The Iconic Drumming Behind 'We Didn't Start The Fire' | Billy Joel

Watch Liberty DeVitto, known for his work with Billy Joel, as he dives into the drumming nuances of "We Didn't Start the Fire." With decades of experience accompanying Billy Joel, DeVitto provides insights into the rhythmic intricacies and signature beats that define this iconic song.

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Chapters:

00:00 - Intro
00:07 - Song Overview
02:48 - Breaking Down The Verse
03:19 - Breaking Down The Chorus & Exercise
04:00 - Performance
08:32 - Final Thoughts
08:51 - Wrap-Up & Outro
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[Hiphopasaurus]

His accent needs to be preserved in a museum for all future generations to appreciate.

[johndeer]

My 10th grade History teacher said if anyone can sing this song by the end of the semester you can automatically get an A. ME being the horrible student I was but huge billy Joel fan learned it in about 2 days. I am asked to sing it every time there is karaoke. I love this song and it really isnt that hard to sing once you know the words. One of the reasons it was easier to remember was we all had to pick an event out from the song and do a report on it. Kudo's to that teacher as its just an awesome story I get to tell anytime We Didn't Start the Fire comes on.

[johnrush]

Liberty is one hell of a drummer.
So underrated IMO

[DerekWrites]

I love that these videos don't just celebrate the skill of the drummers but the joy they still feel at playing these songs all these years later

[alvarovargas]

Thank you Drumeo for bringing in Liberty to the show, he is subliminally the reason why I pick the drums as my main instrument.

[Saiko]

Liberty was one of the reasons I fell in love with Billy's music. It still hurts Billy cut Liberty loose, especially when you see him playing like this. He is still an animal behind the drums

[EricFansher]

There is zero reason for him not to be up on stage with Billy. You can just see how much love he has for these songs. They are his babies too.

[dfdemt]

During freshman orientation in college, I was in an auditorium with probably a couple hundred people. The person that was at the podium talking said that they had a crisp new $100 bill for the first person that could come up and recite (not sing) the entire song, word for word, from memory. I jumped up and got to the podium first, although there were only two other people that even stood up. We Didn’t Start The Fire was the first song I ever learned the words to as a child, and ever since then I’ve been a huge Billy Joel fan. I calmly recited the words to the song in perfect order with zero mistakes, and walked off of the stage $100 richer while people were cheering and clapping. It’s one of my favorite memories from college. 😁

[hwd]

He plays with so much energy, I love those fills that he puts in.

[benduffy]

It's only after watching him play through some of these tracks that I now hear the original studio versions and realize, "OK yeah, he's actually hitting REALLY hard there."

[Guitarsince]

I'm always impressed by drummers that are older because you never expect them to move that well. Muscle Memory for the win here!

[peterdefrankrijker]

That loose left hand… while the right is hacking away at the hihat as if it owes him money, the left stick is lying loosely on the skin, providing great ghost notes and a little one-handed roll every now and then.
What a great part, and what a guy! Life goals, right there.

[emperoredu]

His sound gives me chills, this is what drumming is about.

[wallofdeath]

Devitto is a legend! Brings me so much joy.

[leokimvideo]

Liberty is the DNA of Joel's songs. I remember this song for a weird reason and it relates to the early days of YouTube. So many people were doing their own visual edits to the song, all the people and events in history. But one by one these videos were hit with copyright claims, it wiped many channels out as some people re uploaded their efforts. It's also an album that came out just as buying an album was phased out and CD's started to be the media to purchase.

[hannahcarter]

We analyzed the lyrics in my history class in high school. My teacher would close his eyes and pat to the beat reminiscing on his college years during this song.

[peterdefrankrijker]

This is the Clint Eastwood of the drumkit: strong, mean, sharp and not to be fckd with. Look at his face, he’s biting the snare drum and enjoying himself hugely!

What a great thing to be alive and kicking @ss at that age.

[ryverwynd]

During the pandemic, my daughter (8th grade at the time) decided to start memorizing songs for fun....this was her first one (second was the entire soundtrack to Hamilton)😁

[bensgoogle]

He visited my music appreesh class in college, and I didn’t know at the time that I was in the presence of drumming greatness.

[WSBM]

I’m not a drummer but used to be a tennis coach. We have something called wrist lag on a forehand where the wrist is laid back until the last moment and then released and the racquet snaps through…watching his high hat technique and the speed I just kept seeing a similar phenomena. Relaxed wrists that lead and then the stick snaps through.