On this Day – 9th December 1989
On 9 December 1989, Billy Joel’s single “We Didn’t Start The Fire” began its two-week run as number one within the US singles chart. The song has become known for its chronological list of over 100 historical events from 1949-1989; it ends in 1989, the year of its creation, and Joel turned 40. It was released via Columbia on 18 September 1989 to a mixed response, with many music critics citing their negative reviews for their opinion that the single contains a confusing message.
The singer has cited the creation of the track to a conversation had with a 21-year-old Joel met at a recording studio. The identification of the 21-year-old differs from sources and interviews; some say that it was John Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon, and others state that it was a friend of Sean. The conversation began with either Sean or his friend saying that it was a tough time to be a 21-year-old. Joel retorted with a list of historical events, such as the Vietnam War and Civil War issues. The young person replied that it was different as Joel was a youth in the 1950s, a decade in which they said nothing happened within. In response, Joel asked the young person if they had heard of the Vietnam War or the Suez Canal crisis.
It was this exchange which inspired Joel to use headlines as the core structure of the song. The chronological list of milestones spans various events within different sectors, including politics, history, and popular culture. It begins with the lyric “Harry Truman”, referring to Truman’s win of the 1948 US Presidential election on 2 November 1948. Joel’s following reference is “Doris Day,” which is related to the release of her debut film Romance on the high season on 25 June 1948.
Other references include the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1948, Nixon being elected as a senator on 7 November 1950, the rise and fall of television, and the invasion of South Korea by communist North Korea in 1950. The novel Catcher in the Rye is also referenced due to the cultural impact of its controversial content. “We Didn’t Start The Fire” also contains the dictator Joseph Stalin’s death, the removal via military coup of Juan Peron on 19 September 1955, the death of Albert Einstein on 18 April 1955 and James Dean’s fatal car crash on 30 September 1955.
Joel’s hit also includes the opening of the first Disneyland Park in 1955 in California, the 1956 revolution against the communist Hungarian government in Budapest, and the marriage of the American actress Grace Kelly and Rainer III, making her the Monoao princess. The lyric “Trouble in the Suez” refers to the nationalization of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian president, which provoked the Franco, Israeli, and British invasion of Egypt. Joel later sings “Sputnik”, a mention of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth Satellite launched into orbit in 1957 by the Soviet Union. “Starkweather homicide” cites the murder sprees carried out by Charles Starkweather, which resulted in the death of 11 people on 1 December 1957. “Buddy Holly” refers to the infamously tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Popper and the pilot Roger Peterson.
The lyric “Castro” refers to Fidel Castro’s win to become the prime minister of Cuba after the end of the Cuban Revolution, “Kennedy” speaks about when John F Kennedy was sworn in as the US’s 35th president on 20 January 1961. The song also brings up the suicide of writer Ernest Hemmingway on 2 July 1961 and the execution of nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann on 1 June 1962. The construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 is also referenced with the lyric “Berlin”, as is the Bay of Pigs invasion from the same year. “Malcolm X” speaks about the assassination of American civil rights leader Malcolm X by the Nation of Islam member Thomas Hagan.
The lyric “JFK blown away” cites the assassination of John F Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald in Texas in 1963. “Moonshot” mentions the first successful mission to the moon by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. When Joel sings “Reagan”, he refers to the election of Ronald Regan in 1981, and soon after, Joel’s lyrics “Russians in Afghanistan” point to when the Soviet Union stood with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in a battle against the anti-communist Afghan mujahideen.
During the song’s initial release, issues surrounding Aids and drugs were controversial but prominent; both are included in “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. In 1981, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged AIDS, seeing the start of the AIDS epidemic. Joel calls to this topic with the lyric “AIDS”. During the same time until the 1990s, the US was also going through the crack epidemic, leading to the highly problematic US government’s tough-on-crime and war on drug policies and campaigns. Joel mentions such issues with the lyric “Crack” in the song. The song ends with the lyric “Rock and Roller Cola Wars”, referring to the rivalry between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which led to both companies clambering for the best celebrity endorsers. Pepsi had Michael Jackson, and Coca-Cola had Paula Abdul.
The song has been the subject of many parodies and covers and has been used to influence various versions by different organizations. Many of these parodies, etc, have set the song in modern times, going past 1989 to include more modern years. The Irish band The Memories made the first, which obtained number one on the Irish singles charts with a version called The Game (Italia 90) in May 1990. The song was released to recognize the Republic of Ireland’s inclusion in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. “We Didn’t Start The Fire” was also sampled by Coca-Cola for the 2006 FIFA World Cup anthem in Latin America, with lyrics personalized for the country. The most recent is the 2023 Fall Out Boy cover, which included updated lyrics from 1989-2023. However, it was not in chronological order like the original. The cover came under fire as it excluded the COVID-19 pandemic. When questioned, bassist Pete Wentz claimed the health crisis was omitted from the song as it was already spoken about a lot.
After the song’s resurrection within the cultural zeitgeist, modern music critics have adapted its initial reception and even called it one of Joel’s worst songs from his whole catalogue. Joel has also panned the record, criticizing the work mainly for its melodic properties. Despite being unfavoured by its creator and critics, the song remains in popular modern culture and media, as seen in its recent sync inclusion within the TV show The Boys.