, after a while I missed my old favorite and added it back to my playlist. As I listened to it again, I had a crucial revelation. I realized that the song is not so much about failure as it is about letting go of past mistakes. Although Brenda and Eddie's marriage didn't work out, they still "both [found] a way to get by". In the end they picked up the pieces and moved on. Listening to "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" taught me that sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to and that's okay. There's no point in focusing on what you could've done better because you can't change the past. Instead, you have to concentrate on improving the future. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" had a great huge on my life and forever changed the way I think about failure. Now, I don't focus on what I did wrong, but on what I can do better.