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We Didnt Start The Fire

• By Billy Joel

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We Didnt Start the Fire
Rhyming scheme
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, 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
3
We Didnt Start The Fire
We didn't start the fireIt was always
burningSince the world's been turningWe didn't
start the fireNo we didn't light itBut we tried
to fight it
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We Didnt Start The Fire
Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc Roy
Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, DacronDien Bien Phu
Falls, Rock Around the Clock Einstein, James
Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning teamDavy
Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, KhrushchevPrincess
Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
5
We Didnt Start The Fire
We didn't start the fireIt was always
burningSince the world's been turningWe didn't
start the fireNo we didn't light itBut we tried
to fight it
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We Didnt Start The Fire
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle,
KerouacSputnik, Zhou Enlai, Bridge On The River
Kwai Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California
Baseball, Starkweather homicide, Children of
ThalidomideBuddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey,
MafiaHula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go U2,
Syngman Rhee, payola and KennedyChubby Checker,
Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
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We Didnt Start The Fire
We didn't start the fireIt was always
burningSince the world's been turningWe didn't
start the fireNo we didn't light itBut we tried
to fight it
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We Didnt Start The Fire
Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange
Land,Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British BeatlemaniaOle
Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson Pope
Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sexJ.F.K.
blown away, what else do I have to say
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We Didnt Start The Fire
We didn't start the fireIt was always
burningSince the world's been turningWe didn't
start the fireNo we didn't light itBut we tried
to fight it
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We Didnt Start The Fire
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back
againMoonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk
rockBegin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the
airlineAyatollah's in Iran, Russians in
Afghanistan Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy
metal suicideForeign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS,
Crack, Bernie GoetzHypodermics on the shores,
China's under martial lawRock and Roller cola
wars, I can't take it anymore
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We Didnt Start The Fire
We didn't start the fireIt was always burning
since the world's been turning.We didn't start
the fireBut when we are goneIt will still burn
on, and on, and on, and on...We didn't start
the fireIt was always burningSince the world's
been turningWe didn't start the fireNo we
didn't light itBut we tried to fight it
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Billy Joel
William Martin Joel, changed name to Billy Joel,
was born in May 9, 1949. He was raised in Long
Island, New York by his parents, Howard and
Rosalind Joel. Billy Joel was interested into
music at a young age because his father was a
classical pianist. He despised playing classical
music, music theory and everlasting hours of
practice. In 1957, Joels parents divorced. His
father moved back to Europe, while his mother
stayed with the family and became a secretary and
a bookkeeper. After the divorce, Joels new
father figure was his grandfather, Phillip Hyman.
Through high school, Billy Joel was a ruffian
(skipped school and ran a gang). He did well on
the tests, but he couldnt graduate because of
his many absences. Billy Joel released his first
albums The Hassles and Hour of the Wolf with his
band at the time, The Hassles. After years of
switching bands and finally becoming solo, he got
his break when he played Captain Jack, while
promoting his album, Cold Spring Harbor.
Columbia heard his song on East Coast FM and
finally they signed him. Billy Joel has had many
hits since then and was very successful. For
more information on Billy Joel, click here.
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13
Red China
Red China is talking about the victory of the
communists(red is considered the color of
communism) by Mao Zedong in China after World War
II. China is communist today.
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Korean War
The Korean War was a conflict that took place
during the Cold War(exact date June 25, 1950).
North Korea invaded South Korea. South gained
support from the UN and the USA. Right before
South Korea was going to win, communist China
joined North Korea, causing a stalemate between
the rival nations.
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15
Nikita Krushchev
Krushchev was one of the leaders of Soviet
Russia. He lessened the censorship and allowed
more books to be published. He also had a
conflict in Cuba with the US president at the
time, John F, Kennedy. This event became know as
the Cuban Missile Crisis and was the only nuclear
encounter between USSR and USA.
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16
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker was an American singer. His song
The Twist is quite famous and revolutionized
pop culture. Most of his songs are based on
his VERY successful hit, but were all less
successful than it. (e.g. Twistin USA and Twist
It Up)
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The Fire
I thought when Billy Joel is talking about the
fire in the chorus, he is talking about history.
History has always been around, We didnt start
it.
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Rhyming Scheme for First Verse
The rhyming scheme is A A B B This means that
the first two lines rhyme and the last two rhyme.
This is an example of a couplet or a clerihew.
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Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh was the communist leader of China who
took over South Vietnam and reunited it under a
communist rule. Born in Vietnam, 1890.
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Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn was a New York judge that was an
important figure in trying the American Communist
Council and the Rosenbergs, who were tried for
conspiracy to spy.
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We Didnt Start The Fire
This song lists a lot of the historic things that
have happened in his lifetime, but I think that
the facts are just things that greatly impacted
him greatly. In my opinion, these historic
events all had something to do personally with
him.
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22
I can't take it anymore
I infer when he says in the song that he cant
take it anymore, he is trying to say so many
things since he has been alive that he cant
think of it all.
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Terror on the airline
I dont think Billy Joel is talking about 9/11,
but when I read this line, it makes me think
about the attacks on the Twin Towers
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Einstein
When Billy Joel mentions Einstein it reminds me
of Jason. It is because Jason is a smart man,
smart enough to cure cancer, but he feels alone.
This is because no one wants to hang out with him
because he is always dead.
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Works cited
John Cohn. Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. lthttp//www.spartacus.schoo
lnet.co.uk/?USAcohn.htmgt. khrushchev and castro.
N.d. tampabay.com. Web. 28 May 2010. Korean War
The Forgotten War. Military.com Military
Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010.
lthttp//www.military.com/?Content/?MoreContent1/??
fileindexgt. Kurtus, Ron. We Didnt Start the
Fire (Facts) History Summary from 1949-1989.
School For Champions. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May
2010. lthttp//www.school-for-champions.com/?histor
y/?start_fire_facts.htmgt. lots and lots of fire
trucks. N.d. i.ytimg.com. Web. 28 May
2010. Nikita Krushchev. Spartacus.schoolnet.co.u
k. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010.
lthttp//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/?RUSkhrushch
ev.htmgt. US soilder in vietnam. N.d. wikimedia.
Web. 28 May 2010. Vietnam. Holt World History
The Human Journey. N.p. n.p., n.d. 866. Print.
awesome dance. N.d. i.ytimg.com. Web. 28 May
2010. The Berlin Wall. The Cold War Period
1945-1992. Vols. volume 8. N.p. n.p., n.d. 109.
Print. Bill Joel. N.d. JPEG file. ChineseFlag.
N.d. JPEG file. chubby checker. N.d.
hoffmantalent. Web. 28 May 2010. Gale, Thomson.
Billy Joel. Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 52.
N.p. n.p., 2005. N. pag. Biography Resource
Center. Web. 14 May 2010. lthttp//galenet.galegrou
p.com/?servlet/?BioRCgt. guy on fire. N.d.
motivators. Web. 28 May 2010. Ho Chi Minh.
Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May
2010. lthttp//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/?VNhoc
himinh.htmgt. ho chi minh. N.d. staff.imsa.edu.
Web. 28 May 2010. Joel, Billy. We Didnt Start
The Fire. sing365. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010.
lthttp//sing365.comgt.