We Didn't Start the Fire

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a constant reminder that no matter how crazy times may seem today, they have always been crazy and will continue to be crazy as long as life continues to exist.

It is a time capsule of political and cultural events that enlighten the listener to the moments that shape Billy Joel’s perspective of the world.

Particularly striking is the pattern of events that succeeded World War II and led through the beginning, middle, and end of the Cold War. There are constant reminders that a devastating nuclear war threatened large populaces on the planet and though you yourself may live in a time or turmoil and struggle, Billy Joel plants the chronological stake that claims his formative years were shrouded by the universal acceptance of legitimate fears of the end of the world.

Billy Joel has openly admitted that the structure of the song is basic and not up to par with most of his work. The song is performed with common instrumentation found in 1980’s pop rock. Bass guitar and drums maintain rhythm in the verses while synths and background vocals adorn the choruses. There are very few moments where Billy Joel’s vocals are silent, and this, as well as the uncharacteristically simple song structure, may have much to do with the focus of the song being the lyrics, almost exclusively. There is, however, a harmonic strategy that is rarely performed in covers and even in live versions of the song, and it leaves the song bereft of a major impact in its absence.

“Cadence” is a musical term referring to a series of notes that end a musical phrase. A cadence can be either open or closed. You can think of an open cadence in music as a person pushing a boulder up a hill, and closed cadence is the relief of pushing the boulder down the other side. A musical example is in the Isley Brothers' “Shout” where the gospel jubilation of the rhythm is interrupted by a moment of soulful confession. The last note of the confession is held for an extended period (open cadence) before the excited gospel starts again. The closed cadence appears at the start of the next phrase, acting like an emotional see-saw.

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” essentially follows the same pattern in the verses where the closed cadence is the start of the phrase and the open cadence can be heard in the rest of the phrase. However, the chorus – which acts like a merciful respite from the relentless bombardment of mementos in the verses – features a steadily played bass line that maintains a constant open cadence. This is accentuated by the fact that the line continues as the song fades out. The emotional result of this arrangement helps solidify the notion that time always moves forward and never stops, and this is especially felt during the lyric, “but when we are gone it will still burn on and on and on…”