I Love Billy Joel But I Can’t Listen to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” Anymore

On December 9, 1989, Billy Joel‘s current event masterpiece “We Didn’t Start the Fire” hit No. 1 in the U.S. It’s long been considered a cultural touchstone for the era, bringing to light different events and talking points both positive and negative. However, as iconic and historical as the song is, I find that I haven’t been able to listen to it since 2010. Why is that, you ask? Let me paint a word picture here.

It’s 2010 and I’m in 12th grade, taking a required U.S. History class so I can graduate. Imagine a standard high school classroom: cinderblock walls painted boring beige, fluorescent lights, and desks in neat rows. There’s something different going on here though—Billy Joel’s 1989 hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire” has been playing on repeat for the first half of the class.

There are pages of lyrics in front of us all, and we’re meant to be studying them. I, however, can’t focus on anything other than the sneaking suspicion that I won’t be able to listen to this song ever for the rest of my life. Now, I can’t exactly remember the objective of this assignment, but I do remember with great clarity that we listened to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for an hour every day for an entire week. In that time, we analyzed the lyrics and learned about the particular events Billy Joel referenced. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this iconic song was being ruined for me in real-time.

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What is the Purpose of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and Why Did My History Teacher Make Us Memorize It?

You’ve heard of English teachers making you memorize classic poems, right? This was like that, except my history teacher made us memorize “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” From Harry Truman, Doris Day to birth control, Ho Chi Minh, we studied the five lengthy verses until we knew them by heart. My favorite line was “Foreign debts, homeless Vets” because my brain heard “vets” and thought “veterinarians.” This was a little confusing for a while, but eventually, I figured it out.

Now, bits and pieces of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” will come to me as if from a dream. Rosenbergs, H-bomb / Sugar Ray, Panmunjom / Brando, The King and I / and The Catcher in the Rye is a common line. So is U-2, Syngman Rhee / Payola and Kennedy / Chubby Checker, Psycho / Belgians in the Congo.

Moonshot, Woodstock / Watergate, punk rock worms its way in sometimes due to the rhyme scheme, and JFK blown away / What else do I have to say? will occasionally get stuck on a loop. I can’t remember half of what the more obscure events were anymore, even though we studied most of them in depth. However, the line hypodermics on the shores still paints a clear picture of the New Jersey Syringe Tide, and is one historical event from the song that has remained with me for reasons unknown.

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