Musial Analysis of "We Didn't Start the Fire"

I go through phases of listening to one song for quite a while, then discovering a new one, and listening to it for days. We Didn't Start the Fire, by Billy Joel, is one such song for me. Listening to this song often makes me feel a bit pumped up (because of the quick rhythm) and simultaneously nostalgic. My family would often listen to it at a friend's house when we were hanging out and having a good time. Whenever I hear it, I am reminded of being little and how things used to be. Also, "We didn't start the fire" is a powerful lyric. Things have been going wrong, and bad things have been happening, forever. No one feels like they started it though, it is just a part of history.

This song was composed by Billy Joel, in the US, and released in 1989. Soon after its release, it became the number one song on Billboard's Hot 100 (Greene).

Here is the song and the original video to it.

Lyrics

In my opinion, the lyrics to this song are the main reason that it is so catchy and entertaining, not the melody itself. Even Billy Joel himself found the lyrics more important, choosing to focus on the lyrics first, and then the melody. The lyrics themselves are a compilation of major events and people, organized almost completely chronologically, that happened to the nation throughout his life. Starting in 1948 with "Harry Truman, Doris Day" and continuing to 1989, the lyrics are fast and bleed together almost to the point of being incomprehensible. It's the clever organization of each event, and its shouted presentation, that really causes me to love the lyrics and strive to memorize them. 

And of course, the simple and easily memorized chorus provides a few lyrics that are completely different form the rest of the song. This gives the listener a piece of the song that is nearly guaranteed to get stuck in their heads for days, driving someone to listen to it again, or look up the rest of the lyrics. (At least, that's what it did to me and my family.)

Rhythm 

The rhythm to this song is pretty fast, which is also a part of why I like it. Having a very quick rhythm works well with the lyrics, and allows for 40 years of people and events to be compressed into about four minutes. I don't believe that this song would have really worked out, or became popular, if it had a slower, or more moderate rhythm. The lyrics needed to be presented quickly, so that people were trying to catch up, rather than focusing on the repeating melody itself.

Melody 

Many people, including the composer, find the melody to this song painfully simple and droning. A large reason for this, according to the writer, was that he produced the lyrics before ever working on the melody itself (We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel).  Rather than tweaking the lyrics and their their organization to the melody of a song, he had to make the melody work with the organization of the lyrics. I actually enjoy the melody myself, but I do focus mostly on the lyrics while listening to it. Listening to the instrumental version of the song is an entirely different experience. It's the same exact thing over and over, with vary little variation.

 

However, the simple melody is also part of the reason that I enjoy this song. It's just easy. There aren't any complexities that would make it very difficult for a novice like me to play the song if I wanted to. Also, the simple melody doesn't draw your attention away from the lyrics like a more complex one might, and the lyrics are what the listener's attention should be drawn to in this song.

Here is an instrumental version so you can compare.

Despite being labeled with a disappointing melody, the lyrics to We Didn't Start the Fire are fast enough, and put together well enough, to make this one of the most popular songs in the late 1980's. I love this song for its simple melody, the lyrics, the fast pace that they are sang at, and the wonderful complexity of their organization. Forty years of people and events organized chronologically in a way that also allows them to rhyme is an impressive feat.

Sources:

Greene Andy. "Flashback: Billy Joel Hits Number One With ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’."Rolling Stone. 12 Dec. 2019. Web. 31 Jan. 2021.

"We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel."Songfacts, Web. 31 Jan. 2021.

"We Didn't Start the Fire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Jan. 2021. Web. 31 Jan. 2021.