A REVOLUTIONARY SONG
In 1989, Billy Joel was turning the big 4-0. Looking back on the past forty years, he examined just what happened during his lifetime. As the facts began to form in his mind, he recognized the potential for a song. Like all songwriters, he capitalized on the situation. On his next album,Storm Front, was the song 'We Didn't Start The Fire." It was a huge success.
Today, many history teachers have made reference to this song. Some have even made assignments to research these historical events. Some of the most important events and people from the years 1949 to 1989 are detailed in "We Didn't Start The Fire."
For our project, we decided to examine this number-one song of 1989, and detail the events, people, and places mentioned in the lyrics. These examples greatly influenced the community of these eras. For example, Johnnie Ray, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly helped to create the rock and roll generation. Through different writing styles, people like J. D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and Jack Kerouac inspired their readers to question normal ways of thinking. This song also uses many political interactions such as Dien Bien Phu, the Bay of Pigs, and Watergate. All of these examples showed how the individuals influenced the community.
In subsequent pages, you will see outlines of events, people, etc. For your reference, we have printed the lyrics (minus the chorus) on the title page. The links are on the dates highlighted in green. Have fun, because we sure did!
We Didn’t Start The Fire
Billy Joel
‘49- Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray. South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio.
‘50- Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television. North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe.
‘51- Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom. Brando, The King and I, & The Catcher In the Rye.
‘52- Eisenhower, Vaccine, England’s got a new queen. Maciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye.
‘53- Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev. Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc.
‘54- Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dancron. Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock.
‘55- Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team. Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland.
‘56- Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev. Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez.
‘57- Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac. Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On the River Kwai.
‘58- Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball. Starkweather, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide.
‘59- Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia. Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go.
‘60- U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy. Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo.
‘61- Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land. Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion.
‘62- Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania. Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson.
‘63- Pope Paul, Malcom X, British politician sex. J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say?
‘64-‘89- Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again. Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, Punkrock. 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. Hyperdermics on the shores, China’s under martial law. Rock and Roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore.
House the West Built USD Honors Lehmann's page Bibliography
Lyrics, though not shown in their entireity, are copyrighted to Billy Joel and Maritime Music, Inc. (1989).