Some songs are easy to follow, but some songs you really have to listen to in order to get the gist of what they’re saying. When We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel came out the world had already jumped from one set of issues to another for decades prior in an unending dance of problematic dealings that world leaders and pop culture influences had foisted upon one nation after another. At that point there wasn’t much that could be done to stem the tide of difficulties that continued to brew throughout each coming decade. The problems of the older generation soon became the problems of the new generation and so on and so forth until our present era.
Billy Joel’s song was a masterpiece in that it didn’t so much lament the moments in history when things were either turning around or getting worse, it simply acknowledged them as if to say “here it is, here’s what happened, and we’ve continued to let it happen”. The words he uses are little more than the recitation of moments, people, and places that have helped to shape the world we know and in doing so have helped to stoke the flames that could eventually be our downfall or our baptism by fire.
It’s enough to state that each generation that comes after the one previous must deal with the issues of that past generation as well as their own. The fire only grows with the passing of time unless someone figures out a way to extinguish it, or in other words make life better than they found it.
The song has been a hit for a long time more for its sound and the cadence that it brings. It’s also well noted for the moments during which Billy Joel finally raises his voice and proclaims “I can’t take it any more!” But many people don’t even recognize half of the words much less what they mean. Every entry in the chronology that Joel uses has great meaning and is meant to convey a point in time or showcase a person that had great meaning to the world during that time period. So many people, places, and situations throughout history have helped to shape the world into what it is now that to forget them is an insult to history and a reason why we are bound to repeat it.
Not everything Joel is listing is wrong or in some way messed up, but not everything is positive either. It’s a stunning mixture of what’s made our world the way it is and how the metaphorical fire has been burning long before we arrived and how it will burn long after we are gone. Humanity has yet to figure out just how to live in harmony with one another and appreciate what we have. Instead we war, we debate, we argue, and we continue to fan the flames of controversy, disruption, and even hate among the many peoples that populate this world.
We didn’t start the fire, but it still goes on. Click on the photo for full size
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