Powerpoint: Scott Magat
Song: Billy Joel
Lyrics
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
CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Continue…
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser aand Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the Suez
CHORUS
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge on the River Kwai
Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
CHORUS
Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a
Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats
Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician
sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to
say
 CHORUS
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore
CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...
Work Cited
Billy Joel
Billy Joel was born in Bronx, NY, May 4th,
1949. In 1953, Billy started playing the
Piano and in 1963, Joel formed his first
band. In 1971, he moves to California due
to a band fight, and changed his name to
Bill Martin. In 1978 he makes his first #1
album. In 1989, “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
becomes #1 song and nominated for top
record of the year, and then nominated for
other personal awards. His latest album
came out in 2007, earning him another
platinum album (Sony Music
Entertainment).
BACK
Joe DiMaggio
Giuseppe Paolo (Joe) DiMaggio Jr. was
born on November 24, 1914. He grew
up in San Francisco, CA, with his four
brothers and four sisters. At age 17, he
started to play minor league baseball
with the San Francisco Seals. One year
later, the New York Yankees purchased
his contract for $25,000. When he
appeared on the field for the first time,
on May 3, 1936, twenty-five thousand
cheering, flag-waving, Italian residents of
New York showed up to welcome him to
the team. In 1952, Joe retired and in
1955 he was elected into the Baseball
Hall of Fame. Joe DiMaggio died at his
home in Hollywood, Florida, on March 8,
1999 (Advameg Inc).
Lyrics
Elvis Presley
In January, 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley, was
born in Tupelo, Mississippi, with a twin
brother, but the brother died at birth so Elvis
was born and raised as a single child.
Elvis’s first time singing in a crowd was when
he was ten years old in a town talent show.
In 1954, he started his official singing career
in Memphis. In 1956, he became the
international sensation that he is known for
today. At age 36, he went into the army. He
is regarded as one of the most important
figures of twentieth century popular culture.
Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland,
on August 16, 1977 (Elvis Presley
Back
Enterprises).
Television
In 1948, the first cable TV was produced. In 1950,
the first colored television was produced. In 1953,
the second colored TV was made. In 1956, the first
VCR is also made along with the first remote control
ever for the TV. In 1962, the first TV satilite was
launched. In 1969, the first TV transmission from the
moon to the Earth was sent. TV today is known as
one of the few inventions which is still being BACK
innovated today (The New York Times Company).
California baseball
In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers have
moved all the way from the east coast, all
the way to the west. Once they changed,
they were a strong force in the National
League and won multiple league
championships. In 8 out of 10 seasons,
the Dodgers have never finished lower
than second place in the league. In
October of 1950, O'Malley became
president and chief stockholder of the
Dodgers, a position he would hold for 20
years. Through out the 1950s to the
1960s, the Dodgers was one of the best
teams in the entire MLB (MLB Advanced
Media).
BACK
space monkey
In 1958, Gordo, the very first monkey
that was in space was launched. A lot of
Americans thought that is was very
wrong for them to launch a monkey into
space, rather than an American citizen.
On December 13th, 1958, Gordo landed
back on Earth, but due to a technical
error, the parachute never opened, and
the Gordo sunk into the South Atlantic.
On May 28th, 1959, the first pair of
monkeys were launched into space, and
they were both able to make it back to
Earth and survive the landing. This led
the goal of landing the first man on the
moon, before the USSR (BBC).
BACK
Joseph Stalin
In the song, Joel was referring to the
death of Joseph Stalin who died in
1953. Stalin served under Vladimir
Lenin, who brought communism to
Russia, and giving it the new name,
Soviet Union. After Lenin died, Stalin
replaced him. He killed many of his
own men just to put fear into everyone
else’s minds. Stalin was a huge
influential person to all of the USSR,
and although cruel to much of his
followers, he was a very powerful and
smart leader (Encyclopædia Britannica,
Inc.).
BACK
British Beatlemania
Alliteration – repeating the
same consonant sound at the
beginning of two or more
words in close succession.
Joel used this because
during the times of the
Beatles Fame in the USA,
Americans called there time
here British Bealtlemania
BACK
The King and I and The Catcher in
the Rye
Allusion – a reference to
another piece of literature
The reason why Joel uses an
allusion in his song because he
is referring to all of the famous
moments during his time. The
King and I and The Catcher in
the Rye were two of the most
famous books during the time
and they had a huge influence
on our culture today. BACK
Rock and roller cola wars
Hyperbole - exaggerated in order to
create emphasis or effect
The term “Rock and Roller Cola Wars”
is referring to the battle between Coke
and Pepsi. With Michael Jackson on
the Pepsi side, and Elton John on the
Coke side. Joel used this as his last
piece of his song because this event
was one of the 1980s. This is
probably the brighter side of the song,
first beginning with WW2 and the cold
war, ending with the brighter side with
a fun little battle.
BACK
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Rhyme - repetition of identical or
similar concluding syllables in
different words, most often at the
ends of lines
Joel used this because this is
during the chorus of the song and
it needs to be one of the most
dominant parts of the song. This
part of the song is the main
BACK
message
Rock Around the Clock
Allusion - a reference to
another piece of literature
Rock Around the Clock was a
very famous song during the
time. It started from just a
music-single, all the way to a
feature-length movie. Joel was
known to be a huge fan of the
song growing up, so that is the
main reason why he picked this
to go into his own song.
BACK
Theme of the Song
BACK
In 1989, Billy Joel had the idea to write a song that talked about all of
the major events from 1949, which is when he was born, to 1989. He
was talking about how his generation is not the reason for the world’s
problems. Problems were always around and that it is not their fault for
the problems in world during their time. Joel was tired of everyone
blaming his generation for the problems, so that is why he wrote the
song so people would know that it is not their fault.