We Didn't Start the Fire

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 long list of specific events, names, and places. 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.

1949

• Harry Truman: Truman is elected for the first time; previously he was sworn in as president following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• Doris Day: Entered the public spotlight with My Dream Is Yours and It's a Great Feeling; divorced her second husband.
• Red China: The Communist Party of China wins the Chinese Civil War, establishing the People's Republic of China.
• Johnnie Ray: Signs his first recording contract with Okeh Records, although he won't become popular for another 2 years.
• South Pacific: Opens on Broadway on April 7
• Walter Winchell: An aggressive radio and newspaper journalist credited with inventing the gossip column.
• Joe DiMaggio: on February 7 DiMaggio became the first professional athlete to sign for $100,000.

1950

• Joe McCarthy: McCarthy gains national attention and begins his anti-communist crusade with his Lincoln Day speech
• Richard Nixon: Nixon is first elected to the United States Senate
• Studebaker: A popular car company that was beginning its financial downfall at this time
• television: Widespread black-and-white TV becomes the most popular means of advertising
• North Korea, South Korea: North Korea attacks South Korea on June 25, beginning the Korean War
• Marilyn Monroe: Soars in popularity with five new movies including The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve; attempts suicide after death of lover Johnny Hyde

1951

• Rosenbergs: Communists spying for the Soviet Union begin their highly publicized trial on March 6
• H-Bomb: The middle of the hydrogen bomb development program, announced in early 1950 and first tested in late 1952
• Sugar Ray: The boxer attains the world's Middleweight title
• Panmunjeom: The border village where the Korean War cease-fire is signed in 1953
• Brando: Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the first time for his famous role in A Streetcar Named Desire
• The King and I: Opened on Broadway on March 29
• and The Catcher in the Rye: First published in 1951

1952

• Eisenhower: First elected as president by a landslide.
• Vaccine: Jonas Salk privately tests the first polio vaccine.
• England's got a new Queen: Coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
• Marciano: Defeats Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the World's Heavyweight Champion.
• Liberace: A musical entertainer with a popular 1950s television show.
• Santayana good-bye: George Santayana dies on September 26.

1953

• Joseph Stalin: Dies on March 5, yielding his position as leader of the Soviet Union.
• Malenkov: Succeeds Stalin for six months following his death.
• Nasser: As Muhammad Naguib's minister of the interior, Nasser acts as the true power behind the new Egyptian nation.
• Prokofiev: A composer; dies on March 5, the same day as Stalin.
• Rockefeller: Moves to Arkansas, the state of which he will be elected Govenor.
• Campanella: A baseball catcher; who receives the Most Valuable Player award for the second time.
• Communist bloc: A group of communist nations dominated by the Soviet Union at this time.

1954

• Roy Cohn: McCarthy's chief counsel; resigns and enters private practice with the fall of McCarthy
• Juan Perón: Spends his last full year as President of Argentina before a September 1955 coup; married to Evita.
• Toscanini: The famous conductor is at the height of his fame, performing regularly with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on national radio.
• Dacron: An early artificial fiber made from the same plastic as polyester
• Dien Bien Phu falls: The Vietnamese town falls to Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap, leading to the creation of North Vietnam and South Vietnam
• "Rock Around the Clock": Bill Haley and his Comets release the hit single "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock", spurring worldwide interest in rock music.

1955

• Albert Einstein: Dies on April 18
• James Dean: Achieves success with East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, gets nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and dies in a car accident on September 30
• Brooklyn's got a winning team: Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series
• Davy Crockett: television series
• Peter Pan: Disney's 1953 film based on the classic Peter Pan character becomes a hit.
• Elvis Presley: Elvis signs with RCA Records on November 21, beginning his pop career.
• Disneyland: Disney's first theme park opens on July 17.

1956

• Bardot: French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot is popular internationally at this time
• Budapest: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution
• Alabama: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Khrushchev: Makes his famous Secret Speech denouncing Stalin's "cult of personality" on February 23
• Princess Grace: Releases her last film High Society and marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco
• Peyton Place: The bestselling novel by Grace Metalious is published
• Trouble in the Suez: Israel invades the Gaza Strip on October 29, beginning the Suez Crisis

1957

• Little Rock: Orval Faubus stops the Little Rock Nine from attending Little Rock Central High School; Eisenhower deploys the 101st Airborne Division to counteract him
• Pasternak: The Russian author publishes his famous novel Doctor Zhivago
• Mickey Mantle: The famous baseball player is in the middle of his career, an American League All-Star for the 6th year in a row
• Kerouac: Publishes his first novel in seven years, On the Road
• Sputnik: The first artificial satellite is launched on October 4
• Chou En-lai: In the middle of his reign as Premier of the People's Republic of China
• The Bridge on the River Kwai: The film adaptation of the 1954 novel is released, receiving 7 Academy Awards

1958

• Lebanon: Lebanon Crisis of 1958
• Charles de Gaulle: Gaulle's Fourth Republic of France collapses, but in November he is elected to lead the new Fifth Republic
• California Baseball: The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California and become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants
• Starkweather homicide: The serial killer Charles Starkweather is at large, killing 11 people before he is caught
• Children of Thalidomide: Sleeping aid and antiemetic later found to cause birth defects is for sale around the world

1959

• Buddy Holly: Died in a plane crash on Febuary 2nd with Richie Valens and J. P. Richardson
• Ben-Hur: is an award winning film set in Ancient Rome starring Charlton Heston.
• Space Monkey: Able and Baker became the first living beings to successfully return to Earth from space aboard the JUPITER AM-18.
• Mafia: Organized crime of a historically Sicilian/American origin is refered to as the mafia.
• Hula hoop: The hula hoop is a toy hoop that promotes physical activity.
• Castro: Fidel Castro the president of Cuba visits the United States on an unofficial 12 day tour.
• Edsel is a no go: The 1960 model of this marketing disaster has production cut short in November 1959.

1960

• U-2: An American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
• Syngman Rhee: was rescued by the CIA after being forced to resign as leader of South Korea for allegedly fixing an election and embezzling more than $20 million.
• Payola: was publicized Dick Clark's testimony before congress and Alan Freed's public disgrace.
• and Kennedy: beats Richard Nixon in the November 8 general election amongst allegations of vote fraud.
• Chubby Checker: popularizes the dance The Twist with his song of the same name.
• Psycho: is a pulp novel by Robert Bloch which was adapted to the screen by Alfred Hitchcock using a screenplay by Joseph Stefano.
• Belgians in the Congo: The Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared on June 30th, with Joseph Kasavubu as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister.

1961

• Hemingway: commits suicide on July 2nd after a long battle with depression.
• Eichmann: Adolf Eichmann is captured by Mossad agents in Argentina and tried for crimes against humanity.
• Stranger in a Strange Land: written by Robert A. Heinlein is a breakthrough best-seller containing themes of sexual freedom and liberation.
• Dylan: After a New York Times review by critic Robert Shelton, Bob Dylan is signed to Columbia Records.
• Berlin: The Berlin Wall which separates West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany is constructed.
• Bay of Pigs Invasion: Failed attempt by United States trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro.

1962

• Lawrence of Arabia: the Academy Award-winning film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence starring Peter O'Toole premiers in America on December 16.
• British Beatle Mania: The Beatles gain Ringo Starr as Drummer and Brian Epstein as manager and join the EMI's Parlophone label.
• Ole Miss: James Meredith integrates the University of Mississippi.
• John Glenn: flew the first American manned orbital mission termed "Friendship 7" on February 20
• Liston beats Patterson: Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson fight on September 25 ending in a round one knock-out.

1963

• Pope Paul: Pope Paul VI is elected to the papacy
• Malcolm X: Makes infamous statements about agreeing with the Kennedy assassination that cause Nation of Islam to censure him
• British Politician Sex: Profumo Affair
• JFK, blown away: President Kennedy is assassinated on November 22; see John F. Kennedy assassination

1964-1989

• Birth control: In 1968 Pope Paul VI released a document entitled Humanae Vitae which declared most birth control a sin.
• Ho Chi Minh: A Vietnamese Communist, who served as President of Vietnam from 1954-1969.
• Richard Nixon back again: Nixon re-elected in the 1968 presidential election.
• Moon shot: Refers to the Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing.
• Woodstock: Famous rock and roll festival believe to represent the epitome of the counterculture of the 1960s.
• Watergate: Political scandal which led to President Nixon's resignation.
• Punk rock
• Begin: Menachem Begin becomes Prime Minister of Israel in 1977 and negotiates the Camp David Accords with Egypt's president in 1978.
• Ronald Reagan: Elected twice as President of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
• Palestine: The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed and attacks Israel; see history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Terror on the airline: At the time, numerous aircraft hijackings were shown on the news.
• Ayatollah’s in Iran: During the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after exile and gains power.
• Russians in Afghanistan: Soviet forces fight a ten-year war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989.
• Wheel of Fortune: a hit TV game show which premiered in 1975.
• Sally Ride: In 1983, she becomes the first American woman in space.
• Heavy metal: Musical movement which gained popularity in the 1980s.
• Suicide: The suicide rate amongst young adults rises.
• Foreign debts
• Homeless vets
• AIDS: Infectious disease which begins to spread rapidly on a global scale.
• Crack: cocaine
• Bernie Goetz: On December 22, 1984, Goetz shoots four black youths who attack him on a subway; he is later acquitted
• Hypodermics on the shore: Medical waste was found washed up on beaches in New Jersey after being illegally dumped at sea.
• China's under martial law: On May 20, 1989, China declares martial law, enabling them to use force of arms to end the Tiananmen Square protests.
• Rock and roller cola wars: Soda giants Coke and Pepsi each run marketing campaigns using popular music stars to reach the young adult demographic.

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.

External links

• Lyrics (http://www.billyjoel.com/discography/WeDidntStartTheFire.html): The Complete Lyrics of "We Didn't Start the Fire".de:We Didn't Start the Fire