"We Didn't Start the Fire"


Kelly Greenholt
English 103
Professor Kate Brady
Rhetorical Analysis

Inspired from a conversation about growing up in ‘troubled times’ with Sean Lennon, Billy Joel used his self-expression to discuss how his generation “Didn’t Start the Fire”. Written by Billy Joel, "We Didn't Start the Fire" describes the struggles of criticism on Joel's generation (Baby Boomers) from both succeeding and preceding generations. Joel's lyrics suggest a time line of historical events and people that he thought his generation was not responsible for. These referenced people and events provide examples of the controversial and significant headlines of that time period. By providing these examples throughout the song, Billy Joel convinces his audience that each generation has contributed to these 'troubled times'.
As mentioned, Joel's main argument is that each generation added to the "fire" or troubled times in general. Because this was such a controversial issue, Billy Joel’s “fire” can be compared to evil in the world. He is trying to explain that not just one movement of evil started these ‘troubled times’, but just have prolonged them.
Throughout "We Didn't Start the Fire"; there is use of many pathos, ethos, pathos and symbolism. He uses these by providing examples of emotional topics, such as religious figures, politicians, celebrities, tragedies, social phenomenon’s and other events that caught headline news. Billy Joel's lyrics appear to be 'a stream of consciousness in style'. Told in chronological order, he first begins by referencing President Harry Truman, who authorized the use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during WWII. The list continues through each generation, each emphasizing important social headlines that could have "started the fire". Although symbolism and imagery are used lyrically used, Billy Joel's choices of people and events are relatively unrelated. As done chronologically, his choices of reflect different tones and moods to the song. An example of the mood change in a stanza could be the reference of both the Woodstock Festival and 'Space Race', the first manned lunar landing, successfully lands on the moon. The characters and events mentioned also support the idea that Billy Joel’s generation was not the only that stirred chaos; and from the given information each generation could find ways to blame the problems of society on each other.
The music video takes place in a kitchen. The first scene opens with a newlywed man and wife entering their home, with Billy Joel sitting at the table. The video then continues to convey future clips of the couple’s future children and grandchildren going through each rough generation; each generation with clips of Billy Joel. These struggles include the use of different social struggles from each generation including drugs, and rebellion. The song further progresses with the symbolic messages, like the use of guns throughout the ages, drugs, war, rebellion. From the use of pathos, Billy Joel mentions the importance of each society and what they did to contribute to the chaos of the world. The song eventually ends with clips of fire and death.
Throughout the song, Billy Joel convinces his audience that each generation has contributed to these 'troubled times'. From the use of persuasion, he mentions significant social figures that contributed to evil in this world. By providing each generation with examples of these evils, he persuades the audience that they each contributed to the problems of today’s society.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKu2QaytmrM


WE DIDNT START THE FIRE BY BILLY JOEL Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye" Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye CHORUS: We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser aand Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron Dien 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, Krushchev Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez CHORUS: We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, 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, Mafia Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo CHORUS: We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land" Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion "Lawrence 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: We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again Moonshot, Woodsto/ck/, Watergate, punk rock Begin, 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 CHORUS: We didn't start the fire But when we are gone Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...