Last week I posted the following item:
The comment by The Simpsons writer, Matt Warburton, that "Today was like if 'We Didn't Start the Fire' was a day" elicited the above response.
One big difference, though . . . with COVID-19 we did start the fire.
One big difference, though . . . with COVID-19 we did start the fire.
Thinking about the above, and words and lyrics buzzing around in my head, inspired me to look up an old Bytes post about the events mentioned in the original Billy Joel song. I found it interesting all over again so am reposting it, believing that you, dear readers, may also enjoy the revisit. The original article is updated and amplified.
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Some comments about the song:
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Billy Joel wrote the song after a discussion with John Lennon’s son Sean, who was complaining that he was growing up in troubled times. He said that Joel had grown up in the 50’s when nothing had happened. Joel asked him whether he had heard of Korea. He then wrote the song.
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The song starts in 1949, the year of Billy Joel’s birth, and finishes in 1989 when the song was released.
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Until the final stanza, each 2 lines represents one year.
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Joel has said that he doesn’t like the song and has no plans to write a sequel with updated lyrics.
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The lyrics “we didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world’s been turning” mean that the troubled state of the world has existed from a long before the present generation and that the criticism of the generations seems to ignore this. Joel has stated that his aim was to give a historical perspective on the news headlines and to show that generations are not to blame for what precedes or succeeds.
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Joel wrote the lyrics first, which he rarely does. He says
that is why the song has no melody. Joel told Billboard magazine: "It's
terrible musically. It's like a mosquito buzzing around your head."
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Blender magazine rated this the 41st worst song ever in its
2004 article "Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever!"
Comparing it to "a term paper scribbled the night before it's due,"
Blender criticized Joel's attempt to "Fit a cultural history of the
twentieth century into 4 minutes" (even though the song is closer to 5
minutes, clocking in at 4:47), as well as accusing him of trivialising the
Tiananmen Square massacre by mentioning it in the same line as "Rock and
roller cola wars." Joel is accustomed to being panned by critics, who were
often very harsh on his hit songs.
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Joel has said that if he hadn’t become a musician, he would have taught history.
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Film clip:
The song with images of the events, persons and things in the lyrics can be seen at:
The clip which accompanied the release of the song is at:
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Lyrics:
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio.
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"
Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur", space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...
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1949:
Harry Truman:
1884-1972, 33rd President of the US, for the years 1945-1953. Became President on the death of Franklin D Roosevelt, authorised the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan.
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Doris Day:
Popular US actress and singer Doris Day, who died in 2019 aged 97, was known for wholesome and schmaltzy films, prompting Oscar Levant to say that he knew her before she was a virgin. Born Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff, she adopted the name “Day” at the suggestion of Barney Rapp, with whose orchestra she was singing, because he felt that "Kappelhoff" was too long for marquees, and because he admired her rendition of the song "Day After Day".
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Red China:
The People’s Republic of China was formally established on 1 October 1949 when proclaimed by Mao Zedong. In 1949 major fighting in the Chinese Civil War was over and the Kuomintang (former government) fled to Taiwan.
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Johnnie Ray:
US singer 1927-1990, known as “Cry Baby Ray” for his emotional singing style. Precursor of rock ‘n roll, first record contract in 1950 although he didn’t become popular until 1952. Openly bisexual, worked with a hearing aid.
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South Pacific:
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical opened on Broadway in April, 1949. The musical concerns the relationships of male and female military personnel on a South Pacific island during World War 2.
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Walter Winchell:
US newspaper and radio columnist 1897-1972. Credited with starting the gossip column by breaking the journalistic taboo of reporting on private lives. In 1949 Winchell had the top rated radio show. His reports could ruin careers. He was also the narrator for the original TV series The Untouchables. Hear him doing a commentary for that show by clicking on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgEFQWJfr10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgEFQWJfr10
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Joe Di Maggio:
US baseballer 1914-1999. In 1949 he signed baseball’s first $100,000 contract but was off part of that year through injury. Married Marilyn Monroe in 1954 but the marriage lasted only 9 months. Di Maggio was controlling, jealous and abusive during the relationship, with Monroe being fragile at the end of it.
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