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"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song written and published by American musician Billy Joel. The song was released as a single on September 18, 1989, and later released as part of Joel's album Storm Front on October 17, 1989. A list song, its fast-paced lyrics include brief references to 118 significant political, cultural, scientific, and sporting events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989, in a mainly chronological order.

"We Didn't Start the Fire"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album Storm Front
B-side"House of Blue Light"
ReleasedSeptember 18, 1989 (1989-09-18)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 4:49 (album version)
  • 4:29 (single version)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Billy Joel
Producer(s)
  • Mick Jones
  • Billy Joel
Billy Joel singles chronology
"Baby Grand"
(1987)
"We Didn't Start the Fire"
(1989)
"Leningrad"
(1989)
Music video
"We Didn't Start the Fire" on YouTube

The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became Joel's third single to reach number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100 in late 1989. Storm Front became Joel's third album to reach number one in the United States. "We Didn't Start the Fire", particularly in the 21st century, has become the basis of many pop culture parodies, and continues to be repurposed in various television shows, advertisements, and comedic productions.


History


Billy Joel conceived the idea for the song when he had just turned 40. He was in a recording studio and met a 21-year-old friend of Sean Lennon who said "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 to be awful". The 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.[3] Joel has also criticized the song on strictly musical grounds. In 1993, when discussing it with documentary filmmaker David Horn, Joel compared its melodic content unfavorably to his song "The Longest Time": "Take a song like 'We Didn't Start the Fire.' It's really not much of a song ... If you take the melody by itself, terrible. Like a dentist drill."[4]

When asked if he deliberately intended to chronicle the Cold War with his song[5] he responded: "It was just my luck that the Soviet Union decided to close down shop [soon after putting out the song]", and that this span "had a symmetry to it, it was 40 years" that he had lived through. He was asked if he could do a follow-up about the next couple of years after the events that transpired in the original song, he commented: "No, I wrote one song already and I don't think it was really that good to begin with, melodically".[6]


Historical events referenced


Though the lyrics are rapid-fire with several people and events mentioned in each stanza, there is widespread agreement on the meaning of the lyrics. Steven Ettinger wrote:

Billy Joel captured the major images, events, and personalities of this half-century in a three-minute song.... It was pure information overload, a song that assumed we knew exactly what he was singing about...What was truly alarming was the realization that we, the listeners, for the most part understood the references.[7]

See section Events mentioned for more details.


Music video


External video
Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire (Official Video), 4:05
Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire (Official Video, Extended) 04:26

A music video for the song was directed by Chris Blum.[8] The video begins with a newly married couple entering their 1940s-style kitchen, and shows events in their domestic life over the next four decades, including the addition of children, their growth, and later, grandchildren, and the eventual death of the family's father. The passage of time is also depicted by periodic redecoration and upgrades of the kitchen, while an unchanging Billy Joel looks on in the background.


Derivations


Many parodies and takeoffs have been based on the song (often expanding to events that have occurred since 1989). These parodies include The Simpsons' parody "They'll Never Stop the Simpsons" at the end of the 2002 "Gump Roast" episode,[9] and the San Francisco a cappella group The Richter Scales' 2007 Webby Award-winning parody "Here Comes Another Bubble."[10]

In 2006, Coca-Cola sampled the song to make an anthem for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Latin America, changing the lyrics according to the country.[11]

In 2007, JibJab created a parody of the song for their Year in Review video.

YouTuber Dane Boedigheimer, known as creator of the popular comedic Web series Annoying Orange, produced a parody as part of YouTube's Comedy Week in 2013 titled "We Didn't Start the Viral."[12] A copyright claim on monetization resulted in the audio being completely replaced on the original upload, although fan reuploads of the original exist.

Pop band Milo Greene performed a version of the song in June 2013 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.[13]

In 2019, talk show host Jimmy Fallon performed a version of the song for The Tonight Show, which highlights characters and moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Iron Man, leading to Avengers: Endgame, with backup by cast members Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd, Danai Gurira, Karen Gillan and Brie Larson.


Personnel



Charts



Certifications


Certifications and sales for "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[41] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[42] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[43] Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[44] 3× Platinum 3,000,000

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.



In 2019, the song was sung by several cast members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Jimmy Fallon, in lead up to Avengers: Endgame, to the theme of the Infinity Saga, chronicled up until that time of events by the introduction of the major characters and movie titles.[45]

In 2021, a weekly podcast began, hosted by Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce, entitled We Didn't Start the Fire. Each week they examine a subject mentioned in the Billy Joel song, in lyric order, and discuss its importance and cultural significance with an expert guest.[46]

The song features prominently, along with a number of other Billy Joel songs, in the streaming series The Boys from Amazon Prime in which the character Hughie Campbell, played by Jack Quaid, has a preoccupation with the American singer.[47]

In the finale episode of Veep, "Veep", the song plays when Selina Meyer and Jonah Ryan are announced as their party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively during the 2020 election, a call-back to Meyer's desire to have Billy Joel perform at her inauguration.

Irish rock band "The Memories" wrote and recorded "The Game" ("We're Gonna Start a Fire"), a rewritten version of "We Didn't Start The Fire" in which the lyrics reference The Republic of Ireland's time in the 1990 World Cup.


Events mentioned


The following events, with Joel's lyric for each appearing in bold, are listed in the order that they appear in the song, which is almost entirely chronological.[48] The lyric for each individual event is brief and the events are punctuated by the chorus and other lyrical elements. The following list includes longer, more descriptive names for clarity. 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. There are 118 events listed in the song.


1940s



1948


1949


1950s



1950


1951


1952


1953


1954


1955


1956


1957


1958


1959


1960s



1960


1961


1962


1963


1965


1968


1969


1970s



1972–1975


1976–1977

(Note: an item from 1976 is put between items from 1977 to make the song scan better.)


1979


1980s



1981–1982


1983


1984


1988


1989


See also



References


  1. "New Singles". Music Week. September 16, 1989. p. 36.
  2. Curwen Best (2004). Culture @ the Cutting Edge: Tracking Caribbean Popular Music. University of the West Indies Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-976-640-124-5.
  3. Nadboy, Arie (March 1996). "I am the Edu-Tainer". Island Ear. Cited by Bordowitz (2006), p. 169.
  4. Horn, David (Director) (1993). Billy Joel: Shades of Grey (Motion picture). New York: Thirteen/WNET and Maritime Music.
  5. The song describes events between 1949 (when the Soviet Union detonated their first atomic bomb) and 1989 (when the Berlin Wall fell).
  6. Billy Joel Q&A: Tell Us About 'We Didn't Start The Fire?' University of Oxford, May 5, 1994 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx3T8pbDcms
  7. Ettinger, Steven (2003). Torah 24/7: A Timely Guide for the Modern Spirit. Devorah Publishing Company. p. 2. ISBN 1-930143-73-7. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
  8. Garcia, Alex S. Billy Joel – We didn't start the fire. MVDBase – Music Video Database.
  9. Seisman, Matt (April 16, 2009). "We Didn't Start the Song Parody". Techland.com. Time.com. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  10. "12th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners : Online Film & Video". WebbyAwards.com. 2008. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009.
  11. "5 populares canciones que la publicidad transformó en jingles". November 20, 2014.
  12. Kurp, Josh (May 24, 2013). "'We Didn't Start The Viral' Is A Musical Recap Of YouTube's Greatest Hits". UPROXX Web Culture. Uproxx. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  13. "Milo Greene covers Billy Joel". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  14. "Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  15. "Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  16. "Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  17. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5106." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  18. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9824." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  19. "Eurochart – Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music and Media. World Radio History: V. November 25, 1989. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  20. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Billy Joel". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  21. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  22. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Billy Joel" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  23. "Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  24. "Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  25. "Playlist Report" (PDF). Music and Media. worldradiohistory.com: II. November 11, 1989. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  26. "Billy Joel: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  27. "Billy Joel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  28. "Billy Joel Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  29. "Billy Joel Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  30. "Billy Joel Chart History (Rock Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  31. "Billy Joel Chart History (Rock Streaming Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  32. "Offiziellecharts.de – Billy Joel – We Didn't Start The Fire". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  33. "1989 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  34. "Jaaroverzichten 1989: Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  35. "Canada RPM Top Singles of 1989". Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  36. "Year End Singles". Record Mirror. January 27, 1990. p. 44.
  37. "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  38. "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1990" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  39. "1990 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 51. December 22, 1990. p. YE-14.
  40. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  41. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  42. "Canadian single certifications – Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire". Music Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  43. "British single certifications – Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  44. "American single certifications – Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  45. Avengers: Endgame Cast Sings "We Didn't Start the Fire" – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-onk-Qm7ATw
  46. "Raves, musicals and a time-travelling diner: 20 must-listen indie podcast gems". TheGuardian.com. August 2021.
  47. Lawrence, Frank (January 27, 2021). "Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' inspires projects".
  48. Joel, Billy. "Lyrics: We Didn't Start the Fire". Billy Joel. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
  49. "Billy Joel". October 14, 2021. Time: 18:50 of podcast.
  50. "The 30th Academy Awards – 1958". oscars.org. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  51. "Hit Confuses Younger Fans: Joel". Los Angeles Times. January 8, 1990.

Sources





На других языках


[de] We Didn’t Start the Fire

We Didn’t Start the Fire (zu deutsch etwa „Wir haben das Feuer nicht entfacht“) ist ein Popsong des Sängers und Songschreibers Billy Joel. Er wurde im Oktober 1989 auf seinem Album Storm Front sowie zuvor im September 1989[1] als Single veröffentlicht und erreichte Platz 1 in den US-amerikanischen Billboard-Charts.
- [en] We Didn't Start the Fire

[es] We Didn't Start the Fire

«We Didn't Start the Fire» (en español "Nosotros no encendimos el fuego") es una canción pop de Billy Joel que hace referencia a los principales acontecimientos que ocurrieron en el mundo desde el momento en que Joel nació hasta que compuso la canción (desde marzo de 1949 hasta 1989).

[ru] We Didn’t Start the Fire

«We Didn’t Start the Fire» (с англ. — «Не мы раздули пожар») — песня американского музыканта Билли Джоэла. Её текст представляет собой короткие аллюзии на более чем 100 ключевых событий мировой истории, произошедших между 1949 годом, годом рождения Джоэла, и 1989 годом, когда песня была выпущена на альбоме Storm Front. Композиция стала хитом в США, добравшись до 1-го места чарта Billboard Hot 100, а также получила номинации на премию «Грэмми» в категориях «Запись года», «Песня года» и «Лучшее мужское вокальное поп-исполнение».



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