Credit: Myrna Suarez

Billy Joel gives his blessing to Fall Out Boy’s version of ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’

Mon 10 July 2023 13:30, UK

Billy Joel has commented on Fall Out Boy’s recently released updated version of ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ and given his blessing to the pop-punk band.

“I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events – some that disappeared into the sands of time –others that changed the world forever,” the band explained on Twitter ahead of releasing their cover, which features updated lyrics reflecting major cultural events from the last 40 years.

Fall Out Boy added: “So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years – we felt like a little system update might be fun. Hope you like our take on it.”

Now, during an interview on BBC Radio 2 following his headline performance at BST Hyde Park in London. He was asked by host Zoe Ball about his thoughts on Fall Out Boy’s take on his classic track, which Joel said means he doesn’t need to record a sequel to the original.

The singer-songwriter commented: “Fall Out Boy yeah, I heard about this… Everybody’s been wanting to know when there’s going to be an updated version because my song started in ‘49 and ended in ‘89 – it was a 40 year span. And everybody’s been saying ‘Are you going to do part 2? Are you going to do part 2?’ and I said ‘Nah I’ve already done part 1’ so Fall Out Boy, go ahead, great, take it away!”

Due to the heavy lyrical content in the song, Joel said he sometimes forgets the words: “Well sometimes I’m watching people sing along, hoping they’ll guide me because you get one word wrong and it’s a train wreck, which happened to me. I was in Toronto and I forgot the words, and then I just stopped the song. ‘STOP THE MUSIC’ and the crowd made this noise like ‘aagghh’ so it’s like walking on a tightrope with that thing.”

Listen to Fall Out Boy’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ below.