“People have strong opinions on Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
“History teachers trying desperately to engage bored students love the song, which rapidly chronicles dozens of major news events from 1949—the year of Joel’s birth—through 1989, the year the single was released.
“Other people find the tune mega-annoying and perhaps even overly forgiving of Baby Boomers, whom Joel essentially deems blameless in a world that’s always been wicked. (Joel himself thinks the song is musically pretty awful.)
“Today, the debate takes on a new dimension as Fall Out Boy offer up their version, which covers stuff that’s happened in the 34 years since Joel’s original.”
Read more at Genius
