WE DIDNT START THE FIRE Billy Joel Lyrics

WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE Billy Joel

Lyrics • Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe Di. Maggio Joe Mc. Carthy, 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 CHORUS 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 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 CHORUS Little Rock , Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "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 U 2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo CHORUS 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 JFK , blown away, what else do I have to say CHORUS 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 anymore CHORUS We didn't start the fire But when we are gone Will it still burn on, and on. . .

Works Cited Bio- Gale Reference Center. "Billy Joel. " Gale Virtual Reference Library. N. p. , 20 Mar. 3/20/2008. Web. 14 May 2010. <http: //galenet. galegroup. com/servlet/ Bio. RC? vrsn=149&OP=contains&loc. ID=rich 56740&srchtp=name&ca=1&c=1&AI= U 13006798&NA=B illy+Joel&ste=12&tbst=prp&tab=1&doc. Num=K 1608004365&b. Conts=59#b_Perso nal> Joe Di. Maggio- "Joe Di. Maggio. " Wikipedia. N. p. , n. d. Web. 27 May 2010. <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Joe_Di. Maggio>. Fire- "Fire/Flame Textures. " Freefoto. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http: //www. google. com/imgres? imgurl=http: //www. freefoto. com/images/33/15/ 33_15_57 ---Fire-Flame. Textures_web. jpg&imgrefurl=http: //www. freefoto. com/preview/ 33 -15 -57%3 Fffid%3 D 33 -1557&usg=__Kv. Q 73 h 67 YZzj. Djo. Diy. Jp. MGXd. Hw. Q=&h=600&w=400&sz=95&h l=en&start=10&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=x. ZOw. Nhz-E 2 QFM: &tbnh=135&tbnw=90&prev=/ images%3 Fq%3 Dfire%26 um%3 D 1%26 hl%3 Den%26 safe%3 Dactive%26 rls%3 Dc om. microsoft: en-us% 26 tbs%3 Disch: 1>.

Works Cited (cont. ) Cold War- Miami New. Times. N. p. , n. d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http: //www. google. com/ imgres? imgurl=http: //blogs. miaminewtimes. com/riptide/ 11674. jpg&imgrefurl=http: //blogs. miaminewtimes. com/riptide/2008/08/ miami_beach_to_be_ground_zero. php&usg=__gg 1 B 54 E_PULgh. Vb. Czb. Cus. DGk. QGA=&h=300&w=4 00& sz=20&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=AWUw. L 6 u. NIM-7 CM: &tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/ images%3 Fq%3 DCold%2 BWar%26 um%3 D 1%26 hl%3 Den%26 safe%3 Dactive%26 rls%3 Dcom. micro soft: en-us%26 tbs%3 Disch: 1>. Eisenhower- "Dwight D. Eisenhower. " The White House, n. d. Web. 25 May 2010. <http: //www. whitehouse. gov/about/presidents/dwightdeisenhower>. Einstein- "Albert Einstein. " Wikipedia. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>. Little Rock- "The Battle of Little Rock. " asms. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http: //asms. k 12. ar. us/armem/montgom/index. htm>. Bay of Pigs- "The Bay of Pigs. " Oracle Thinkquest. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http: //library. thinkquest. org/11046/days/bay_of_pigs. html>. JFK- "John F. Kennedy. " The White House, n. d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http: //www. whitehouse. gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy>. Watergate- What was Watergate? " Watergate. info. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http: //www. watergate. info/background/>.

Billy Joel Biography (L 1) He was born William Martin Joel on May 9, 1949 in Bronx, New York. When he was a young child his family moved to Long Island. He started his piano lessons at age 4 and continued through the age of 14. He has been married three times. His wives include Elizabeth Weber, Christie Brinkley, and his current wife Kate Lee. He toured with Elton John in 1994, 1995, and 2001. His occupations are singer, songwriter, and pianist (Gale Research) Back

Joe Di. Maggio (L 2) Flashback Joe’s name was mentioned in this song because Billy Joel remembers watching him play. He was born on November 25, 1914. He was the middle of three brothers whom also became major league baseball players. Joe is probably remember for his 56 game hit streak which still stands today. He was a three time MVP and 13 time All-Star. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. In 1969 he was declared the sport’s best living player (Wikipedia). Back

Fire (L 3) The word “fire” mentioned in this song is representing all the conflict that was going on during the time the song was written. There are many wartime references in this song. One of the commonly referenced conflicts in this song is the Cold War which pitted the US versus Russia. Back

“It was always burning” (L 4) This quote that was used in this song was used to represent that conflict was always going on and didn’t just start in the 20 th century. It shows that conflicts have been going on since the first skirmish between tribes. Back

“turning” (L 5) The word “turning” in these lyrics represent not when the world was first created but when humans had their first conflict. Since there weren’t any people when the earth was first created the reference to the world “turning” just means ever since humans have been around. Back

“we” (L 6) We in these lyrics represents all the people in Billy Joel’s generation. He is saying that his generation weren’t the ones who started all these conflicts but they did try to fight them and end them. They succeeded in a few but didn’t solve everything. Back

Eisenhower (H 1) He was the 34 th president of the United states. He served two, four year terms from 1953 -1961. He was born in Texas in 1890. He was the Supreme Commander for the troops invading France including during D-Day. He suffered a heart attack in the September of 1955 but was fully recovered a few months later. He died on March 28 in 1969 of a long term illness (The White House). Back

Einstein (H 2) Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879. His family were non-observant Jews. He went to a catholic elementary school however, from when he was age 5 to age 10. He received his doctorate from the University of Zurich. He has had three children in total from two marriages. However, his daughter, Lieserl, disappeared after 1903 and wasn’t heard from after that (Wikipedia). Back

Little Rock (H 3) On September 10 th, 1863, Major General Fred Steele order his army to attack the confederates. On their way they ran into confederate troops and with the aid of artillery fire, they pushed them back to Little Rock. Later that night they were defeated. This battle helped the Union to trap the Confederates in the Trans-Mississippi theater (asms). Back

Bay of Pigs Invasion (H 4) Back It was an unsuccessful US backed-Cuban Rebel attempted invasion of the Bay of Pigs. The US promised air support but they ended up backing out so the invasion was a complete failure. It was an attempt to overthrow the communist dictator Fidel Castro (Oracle Think. Quest).

JFK (H 5) He was born on May 19 th, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard in 1940 and then entered the Navy. After he came back he became a democratic congressman. He became president in 1961 but was assassinated two years later while his motorcade was driving in a parade (The White House). Back

Watergate (H 6) “Watergate” is a general term used to describe a number of political scandals from 1972 to 1974. It is used to represent the Watergate Hotel in Washington D. C. It occurred the presidency of Richard Nixon eventually resigned as President of the United States on August 8 th, 1974 (Watergate. info). Back