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We Didn't Start the Fire

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We Didn't Start the Fire is a song by Billy Joel that lists 120 well-known events, people, things, and places from his lifetime, from 1949 to 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. Joel explained that he wrote this song due to his interest in history. He commented that he would have wanted to be a history teacher had he not become a rock and roll singer.

Table of contents

1 Historical items referred to in the song

2 Criticism

3 External links

Historical items referred to in the song

The lyrics of We Didn't Start the Fire are essentially a choronological list of specific events, names, and places, beginning in Joel's year of birth. Stream of consciousness in style, the song could be considered a natural successor to songs such as "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It" as it basically consists of a series of unrelated images sang in a rapid-fire half-rapped, half sang vocal style.


The following are the "lists" as they appear in the song's lyrics, though in the actual song they are occasionally punctuated by the chorus. Events from a variety of contexts, such as popular entertainment, foreign affairs, and sports, are intermingled, giving an impression of the culture of the time as a whole.

The song and music video have been interpreted as a rebuttal to criticism of Joel's Baby Boomer generation, from both its preceding and succeeding generations, for being responsible for much of the world's problems. The song's title and refrain imply that the world has been in a frenzied and troubled state since his generation's birth.

1949

1950

1951

1952

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're tryin' to fight it

1953

1954

1955

1956

CHORUS

1957

1958

1959

1960

CHORUS

1961

1962

1963

CHORUS

1964–1989

SECOND CHORUS:

We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire But when we are gone Will it still burn on And on and on and on and on And on and on and on . . .

CHORUS repating to fade

Criticism

Blender Magazine ranked "We Didn't Start the Fire" on its list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". "We Didn't Start the Fire" also appeared on VH1's "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever", a collaboration with Blender.

  • Lyrics: The Complete Lyrics of "We Didn't Start the Fire".
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