By: Billy JoelBilly Joel. Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter...

By: Billy 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 goodbye

Rhyming scheme

We didn't start the fireIt was always burning

Since the world's been turningWe didn't start the fire

No we didn't light itBut we tried to fight it

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, DacronDien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning teamDavy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, KhrushchevPrincess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, KerouacSputnik, Zhou Enlai, Bridge On The River Kwai

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California Baseball, Starkweather homicide, Children of Thalidomide

Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, MafiaHula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and KennedyChubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo

Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land,Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

Lawrence of Arabia, British BeatlemaniaOle Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sexJ.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back againMoonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock

Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airlineAyatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicideForeign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz

Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial lawRock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fireIt was always burning since the world's been turning.

We didn't start the fireBut when we are gone

It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on...




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William Martin Joel, changed name to Billy Joel, was born in May 9, 1949. 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.

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.

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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.

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Chubby Checker was an Americansinger. 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”)

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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.

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

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Ho Chi Minh was the communist leader of China who took

over South Vietnam and reunited it under a communist rule.

Born in Vietnam, 1890.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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awesome dance. N.d. i.ytimg.com. Web. 28 May 2010.“The Berlin Wall.” The Cold War Period 1945-1992. Vols. volume 8. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 109. Print.Bill Joel. N.d. JPEG file.ChineseFlag. N.d. JPEG file.chubby checker. N.d. hoffmantalent. Web. 28 May 2010.Gale, Thomson. “Billy Joel.” Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 52. N.p.: n.p., 2005. N. pag. Biography Resource Center. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/ servlet/ BioRC>.guy on fire. N.d. motivators. Web. 28 May 2010.“Ho Chi Minh.” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ VNhochiminh.htm>.ho chi minh. N.d. staff.imsa.edu. Web. 28 May 2010.Joel, Billy. “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” sing365. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010. <http://sing365.com>.

“John Cohn.” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ USAcohn.htm>.khrushchev and castro. N.d. tampabay.com. Web. 28 May 2010.“Korean War: The Forgotten War.” Military.com Military Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.military.com/ Content/ MoreContent1/ ?file=index>.Kurtus, Ron. “’We Didn’t Start the Fire’ (Facts) History Summary from 1949-1989.” School For Champions. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010. <http://www.school-for-champions.com/ history/ start_fire_facts.htm>.lots and lots of fire trucks. N.d. i.ytimg.com. Web. 28 May 2010.“Nikita Krushchev.” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ RUSkhrushchev.htm>.US soilder in vietnam. N.d. wikimedia. Web. 28 May 2010.“Vietnam.” Holt World History: The Human Journey. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 866. Print.

By: Billy JoelBilly Joel. Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter...

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