What has the song, “We didn start the fire” by Billy Joel been interpreted to mean?
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a song by Billy Joel that makes reference to a catalogue of headline events during his lifetime, from March 1949 (Joel was born on May 9 of that year) to 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. The events are mixed with a refrain asserting “we didn’t start the fire”. The song was a number-one hit in the U.S. The song and music video have been interpreted as a rebuttal to criticism of Joel’s Baby Boomer generation, from both its preceding and succeeding generations. The song’s title and refrain imply that the frenzied and troubled state which others were criticizing had been the state of the world since long before his generation’s time, but that this was being ignored by their critics. History Joel has a strong interest in history. “I’m a history nut. I devour history books. At one time I wanted to be a history teacher.” According to his mother, he has been avidly reading history books since he was seven years old.[1] Unlike most of Joel
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a song by Billy Joel that makes reference to a catalogue of headline events during his lifetime, from March 1949 (Joel was born on May 9 of that year) to 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. The events are mixed with a refrain asserting “we didn’t start the fire”. The song was a number-one hit in the U.S. The song and music video have been interpreted as a rebuttal to criticism of Joel’s Baby Boomer generation, from both its preceding and succeeding generations. The song’s title and refrain imply that the frenzied and troubled state which others were criticizing had been the state of the world since long before his generation’s time, but that this was being ignored by their critics. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
