The 1989 number one song that “wrote itself” for Billy Joel
When at its best, songwriting needs to come from a natural place. Often, the purity of art rests in the spontaneity of its construction. Otherwise, fans will be able to sniff out its inauthenticity.
This notion especially rings true regarding the arena of political songwriting, which can never be inspired from anywhere apart from the heart, as Billy Joel did with ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’.
The essence of the anthem, released in 1989, remains incredibly relevant today despite the list of events not applicable to the younger generation. ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ wasn’t a song that Joel had to dig deep into the darkest facets of his mind to produce. Instead, it rolled out effortlessly and unexpectedly became a career-defining creation.
The classic track was born from a conversation that Joel enjoyed at his studio with his friend Sean Ono Lennon. Joel is almost two decades older than his peer, who was complaining about how the singer-songwriter’s generation had a much easier ride than him and why it was such a troubling time to be a 21-year-old.
In response to Lennon’s comments, Joel felt inspired to explain the reasons why his generation faced difficulties too, and decided the best vehicle to make his point was through song, leading to the birth of ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’.
Rather than presenting a detailed political argument, Joel chose to let the relentless succession of historical references speak for itself. The song’s power comes from its accumulation of events, inviting listeners to recognise that every generation inherits a world shaped by crises, conflict and cultural upheaval.
The task of writing the lyrics was reasonably simple for Joel because he’d lived through everything he mentioned, with each moment profoundly affecting him. Furthermore, as Joel decided to pen the song chronologically, the process was even more straightforward.
That chronological structure also gave the song its distinctive momentum. Moving decade by decade through post-war American history, Joel created a lyrical time capsule that rewards repeat listens, with each reference acting as a marker of the social, political and cultural climate of its era.
Reflecting on writing ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ in the liner notes of Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel, the singer-songwriter confessed: “I started with Harry Truman because in 1949, the year I was born, Harry Truman was president. From there, it kind of wrote itself.”
Elaborating on the message he wanted to convey in the track, Joel told biographer Fred Schruers: “What does the song really mean? Is it an apologia for the baby boomers? No, it’s not. It’s just a song that says the world’s a mess. It’s always been a mess, it’s always going to be a mess.”
Despite the song’s lasting appeal and the lyrics’ importance, Joel regrets its musical composition. When speaking to documentary maker David Horn in 1993, he remarked: “A song like ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’, it’s really not much of a song.” Joel then demonstrated part of the track before adding, “It’s a terrible piece of music.”
Although Joel has mixed feelings towards ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, it’s a song that will remain intrinsically linked with him for the rest of his career. While it was an easy track to make from a technical standpoint, it all flowed from a genius idea that he delivered to create a whistle-stop tour of contemporary American history, which spoke for a generation.
Joel’s criticism of the song’s musical simplicity has done little to diminish its legacy. While he may regard it as one of his less sophisticated compositions, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ has endured because of its central idea rather than its chord progression, continuing to spark conversations about history, generational responsibility and the cyclical nature of world events decades after its release.
