FIRST TIME HEARING Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire REACTION 

Billy was born in 1949 and had turned 40 years old in 1989 when this song was released. He had been at a party or some sort of social gathering where Sean Lennon and a few other teens were also there, and a friend of Sean's had said that it was an exciting time in the world then, what with the end of the Cold War approaching and the Berlin Wall coming down later that year. Billy said he knew how they felt, as he felt that way too when he was younger but the friend said that nothing of significance had ever happened when Billy was growing up. When Billy writes a song he starts with the music first and then writes lyrics to create a complete song, but for We Didn't Start the Fire and as more of a mental exercise initially, he started to list some of the more significant people and events during his lifetime, having hit the milestone age of 40 that year. He then set the list to music, using an old country type song that he had written but never released, as the melody for the chorus. The We Didn't Start the Fire chorus part is basically saying that the world has always been fucked up and youngsters of any given time should not collectively blame the generation before their own because it was already fucked up prior to their generation too, and the future younger generation will be blaming Sean Lennon's and his friend's generation in the years ahead. Ironically, Sean Lennon and his friend are now in their 40s. What is even more remarkable about this song than it all rhyming though is that everything is generally in chronological order too.

I'm 74... These verses all mean something to me, I recognize everything he's singing about... Yes, it's historical.

It's a history lesson. Everything is in chronological order.

He he ... because you're young. It means something to those of us who lived through it.

It's amazing how Billy Joel can take 50+ years of national and international historical events, write them in a song and make them rhyme. The man is a master lyricist.

Billy Joel said one of his Band members told him he was lucky to grow up in the 1950s when life was peaceful. Joel sat down and wrote this to show that life has never been peaceful.

He’s summarizing the political, social and popular culture history as it relates to his life from his parents wedding day to the 1990’s when this song came out

If you pay attention, you’ll see and hear about all the decades of his life. That’s the song.

This song came out while I was in high school -- my history teacher printed out the lyrics and broke us into groups to research each stanza. We had to give presentations of each thing listed in our stanza. It was a really neat history class :)

Some teachers have used this song to teach history lessons.

Billy wrote this about all the events in history that happened from the day he was born after he got talking to someone who said "Nothing has really happened since they were born" , so Billy wrote this to show all the evehtsnfrom history.

Billy Joel's got some real zingers and bangers, bro. You're tapping into a gold mine.

There is a video of Billy Joel at Oxford in 1994 answering the question of the meaning/reason behind the lyrics for We Didn't Start the Fire.

it's a history lesson he lived through

All the historic things that have happened since he was born. Troubles , music, movies, books . By the decades

You got it Michael. It's a brief history of the world. And it's not our fault! ☺,PJ

The point of the song is that no matter what era you live in, things do not change.

Took me weeks to memorize this when it first came out and to this day I can still sing every word of it. I even won a bet once because of it.

What do James Dean and the Bay of Pig invasion have in common? THE YEAR! The song is the chronological sequence of big headlines in the news from year to year to year, starting with the year of Billy Joel's birth and ending in the summer of 1989, the moment the song was released. I remember 'We didn't Start the Fire' and Phil Collins' 'Another Day in Paradise' both battling it out at the top of the international singles charts. - What great times those were for music fans.

He's talking about events that happened during his lifetime

He is naming news events and things in the popular consciousness during his lifetime, from oldest to most recent. And it is amazing! Even though I was born a few years later than him, most of what he mentioned was part of my memory, too.

This came out on MTV and was huge. Billy Joel had some of the best videos ever.

my grade 12 History class spent 3 days on this song, we listened and discussed the importance of each issue/person.

With everything that has been happening the last few years, I think he needs to do an update. Everything he sang, was in consecutive order, hard to believe.

He's listing the events of his life.😊

It was a 50th birthday present to himself

Pressure, Goodnight Saigon, Matter of Trust (great video), Tell Her About It, Innocent Man, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant.

This song is a huge history lesson.

You're exactly right. I'm glad you enjoyed this one. Great reaction. All history in order!!

It is the song of the baby boomer generation from our parents getting married to them dying and us entering middle age. We lived through all of that...he was putting it into perspective of a life lived for forty years...and passing the generational fire to GenX then Millenials...and now GenZ. Could you write about Y2K, 9/11, Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Hip-hop, Donald Trump, Jeffery Dahmer, Gaza Strip?

I believe each set are events that happened in each decade represented.

Your reaction did this song justice. Just keep on keeping on, you make me smile...❤

How about a little do-wop sound in For the Longest Time? Or his vocal stretch in The River of Dreams? He never made the same song twice, they all are unique unto themselves. And they never get old.

Every generation has challenges, wars and historic happenings. Also every younger generation wants to blame the generation before. I think that is what he's trying to say.

The song and music video is a listing of historical events and people from the end of World War II in 1945, up to 1989, when the song/music video was released. To understand them all, the listener will have to look them up in an encyclopedia, or look them up on the Internet. All of the news events and people’s names were signposts representative of the era they took place (Red China, 1949, Johnny Ray (singer) 1950, “Sugar Ray” Robinson (boxer), Panmunjom (village where cease fire talks took place during The Korean War), Marilyn Monroe (actress who had breakthrough movie roles in 1951)).

Really a great jam.

Each Verse is about the big news stories of a particular year or 2. Starts in the mid 50s and ends in the 80s.

The song is mostly in chronological order, starting in 1949. Every verse represents one year, until you get to 1964. After that, it's pretty much a fast-forward from there to 1989, with some events moved around for musical purposes. There was a really cute parody of this about the history of video games, called "The Wii Didn't Start the Fire." Check it out, it's hilarious.

This is the history of his life! 1940 -1990 all our current event! We all in MY generation! I am that old lady in her 70's and knew them all! There are always good and bad times !

Events from his life.

it's all in sequence.

The song is divided by time and what happened in it. 1940/50/60/70 and 1980

You definitely started the fire....!! Ciao

decades of headlines

The song not only is a chronological history lesson but it is also a statement met on how we can't stop everything even though we try we can't change the pas we just have to ecept it and try to do better in the future no mater if the past has made the world burn around us

Not the whole world. History during his life.

History of early 50s to mid 80s

it's because he's Billy Joel he is that good.

The inspiration for this song came about when Billy was talking to Sean Lennon in the studio, Sean said we have it tough these days, you’re lucky nothing ever happen in your time, to which Billy replied “ what are you talking about have you ever heard of The Cuban missile crisis, the bay of pigs invasion, Kennedy assassination” etc, so he decided to list all the major events from 1949 when he was born to present day 1989. He stated the early years had a line each, as you get older time flys past much quicker so towards the end of the song there’s one word per year. Even more clever than I first thought

I'm old enough to have lived through most of this. Every reference brought back a memory -- it is a history lesson for some, but it's my history, and I love having it brought to life this way.

You were right on. There's an hour-long video of a historian dissecting the song here on youtube.

There is a video with all of the things he is talking about. Someone took the time to create the video. It’s so cool

Great reaction. Historical events in chronicle order. Excellent reaction✌️

He mentions Ole MIss ( University of Mississippi), James Meredith was the first African American student.

This was such a huge hit! A fabulous history lesson. The things he sings about don't go together. He is just listing big events in history. I was born in 1956 and was 43 in 89 and had lived through. lot of these events...or hear about them from my parents.

I don’t know how Billy Joel wrote this song, I applaud him and all musicians who can write lyrics and music.

Billy Joel is saying Boomers didn't create all the problems in the world, they were always here.

Such an amazing song. I can't imagine coming up with all those historical figures and places and make them rhyme. His best i think...

You hit the nail on the head, Michael. Billy is talking about the troubles in the world, we are not to blame, they already started and will new troubles will continue to happen when we are no longer here. Notice with each verse, the items in the lyrics get more current. It starts after WWII. James Dean and the Bay of Pigs all were events in the early 60's. Also notice the kitchen scene in the video changes with the times. Your next reaction is to listen to the Fall Out Boys cover version of this song. It starts with events from when Billy Joel released his version to current events.

Haven't head this in a long time, and this is the first time I've paid close attention to the lyrics....which all seem to be bout the mid-century. Leading up to Watergate. Stunning. I think Billy Joel is a true genius, and underrated. I've heard him talk about sweating over the lyrics to this song. It paid off.

He menstions most of the significant people and events in his lifetime.

The last concert I heard was all eight of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos in Reno, Nevada. It was an amazing performance. I currently have Sirius XM on in the background on Symphony Hall which plays classical music. One of my favorite concerts was when I saw Elton John and Billy Joel at the same concert in Portland, Oregon. They were amazing together. Joel performed that song. Notice he mentioned Dr. Sally Ride, the third woman in space and the first female U.S. astronaut. I just turned 52, but I remember her two historic flights.

Great Reaction

I think one of my favorites of his is 'For the Longest Time".

He was born in 1949 and the events are by year from then to 1989.

It's about everything that happen during his life time line.

You definitely need to react to Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon". It's a powerful song.

the married couple in the beginning is lucille ball and desi arnaz

It's a song about newsworthy public figures, popular trends, world events, global phenomena, important dates in history, etc........you know, stuff from the headlines. Proving that no generation is exempt from blame, and no generation is solely responsible for the world-wide drama.

The song is done in like 5-10 year increments....and he names things that belonged in those particular years...

@3.30 Someone has to have said by now. This song was a "look back" what has occurred in his life since 1949, May until his 40th birthday, 1989. Hence the who, what, where.

You were great to watch this with.same emotions

He has massive range. I highly recommend River of Dreams, as one of my favorite songs of his or anyone's. More gospel sounding, though.

This song is amazing. Historical events and people listed as they happened in chronological order. Watch the video you can see culture passing by as time goes by following the people in the video. Amazing! These events were huge and small happening all over the world. The best part is you can place them on a literal dated time line. None are out of order. The FallOut Boys version is a continuation but bounces all over the decades in no particular order. Billy Joel's is listed in the order they happened. Simply amazing craftsmanship of history into song!

Your next billy Joel song needs to be river of dreams

He is portraying events from his birth and throughout his life. The background images are part of the meaning of the song.

👍yes you got it! the words reflect many events, fads, people, politics from the 50s onwards; and the video is a visual of styles during the eras, the first being a parody of Lucy and Desi from "I Love Lucy". A history teacher's channel gives the context of each event mentioned.

I am so happy you found Billy. OMG your reaction is so fun! ^_^ love your face! ❤

He’s my favorite…can’t go wrong with him.

My take is this -- the current (young) generation didn't invent social/political change, that they weren't/aren't the first to protest and shake up the status quo, initiate change, be inclusive -- all the modern buzzwords, really. Instead it has been going on since shortly after WW II -- Joel references a lot of people from the 1950s and 1960s, and reflects the times in the acted scenes, that are fairly typically mid-20th century. So yeah, "we" didn't start the fire (of change); others and other events did it long before us, and they just handed us the torch to carry it onward. Brilliant, brilliant song; thanks for choosing it!

Man...he hits so hard with some songs. Lenningrad Goodnight Saigon Downeaster Alexa

all in order wow

These are all subjects that rocked the world. Many of them were shocking for the time, some were catalysts of change, all were impactful. Billy Joel is listing, per decade, the things that shook us out of our complacency. The point Joel is trying to make is that stuff has ALWAYS happened and no one decade is worse than another. He says no generation started the 'fire' (the upset or atrocity) but every generation tries to fight the wrong and correct the cause and result. No, it's not specifically government or power elites. It's just the fallibility of human beings and law of averages that mistakes happen or unforeseen circumstances intercede. No decade was perfect, no generation was perfect, no government or nation is perfect. Even the well-meaning can screw up. Some fires are inevitable, some are natural results, some are random strikes, and others are unexplainably spontaneous and unpreventable. Stuff happens, and suffering ensues. But yes, Billy Joel is a genius. He thinks very deeply and has the talent to write music and lyrics that draws you in to what he's thinking. Recommendation: "Goodnight Saigon" The best version is the Official Video.

The song summarizes all the people and events from 1950s to the 1990s. Anyone who takes the time to analyze and research the song will have a great unrstanding of these years. American Pie is a similar type song but the historical events are more "encoded". Basically you got the theme of the song in that we are always putting out fires. Even if the U.S. (and this generation) didn't set fires in the world, we had the responsibility to get them under control.

Someone ask Billy did anything happen in the 50's, which got Billy to start writing the song

Being a Gen X adult, we definitely didn't start the fire, but we didn't extinguish it, we poured gasoline on it! 🔥🔥🔥🙈🙉🙊

The song started out as an argument about who had seen more between a 19 year old guy and a 40 year old Billy Joel. He started rattling off some of the things that had happened as he lived, and he thought "This would make a good Rap song." Followed immediately by "I CAN"T RAP!" So he wrote the song with an actual tune. It is a history lesson. During the first 2 verses, he took approximately 3 items per year and rattled them off. The fourth verse is scattered around with no chronological progression. If you watch the video closely, the couple progresses through their life along with the song. The costumes match the time frame of the lyrics, as well as the furnishings of the kitchen where this is shown. I see the symbol of the fire the way you do. It represents the troubles and speed of change of the world. Most of this was from either an interview I saw with Billy Joel when the song came out, or the album liner notes. The Symbol of the fire is the only part of this that is not supported anywher else.

We didn't start the fire, but we are not stopping it either. instead we are pouring fuel into it, so it burns brighter.

This was a summary of life of the Boomers. WW2 through the present (at that time in the 1980's). I teach middle school. I was 17/18 when this dropped. We knew our history. I can't say that about kids today... or their parents! Thats why we in the process of repeating it.

A "current classic in every respect. And a lively reaction from you. 🎶

This song is amazing and Billy Joel is an utter lyrical genius... Try his other epic "Goodnight Saigon".. That'll break you... Along with Dire Straights "Brothers in Arms"

LOL...OK I'm beginning to think that jar of Mayonnaise is your signature symbol. 😂

The point is that most of history is crazy stuff happening, how it's been going on for several decades, and will keep on happening, despite our best efforts to stop things for getting out of hand. It's the inevitable state of the world.

Written by Billy Joel. He wrote this in celebration of his 40th birthday 🎂. 40 years of historical events in his life in a few minutes. American schools 🏫 got wonderful of the song. Academic book 📖 publishers got permission from him to use this song to create education resources for history. Suggested videos 📹: 1 Billy Joel sings I Go to Extremes 2 Billy Joel sings Honesty 3 Billy Joel sings Uptown Girl 👧

1:32 yes

From what I understand this was a response to a comment Sean Lennon made about nothing significant happening after a certain period of the 20th century.

GREETINGS EARTH GUY: Billy said his favorite song is Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. Dig it.

It’s News headlines from 59 to 89 or 40 years 49 to 89

The lack of curiosity is scary.

Chronological order