Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire (lyrics and history)

Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire" covers over a hundred events from 1949-1989. Each of these was given its own slide with some brief background, so you can either read the lyrics or pause and learn more.

[AnnaPearson]

my teacher first showed us this in class & ever since then, its been all that ive listened to omg

[Aboot]

I love how as an AP US History student i understand this song and realize we have not changed at all in almost 70 years.

[ilikesoop]

This should have a lot more views... You obviously put a decent amount of work into this with the awesome pics and accurate captions

[RichterVonFuchs]

It was not until the year 2017 that I realized that I mistook the lyrics for, "trouble in the sewers" instead of "trouble in the suez".

If I was a history teacher I would say to my to my class "Class you're about to learn forty years of history in less than five minutes" and then I would play them this song.

[manon]

I love that when « Psycho » was coming you can hear the theme playing behind. This song is gold !

[Tom.Livanos]

The finest lyrics video to this song that I have seen. If for no other reason than the events in the last verse are associated with a particular year. I am always touched by the 'children of thalidomide' - and the way Billy Joel says "whoe er e er" after it. He would have been 14 when John Kennedy was assassinated. That must have left an impression on him. I am turning 40 next year - Billy Joel's age when he wrote and released this song. Soon after its release, the Berlin Wall fell. I was 13 then. Where am I going with this? I guess cheers to people who are.. mmm... not so much fighting the fire but.. err... well, I guess staying humble. We need humility at this time - to tie us to the Earth so that, amongst other things, the human story may be continued by future generations.

[mhmanley]

And thanks again for helping reach 200, 000 views today. I'm glad that so many in school are getting to hear the song and get a better understanding of the second half of the 20th century

[pbhoulden]

I was a freshman in high school when this song came out and like most other high school kids at the time, we had to pick one of the items mentioned in the song and do a report on it. I chose television. In 1990 there was no Google or online cheating so we still had to do the old school encyclopedias and Dewey Decimal/card catalog research in the library!

[mecametal]

there are a total (i think) of 118 history things in there from 1949-1989 (and counting). P.S. I memorized the whole song.

[oscarl.ramirez]

Thank you Mr. William Joel for a Catchy Tune that you can learn from Still relevant in the Post Covid 19 World.

The idea for the song came from a conversation Joel had with a friend of John Lennon’s son Sean who was 21 at the time Sean’s friend said to Joel “It’s a terrible time to be 21!” Joel replied “Yeah, I remember when I was 21 - I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y’know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed awful”. Sean’s friend replied “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties”. Joel retorted “Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?” Joel later said those headlines formed the basic framework for the song.

[annah.e.kaiser]

I remember watching this in my sixth grade history class. I have liked the song ever since. This right here is pure history from 1949 to 1989 in a 4 minute song.

[djbigsmoke]

This song is deep . I remember seeing this at a young age a few times and not knowing who it was and what the song really meant. 20 years later only images of a conspiracy man in glasses and fire were in my head then I found out the actual artists etc.. but. this video opened my eyes to some new history. Great job though .. good pictures

[michaelglickman]

For those wondering, the musicians are lead Billy Joel, guitarists David Brown and Joey Hunting, bassist Schuyler Deale, drummer-percussionist Liberty DeVitto, percussionist-backing vocalist Crystal Taliefero, electronic percussionist Sammy Merendino, keyboardist John Mahoney, synthesist Jeff Jacobs, sound effects arranger Doug Kleeger, and keyboard programmer Kevin Jones.

[tomaszkazmierski]

The best version for teaching I found! Greets from history teacher, Poland!

[TheVodkaSniper]

i like how simple and powerful this song is

[JobbieTheHutt]

One of my favourite songs of all time. Loved the song long before I knew who Billy Joel was. I love this song because it shows the true chaotic nature of humanity and how its always been mental. "How did things get this crazy?" Its always been this crazy just with a different coat of paint... We didn't start the fire

[johnvermallillin]

We desperately need an updated version..

[thamnosma]

Very clever, dude and excellent picture research.