Mini-Quiz: "We Didn't Start the Fire" Lyrics - History from 1949-1989

1. Why did Billy Joel pick the years from 1949 until he wrote the song in 1989?

Those were the most important years in the history of the world

Those were years he experienced while growing up

Those were the years after television news programs started

2. Were the events and people mentioned in the song historical?

If they were in the news, they were historical

All people mentioned were personal friends of Billy Joel

Most events never happened and were taken from televison comedy shows

3. What did starting the fires have to do with anything?

Billy Joel was known as a "fire bug"

He uses fires as a metaphor for negative events 

Fires have been historical events since the great Chicago fire