Fire!!

I like Billy Joel.  Who doesn't?  I like a lot of his songs, but one that holds a special place in my nostalgia bucket is We Didn't Start the Fire, written and released in 1989, included on the Storm Front album.  The song is nostalgic not just because I remember hearing it a lot as a kid, but the song itself is nostalgic as it is basically a list of  headlining topics spanning forty years of history.  Which is how Joel wrote the song.  He started with the year he was born and began listing major people and events.  In the year 1949, the year of his birth and the starting year of the song, Harry Truman was president, Doris Day was a hit singer (and Johnnie Ray), Joe DiMaggio was a popular athlete and Walter Winchell was a notable journalist.  And so on. 

There are a few interesting touches, though.  Because it's what's called a "patter song," there is no melody to speak of (except for the refrain).  However, when Joel sings Brooklyn's got a winning team (1955, Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series before moving to California) the crowd cheers!  The bit about the horror movie Pyscho (1960) is mentioned over the trademark screeching violins.  In 1969, we land on the moon, moonshot.  Four items are out of place, chronologically: Begin, Reagan, (these were relevant in 1977), Palestine, terror on the airline (these belong in 1976).  Rhythmically, the transposition sounds better.

Not the most profound song ever written, but I still get a kick out of it.  And it's interesting how much of the list is still relevant and well-known to much of the population.  Sort of a distillation of world history into a four minute song.

Oh, yes.   HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!