Fall Out Boy (FOB) wrote the second iteration to Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire,” released June 28, 2023. In the original version, Billy Joel wrote lyrics that covered 40 years of history (from 1949 to 1989) in four minutes and 52 seconds. FOB covered around 34 years of history (from 1989 to 2023) with lyrics that filled three minutes and 36 seconds worth of space.
Although it is structured very similarly—both in terms of musical style and lyrical patterns—there are a few differences I want to dive into.
FOB listed people, movies and events spastically, and Joel wrote about the events in chronological order. One comment said that “after talking to my daughter, she says it kinda reflects the time we live in since there is so much chaos, conflict and quick exchanges of information.” Another difference was how Joel used imagery of one family in one apartment kitchen to symbolize the changes over the 40 years he represented. FOB didn’t use a lot of imagery, with only the lyrics and quick flash pictures before, after and with the chorus. However, the presentation is not the only thing that was noticeably different in the second iteration.
Like any true fan, I listened to the original song by Joel before listening to the FOB version. In FOB’s part two, the musical relay of history’s most important events, I was intrigued to see what made the list.
Without denying the relevance of the “Lord of the Rings” or Iron Man being featured in the song (and after the initial feeling of disappointment faded away that somehow the legendary TV series “Friends” had not made the list), I noticed something interesting. In Joel’s version, the content of the lyrics was heavily based on historical events (typically wars, movements and disasters), whereas FOB focused a lot on entertainment history (they made more celebrity and movie references than references to “historical events”).
Now, to be clear, I believe entertainment history to be important and that individuals make history on a daily basis. What I want to emphasize is that FOB points to what the culture currently believes to be the most important events to happen in the past 34 years. So, FOB is really pointing to what our current culture holds as important and relevant history.
Making multiple references, FOB points to many issues which I think are worth noting, from entertainment, celebrities, climate change and a few historical moments either in U.S. politics or on the global stage. Without much of a leap, I’d wager these to be the most important topics to most Americans (a large generalization which is not backed up by any fact or study). If you haven’t given it a listen yet, I’d recommend doing so.