1989Released
4:47

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about We Didn't Start the Fire. By Songfacts®.

The lyrics are a stream-of-consciousness list of events that Joel felt his generation was not responsible for. A lot of the references are to the Cold War (US vs. Russia), a problem his generation inherited. In the liner notes of Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel, Joel explains that he wrote the song after a conversation with John Lennon's son Sean. "I started with Harry Truman because in 1949, the year I was born, Harry Truman was president," said Joel. "From there it kind of wrote itself." Joel was in the studio trying to come up with song ideas for the album, when Sean Lennon stopped by with his friend, who had just turned 21 and was lamenting over how tough his generation had it. Joel, who was approaching 40, commiserated with the young men, recalling how 21 was also a tough age for him with the Vietnam War, civil rights upheavals, and other crises. But Joel was astounded when Sean's friend claimed Joel didn't have it so bad because he grew up in the '50s, and "everyone knows that nothing happened in the '50s." In response, Joel started jotting down all of the events and major figures he could remember from his generation and a song idea was born - not just for baby boomers, but for anyone struggling in this perpetually messy world. Joel told biographer Fred Schruers: "What does the song really mean? Is it an apologia for the baby boomers? No, it's not. It's just a song that says the world's a mess. It's always been a mess, it's always going to be a mess."

An early example of the rapid lyrics style is the 1974 hit "Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)" by the short-lived group Reunion. It was also used by R.E.M. in "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." Before that, Bob Dylan did something similar on "Subterranean Homesick Blues."

Joel wrote the lyrics first, which he rarely does. He says that is why the song has no melody. Joel told Billboard magazine: "It's terrible musically. It's like a mosquito buzzing around your head."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of We Didn't Start the Fire.
GKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
145BPM

Album

The album We Didn't Start the Fire is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released We Didn't Start the Fire.
Columbia
(P) 1989 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

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