"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a cover song by American rock band Fall Out Boy, originally performed by Billy Joel. It is the fourteenth track on the deluxe edition of their eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust. It was released on June 28, 2023, through DCD2, Elektra and Fueled by Ramen.
Background[]
On June 27, 2023, Fall Out Boy announced that they'd be releasing a cover of Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire" on June 28, 2023.[1] Following the song's release, it became a bonus track on the digital version of their eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust.
Official versions[]
| Version | Released on | Date | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [2] | Single/Album | "We Didn't Start the Fire" • So Much (For) Stardust | Jun 28 2023 | 3:36 |
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Captain Planet, Arab Spring
L.A. riots, Rodney King
Deep fakes, earthquakes
Iceland volcano
Oklahoma City bomb
Kurt Cobain, Pokémon
Tiger Woods, MySpace
Monsanto, GMOs
Harry Potter, Twilight
Michael Jackson dies
Nuclear accident, Fukushima, Japan
Crimean peninsula
Cambridge Analytica
Kim Jong Un
Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man
[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're trying to fight it
[Verse 2]
More war in Afghanistan
Cubs go all the way again
Obama, Spielberg
Explosion, Lebanon
Unabomber, Bobbitt, John
Bombing, Boston Marathon
Balloon Boy, War On Terror
QAnon
Trump gets impeached twice
Polar bears got no ice
Fyre Fest, Black Parade
Michael Phelps, Y2K
Boris Johnson, Brexit
Kanye West and Taylor Swift
Stranger Things, Tiger King
Ever Given, 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're trying to fight it
[Verse 3]
Sandy Hook, Columbine
Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice
ISIS, LeBron James
Shinzo Abe blown away
Meghan Markle, George Floyd
Burj Khalifa, Metroid
Fermi paradox
Venus and Serena
Michael Jordan, 23
YouTube killed MTV
Spongebob
Golden State Killer got caught
Michael Jordan, 45
Woodstock ‘99
Keaton Batman, Bush v Gore
I can’t take it anymore
[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're trying to fight it
[Verse 4]
Elon Musk, Kaepernick
Texas failed electric grid
Jeff Bezos, climate change
White rhino goes extinct
Great Pacific garbage patch
Tom DeLonge and aliens
Mars rover, Avatar
Self-driving electric cars
SSRIs
Prince and The Queen die
World Trade, second plane
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
But when we are gone
It will still go on, and on, and on
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been turning
Real-world references (in order)[]
- Captain Planet: Refers to the animated television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers that lasted from 1992 to 1997.
- Arab Spring: Refers to a series of anti-government protests that took place in Arabic countries from 2011 to 2012.
- L.A. riots, Rodney King: Refers to Rodney King, an African-American man who was killed as a result of police brutality in 1991. The L.A. Riots refer to the riots that took place after the four officers that were accused of killing King were acquitted in 1992.
- Deep fakes: Deep fakes are a type of synthetic media that replace someone's likeness with that of someone else.
- Earthquakes: Unknown which earthquake the song is referring to specifically.
- Iceland volcano: Refers to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano located in Iceland, which erupted multiple times between March and June 2010.
- Oklahoma city bomb: Refers to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.
- Kurt Cobain: Refers to Kurt Cobain, the lead vocalist of the rock band Nirvana. Cobain committed suicide on April 5, 1994.
- Pokémon: Refers to the popular series Pokémon which began in 1996.
- Tiger Woods: Refers to golfer Tiger Woods, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golf player in the world.
- MySpace: Refers to the social media platform Myspace, which was one of the most popular social media platforms on the internet. It userbase has decreased immensely since it's prime.
- Monsanto, GMOS: Refers to Monsanto, an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company who were best known for being a major producer of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops. The company was purchased by Bayer in 2018.
- Harry Potter: Refers to the book and film series Harry Potter, created by author J.K. Rowling in 1997, which follows a young boy named Harry Potter who learns of his family's history in magic and learns to become a wizard after receiving an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The book series became one of the most famous of all time, and spawned a live-action film series in 2001.
- Twilight: Refers to the book and film series Twilight, created by author Stephenie Meyer in 2005, which follows a girl named Bella Swan who falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.
- Michael Jackson dies: Refers to the death of iconic musician Michael Jackson, who died by a propofol overdose on June 25, 2009.
- Nuclear accident, Fukushima, Japan: Refers to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. On March 11, 2011, the power plant was subject to a nuclear accident, triggered by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The accident was the most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
- Crimean peninsula: Refers to the Crimea, a peninsula in the southern region of Ukraine. In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
- Cambridge Analytica: Refers to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm in the United Kingdom. In 2018, it was revealed Facebook has sold 87 million users' personal data to Cambridge Analytica, which was subsequently used in the Leave.EU campaign and the presidential election of Donald Trump.
- Kim Jong Un: Refers to the current supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, who is notorious for his threats against the West with multiple nuclear weapons test.
- Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man: Refers to American actor Robert Downey Jr., who is most famous for playing the character Tony Stark / Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He began playing the character in Iron Man (2008), with his last performance as the character coming in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
- More war in Afghanistan: Refers to the Taliban, who took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. Since then, there have been various conflicts with Afghanistan.
- Cubs go all the way again: Refers to the Chicago Cubs, who won the World Series in 2016. This had marked their first win since 1908, 108-years ago.
- Obama: Refers to Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America.
- Spielberg: Refers to American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, most well known for making the films Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), as well as the first four Indiana Jones films.
- Explosion, Lebanon: Refers to the explosion that occured in the Lebanese city of Beirut on August 4, 2020. A warehouse that stored ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded, and resulted in the death of over 200 deaths and 7000 injuries. It is considered one of the most powerful explosions that was not nuclear-related.
- Unabomber: Refers to Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American terrorist. He was known for delivering multiple bombs to different areas. Three of his bombs managed to kill one person each. He would be sentenced to multiple life sentences without parole and was sent to jail, where he was found dead on June 10, 2023, reported to be a suicide.
- Bobbitt, John: Refers to John Bobbitt, a bar bouncer and former U.S. Marine, who had his penis cut off by his, then wife, Lorena Bobbitt, who claimed that John had raped and abused her for years prior to the penis removal. John had his penis re-attached, and was later charged with rape, while Lorena was charged with assault. After being acquitted, John went on to star in two pornographic films, while Lorena began a foundation for domestic abuse victims and their children.
- Bombing, Boston marathon: Refers to the Boston Marathon bombing that occured on April 15, 2013, that resulted in the death on three people, and hundreds of injuries.
- Balloon boy: Refers to a viral hoax that occured on October 15, 2009, in which the couple Richard and Mayumi Heene released a helium-filled balloon above Fort Collins, Colorado. The couple then claimed their six-year old son Falcon was in the balloon, with Falcon being nicknamed "Balloon boy". After an hour of flight, the balloon landed a couple of miles away from the Denver International Airport, and authorities searched the balloon, where it was discovered that Falcon was not inside the balloon. It was revealed that he was actually in the attic of his home. Richard Heene pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant and sentenced to 90 days in jail, while Mayumi was charged with 20 days of weekend jail.
- QAnon: Refers to American political conspiracy theory and political movement QAnon, focusing on fabricated claims made by anonymous individual(s) known as "Q".
- Trump gets impeached twice: Refers to the two impeachment trials of former American president Donald Trump. The first impeachment began on December 18, 2019, accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump was acquitted by the Senate on February 5, 2020. The second impeachment began on January 13, 2021, stating that he incited the attacks on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Trump was acquitted of these claims, as well.
- Polar bears got no ice: Refers to global warming, and the melting of ice on the North Pole, which Polar bears depend on to live.
- Fyre Fest: Refers to Fyre Festival, a fraudulant music festival created by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, that was scheduled to take place from April 28 - 30 and May 5 - 7, 2017. During the festival's inaugural weekend, the event experienced many problems related to food, security accomodation and medical services, which resulted in the postponing, and eventual cancellation of the entire festival.
- Black Parade: Refers to the 2006 album The Black Parade by American rock band My Chemical Romance, as well as the lead single from the album, "Welcome to the Black Parade".
- Michael Phelps: Refers to American olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps broke a record that hadn't been broken since 1972, as well as obtaining multiple gold medals in various events.
- Y2K: Refers to the Y2K problem, a fear that began towards the end of the 1900's and the turn of the millenium. People feared that an error would occur with formatting and the storage of time in computer, and bring down worldwide infrastructures.
- Boris Johnson, Brexit: Refers to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is considered to be one of the main figures that pushed for Brexit, which is the name of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union in 2020.
- Kanye West and Taylor Swift: Refers to a moment at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards where Taylor Swift was accepting an award for Best Female Video, when suddenly Kanye West went on stage and grabbed the award from Swift, and declared that the award deserved to go to Beyonce.
- Stranger Things, Tiger King: Refers to two series on the streaming service Netflix. Stranger Things (2016), a series about that follows a group of friends that are haunted by an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. Stranger Things is currently Netflix's most-watched English language series. Tiger King (2020) is a series about former zookeeper Joe Exotic.
- Ever Given, Suez: Refers to the Evergiven container ship. On March 23, 2021, the Ever Given was going through the Suez Canal in Egypt, when it became aground, and was stuck for six days, blocking all travel in the Suez Canal. Over the six days, 368 were queuing in the Suez Canal, and prevented an estimated $9.6 billion worth of trade. The Ever Given was freed on March 29, 2021.
- Sandy Hook, Columbine: Refers to the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Columbine High School that occured on December 12, 2012 and April 20, 1999, respectively. 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, while 13 were killed at Columbine High School.
- Sandra Bland: Refers to Sandra Bland, an African-American woman who was arrested during a traffic stop in Texas on July 10, 2013. 3 days after her arrest, she was found dead in her cell, after hanging herself. After her death, there were protests that her death wasn't actually a suicide, and rather due to racial violence against her.
- Tamir Rice: Refers to Tamir Rice, a 12-year old African-American boy who was shot and killed by police officer Timothy Loehmann. A caller reported Rice was carrying around a pistol and waving it at people. When Loehmann and his partner Frank Garmback arrived at the scene, the officers ordered Rice to show his hands, but as Loehmann states, it appeared as if Rice was drawing the weapon, and he fired at Rice, hitting him in the chest. It was later revealed that Rice was playing with an airsoft gun, that lacked the orange tip that helps identifying a gun as being a toy. Rice died the following day.
- ISIS: Refers to the terrorist organization ISIS.
- LeBron James: Refers to American professional basketball player LeBron James, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
- Shinzo Abe blown away: Refers to the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Abe was giving a speech in Nara City, Japan, when he was shot from behind by Tetsuya Yamagami with a improvised firearm. Yamagami was quickly apprehended and arrested. Abe was flown to Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara, where he was later pronounced dead.
- Meghan Markle: Refers to the Duchess of Sussex and wife to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle. Her marriage to Prince Harry broke many traditions of the British Royal family and led to a lot of controversy.
- George Floyd: Refers to George Floyd, an African-American man who was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020. Floyd was arrested after a store clerk suspected Floyd of shopping with a counterfeit twenty-dollar note. After Chauvin arrived on the scene, he kneeled down on Floyd's neck, which left Floyd unable to breath for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, the final two minutes, Floyd was motionless and had no pulse, but Chauvin kept kneeling on Floyd. Floyd's murder sparked the #BlackLivesMatter protests.
- Burj Khalifa: Refers to the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is famous for being the worlds tallest building, standing at 2,722 feet.
- Metroid: Refers to the video game series Metroid, published by Nintendo.
- Fermi paradox: Refers to the question why we haven't discovered alien life yet, despite it being very likely that there is alien life out there.
- Venus and Serena: Refers to American tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. Both Venus and Serena are considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, though Serena has retired from the sport.
- Michael Jordan, 23: Refers to American former basketball player Michael Jordan, who was a part of the Chicago Bulls team. He is often considered one of the greatest basketball players in the world. One of his most memorable games, known as the Flu Game, is also the name of the title of the ninth track on Fall Out Boy's eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust.
- YouTube killed MTV: Refers to the television channel MTV and American video sharing website YouTube. MTV launched in 1981 and primarily focused on airing music videos. YouTube launched in 2005 and became the primary place to find music videos. After YouTube launched, MTV switched their focus to reality television shows.
- Spongebob: Refers to Spongebob Squarepants, the protagonist of the television series of the same name, one of the most popular television series of all time.
- Golden State Killer got caught: Refers to the Golden State Killer, a person who commited 13 murders, 51 rapes and 120 home burglaries across California. In 2018, he was caught and identified as Joseph DeAngelo and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- Michael Jordan, 45: Once again refers to Michael Jordan. In March 1995, Jordan quit baseball because he feared he might become a replacement player during the MLB strike. On March 18th, 1995, Jordan announced he would be returning to basketball with two words "I'm back." The next day, he joined the Bulls to face the Indianapolis Pacers in Indianapolis and scored 19 points. For the game, Jordan wore his baseball number, 42, rather than his basketball number, 23.
- Woodstock '99: Refers to the failed event Woodstock 1999, which attempted to be an emulation of the Woodstock 1969 event. The event was notorious for overpriced food and water, bad environmental conditions, sexual assault and rapes charges, violence and vandalism.
- Keaton Batman: Refers to American actor Michael Keaton, who plays Bruce Wayne / Batman in Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992) and The Flash (2023). Keaton had reprised the role in Batgirl, before the film was cancelled.
- Bush v Gore: Refers to a supreme court case between American politicians George W. Bush and Al Gore regarding how to count election votes in Florida. Bush wound up winning the case, leading him to become the 43rd President of the United States.
- Elon Musk: Refers to the Founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, Owner of Twitter and founder of The Boring Company and X Corp, Elon Musk. Musk is currently the wealthiest person in the world.
- Kaepernick: Refers to American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick. In 2016, Kaepernick kneeled down while the United States national anthem played. He later stated he "couldn't stand to show pride in the flag of a country that oppressed black people".
- Texas failed electric grid: Refers to the Great Texas Freeze caused Texans to be without power for 2 weeks during a record-breaking snowstorm. This resulted in the worst infrastructure failure in the history of Texas, and resulted in hundreds of deaths in Texas.
- Jeff Bezos: Refers to American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor and commercial astronaut Jeff Bezos. Bezos is currently the CEO of online shopping website Amazon, and is currently the third richest person in the world.
- Climate change: Refers to the change in the Earth's global temperature and weather patterns.
- White rhino goes extinct: Refers to the White rhinoceros species that went extinct on March 19, 2018, when Sudan the rhino died.
- Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Refers to a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean.
- Tom DeLonge and aliens: Refers to American singer and guitarist Tom DeLonge, who is the lead singer and guitarist of rock band blink-182. He left the band to study and pursue information about aliens after he was informed of the existence of aliens by a US military official.
- Mars rover: Refers to the multiple rovers that have been built by NASA and sent to Mars to search the planet.
- Avatar: Most likely refers to the film series Avatar by American filmmaker James Cameron.
- Self-driving electric cars: Refers to self-driving electric cars, a type of car, popularized by Tesla that are able to drive themselves and rather than needing to fill them up with gas, you can simply plug them into an outlet and charge them.
- SSRIs: Refers to Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, an antidepressant medication prescribed for psychiatric disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
- Prince and The Queen die: Refers to the deaths of American musician Prince and Queen Elizabeth II, who died on April 21, 2016 and September 8, 2022, respectively.
- World Trade, second plane: Refers to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001 (9/11). The second plane crashed into the south tower and caused it to collapse an hour later.
References[]
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