By: Billy JoelBilly Joel

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye" Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbyeRed China North Korea, South Korea Rhyming scheme

We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight itthe fire We didn't start the fire

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez Roy Cohn EinsteinDisneylandKhrushchev

We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, Zhou Enlai, Bridge On The River Kwai Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California Baseball, Starkweather homicide, Children of Thalidomide Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo Starkweather homicide U2 Chubby Checker

We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land, Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to sayBay of Pigs invasion J.F.K. blown away

We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock 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 Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymoreHo Chi MinhWatergateReaganTerror on the airlineI can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire It was always burning since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire But when we are gone It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on... We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it

Back William Martin Joel, changed name to Billy Joel, was born in May 9, He was raised in Long Island, New York by his parents, Howard and Rosalind Joel. Billy Joel was interested into music at a young age because his father was a classical pianist. He despised playing classical music, music theory and everlasting hours of practice. In 1957, Joel’s parents divorced. His father moved back to Europe, while his mother stayed with the family and became a secretary and a bookkeeper. After the divorce, Joel’s new father figure was his grandfather, Phillip Hyman. Through high school, Billy Joel was a “ruffian” (skipped school and ran a gang). He did well on the tests, but he couldn’t graduate because of his many absences. Billy Joel released his first albums The Hassles and Hour of the Wolf with his band at the time, The Hassles. After years of switching bands and finally becoming solo, he got his break when he played “Captain Jack”, while promoting his album, Cold Spring Harbor. Columbia heard his song on East Coast FM and finally they signed him. Billy Joel has had many hits since then and was very successful. For more information on Billy Joel, click here.here

Red China is talking about the victory of the communists(red is considered the color of communism) by Mao Zedong in China after World War II. China is communist today. Back

The Korean War was a conflict that took place during the Cold War(exact date: June 25, 1950). North Korea invaded South Korea. South gained support from the UN and the USA. Right before South Korea was going to win, communist China joined North Korea, causing a stalemate between the rival nations. Back

Krushchev was one of the leaders of Soviet Russia. He lessened the censorship and allowed more books to be published. He also had a conflict in Cuba with the US president at the time, John F, Kennedy. This event became know as the Cuban Missile Crisis and was the only nuclear encounter between USSR and USA. Back

Chubby Checker was an American singer. His song “The Twist” is quite famous and revolutionized pop culture. Most of his songs are based on his VERY successful hit, but were all less successful than it. (e.g. Twistin’ USA and Twist It Up”) Back

I thought when Billy Joel is talking about “the fire” in the chorus, he is talking about history. History has always been around, We didn’t start it. Back

The rhyming scheme is: A B This means that the first two lines rhyme and the last two rhyme. This is an example of a couplet or a clerihew. Back

Ho Chi Minh was the communist leader of China who took over South Vietnam and reunited it under a communist rule. Born in Vietnam, Back

Roy Cohn was a New York judge that was an important figure in trying the American Communist Council and the Rosenbergs, who were tried for conspiracy to spy. Back

This song lists a lot of the historic things that have happened in his lifetime, but I think that the facts are just things that greatly impacted him greatly. In my opinion, these historic events all had something to do personally with him. Back

I infer when he says in the song that he can’t take it anymore, he is trying to say so many things since he has been alive that he can’t think of it all. Back

I don’t think Billy Joel is talking about 9/11, but when I read this line, it makes me think about the attacks on the Twin Towers Back

When Billy Joel mentions Einstein it reminds me of Jason. It is because Jason is a smart man, smart enough to cure cancer, but he feels alone. This is because no one wants to hang out with him because he is always dead. Back

awesome dance. N.d. i.ytimg.com. Web. 28 May “The Berlin Wall.” The Cold War Period Vols. volume 8. N.p.: n.p., n.d Print. Bill Joel. N.d. JPEG file. ChineseFlag. N.d. JPEG file. chubby checker. N.d. hoffmantalent. Web. 28 May Gale, Thomson. “Billy Joel.” Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 52. N.p.: n.p., N. pag. Biography Resource Center. Web. 14 May guy on fire. N.d. motivators. Web. 28 May “Ho Chi Minh.” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May ho chi minh. N.d. staff.imsa.edu. Web. 28 May Joel, Billy. “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” sing365. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May “John Cohn.” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May khrushchev and castro. N.d. tampabay.com. Web. 28 May “Korean War: The Forgotten War.” Military.com Military Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May Kurtus, Ron. “’We Didn’t Start the Fire’ (Facts) History Summary from ” School For Champions. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May lots and lots of fire trucks. N.d. i.ytimg.com. Web. 28 May “Nikita Krushchev.” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May US soilder in vietnam. N.d. wikimedia. Web. 28 May “Vietnam.” Holt World History: The Human Journey. N.p.: n.p., n.d Print.