WE DIDN’T START

THE FIRE

Powerpoint: Scott Magat

Song: Billy Joel

LyricsHarry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie

RaySouth Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television

North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, PanmunjomBrando,

The King and I and The Catcher in the Rye

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen

Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUSWe didn't start the fireIt was always burningSince the world's been

turningWe didn't start the fire

No we didn't light itBut we tried to fight it

Continue…Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser aand Prokofiev

Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacronDien 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, KrushchevPrincess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the

Suez

CHORUSLittle Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle,

KerouacSputnik, 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, MafiaHula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and KennedyChubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the

Congo

CHORUSHemingway, Eichmann, Stranger

in a Strange LandDylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs

invasionLawrence 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 rockBegin, 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

CHORUSWe didn't start the fireBut when we are gone

Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

Work Cited

Billy Joel

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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).

Joe DiMaggioGiuseppe 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 PresleyIn 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 Enterprises).

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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 innovated today (The New York Times Company).

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California baseballIn 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 monkeyIn 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 StalinIn 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.).

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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

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The King and I and The Catcher in the RyeAllusion – 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 warsHyperbole - 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.

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No we didn't light itBut we tried to fight itRhyme - 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 message BACK

Rock Around the ClockAllusion - 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.

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Theme of the SongIn 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.

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