"We Didn't Start the Fire": How Well Do You Know The Events in Billy Joel's 1989 classic?
Written by Tom Cohen
Last updated · 7 min play time
Billy Joel's 1989 hit "We Didn't Start the Fire" is a 4 1/2-minute history lesson with over 100 historical events, celebrity names, and other gems packed into the classic song. In this quiz, we'll test your knowledge of 20 of them to see if you're as much of a history buff as Billy.
Billy Joel is an American treasure, with more than 33 Top 40 hits over his long career. One of the most memorable of his songs is 1989's "We Didn't Start the Fire," which hit #1 in the U.S. late that year. One of the most remarkable things about the song is that Joel crams over 100 historical occurrences into the single. Apparently, Joel got the idea for the song right after his 40th birthday when he was in the recording studio with 21-year-old Sean Lennon who said "It's a terrible time to be 21!" That sparked something in Joel (no pun intended), and he wrote the song.
Starting with "Harry Truman, Doris Day" and ending with "rock n' roller cola wars," the song is fast-paced, rapid-fire trip down memory lane. Let's see how well you do on this quiz all about this iconic song.
Quiz written by
Tom Cohen
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