January 18, 2008 10:38
We Didn't Start The Fire -- Nineteen Years Later
On the nineteenth anniversary of its release, Nerd World sat down with Billy Joel at his Sagaponack home to discuss the cultural impact of his classic song.
NERD WORLD: I just listened to the song again. It's amazing how well it's held up. All those things have still happened.
BILLY JOEL: Thanks, it's a really special song to me. You know, if I hadn't been a singer-songwriter, I probably would have been a history teacher.
NW: Well, the song certainly has a lot of history in it. Did you realize when you were writing it that it was just a big list of references, or did you stand back at the end and go, "Wow, it's all just some stuff that happened. Weird."
BJ: No, I pretty much intended that from the start.
NW: Why has Weird Al Yankovic never done a parody of "We Didn't Start The Fire"?
BJ: I really don't know. He did a version of "Piano Man" about Spider-Man, which I thought was quite clever. It was flattering, really.
NW: But it's so perfect for Weird Al. "Steve Couldn't Start The Chrysler" or "Pizza Didn't Hamburger The French Fries."
BJ: The lyrics for that second one don't really track.
NW: (SINGING) "PIZZA DIDN'T HAMBURGER THE FRENCH FRIES, LASAGNA'S ALMOST BURNING, SINCE THE SCHWARMA'S TURNING!"
BJ: Next question.
NW: Here's a quote from Boston WBZ-TV4's version of "We Didn't Start The Fire," which was about Boston sports in the 1980s: "CELTICS BRUINS SOX AND PATS / TO ALL THE FANS WE TIP OUR HATS" Which version is better, yours or WBZ-TV4'S?
BJ: Well, I did it first, so they could never be better. It's my song. At best, they could just imitate it.
NW: But what if you really liked Boston sports? Then what?
BJ: Boston WBZ-TV4's, I guess.
NW: Let's get deeper into the song. You mention both the "Cola Wars" and "Children of Thalidomide." Are those two things, malformed children and competing sugar drinks, equally bad?
BJ: It isn't that all these events are "bad," I was trying to make the point that history has always been fraught with turmoil and you can't blame--
NW: Got it. Cola Wars worse than Thalidomide. What's worse, "Peyton Place" or "Trouble in the Congo"?
BJ: It's "Belgians it the Congo." Belgians.
NW: I'm pretty sure it's not.
BJ: Look, this has been great. But you should probably go.
NW: Okay, fine. Hey, what's that in your garage? Oily rags? Gas cans? Road flares?
BJ: It's nothing. Just forget about it. Hey, do you want to hear me sing "Uptown Girl"?
NW: Oh my God. It all adds up. You did start the fire. YOU DID START THE FIRE.
BJ: I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave.
NW: It wasn't always burning since the world's been turning. It was you. It was always you. Hey -- what are you doing with that-- (THROAT SLIT BY GOLD RECORD NOISES) You... started.. it...
BJ: (SINGING TO SELF) "LASAGNA'S ALMOST BURNING, SINCE THE SCHWARMA'S TURNING, TURNING, TURNING..."
About Nerd World
Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman blogs about anything and everything that could be plausibly labeled geeky--science fiction, fantasy, video games, comic books, tech stuff, and so on. If it could get you beaten up in junior high, it's fair game. About the Author
Matt Selman
Matt Selman has worked on eleven seasons and over two hundred episodes of The Simpsons. He currently serves as an Executive Producer. About the Author
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Reader Comments (13)
RIP, Matt. May your death be not in vain.
Posted by dennitzio | January 18, 2008 11:06 PM
Sad, poor Matt. That damn Billy Joel.
Posted by Kelsey | January 19, 2008 11:39 AM
Is there a reason Weird Al hasn't been asked to do a guest stint?
Posted by GusGus | January 20, 2008 11:12 PM
The song was a rip off of R.E.M.'s "Its The End of The World As We Know It." R.E.M. were huge at the time, the hottest "new" band around. Billy Joel's career was fading and then this song came out which sucked at the time and still does. Not that the R.E.M. song is that much better but if you listen to them both they are pretty much the same concept.
Posted by mikefromvashonisland | January 21, 2008 3:27 AM
Who did then, not Microsoft!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
Posted by steve ballmer | January 21, 2008 7:18 AM
Billy's better than R.E.M.'s
Posted by chris Rivers | January 21, 2008 9:18 AM
We used this song in my history class junior year. I still know WAY too much of the song. We picked two things to research that he mentioned. I did hula hoops and Doris Day. :-)
Posted by Holly | January 21, 2008 12:34 PM
Plus, "It's the End of the World as We Know It" is just a rip-off of Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," which itself owes a whole lot to Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business." All classics except, sorry, Billy's. I mean, "JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say" -- this is great songwriting? Yikes.
Posted by Tom | January 21, 2008 2:14 PM
It's weird, coming from Swampland to Nerdworld. I read a post like this, and realize that there's no substance, and I start to get angry, and my eyes get all green...
And then I realize that Selman's whole purpose here is to sing and dance and entertain us, and he does a good job of it. And then I calm down.
@Tom:
Good call on the "Subterranean Homesick Blues." I hear that and think about what a great song it is. I hear "We Didn't Start the Fire" and I think about how any chump can yell random words into a microphone at high speed and call it a song.
Posted by Cliff | January 21, 2008 2:42 PM
Wait a sec Lev, you're doing an interview with Billy Joel, but passing on commenting on the Smurfs 50th B-day?
What gives?!?
Posted by Jacob Blues | January 21, 2008 5:05 PM
he song was not supposed to be a masterpiece... Remember all the lame disco, pop, whatever of the 80's. And still is funny and yes... nerdish :)
Posted by Sy | January 21, 2008 6:43 PM
Kiss off....
Posted by Mike | January 21, 2008 8:47 PM
"Throat slit by gold record noises." Nice. :)
Posted by Tom Huston | January 22, 2008 11:19 AM