History, both American and European, were required classes in my high school back in the early 80s. It was a private school, don’t know about public schools at the time.
Agreed, I listened to this when those things were near relevant and very well known as major news in society at large.. he did very well knowing the names and the history (I am 61 years old)
Saeed, that’s the best reaction to this song I think I have seen, mainly because of your general knowledge and ability to understand the significance of so many of the events. And your knowledge is from learning in different formats, you aren’t old enough to have lived through many of them, if any, 1988 was the last one mentioned, excellent work again!
@@Gimpygladiator Yeah the sequel was by Fall Out Boy in 2023, with lyrics updated to include events from 1989 to 2023 but it was a bit all over the place and not in date order like Billy's original version.
When I was a sophomore in high school (1990), my history teacher asked us to pick one of the topics discussed in this song and write a paper about it. I chose the JFK Assassination. It's a ride through history from 1950 to 1989. We didn't start the fire means the conflict has always been there. Long before us and it will be here long after us. The years will pass and things will change but, that fire will always burn. That same teacher played a lot of Billy Joel music in class. One of the best teachers I ever had. Billy's music was everywhere in the 80's and was unofficially the soundtrack of my youth. Great reaction.
This song was about everything that happened from the year he was born til the age of 40. He wrote it cuz someone told him that nothing major happened in the "old days" . There is a college that has a whole class dedicated to this song. The students have to break down and write about each event and person. Totally awesome song.
Both of my daughters studied the lyrics of this song in high school social studies. "Space monkey" actually refers to early space flights before they sent men up. Fall Out Boy did an updated cover
When I was in high school, my history teacher was getting ready to retire, and he decided to spend the last month or two having the class listen to this song repeatedly while learning about each person/event. Still love this song. Great reaction.
Billy Joel is so amazing; so many great songs! Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), New York State of Mind, You May Be Right, And So It Goes, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, Only the Good Die Young, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, River of Dreams, Piano Man... what a catalog! I was lucky enough to see Billy Joel on tour with Stevie Nicks last year - such a fantastic show! He's coming around this year with Sting and I cannot wait!
A song that not only gives the fastest history lesson ever, but adresses the tendency of the newest generation to always blame the generation before for troubles when it's a never ending wheel, from the beginning of time that keeps the "fire" burning. And the generation after them will blame them as well. "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" You're very thoughtful about the lyrics and the musical composition. There's another song with very deep lyrics from a little known band (Not known well in the current time anyway) . The "Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics. A song everyone should hear once in their lives.
This song came out on my 40th birthday. My dad was almost 70. He didn't think much of modern music, but he and I spent a fascinating afternoon listening to the song and working out the lyrics. (No Google back then.) He had a lifetime of reading at least two newspapers every day, and taught high-school classes like Civics, Economics, and Problems of Democracy. He gave me a whole master class in history that day, thanks to Billy Joel's rhyming skills. Great memory. Thanks, Saeed! I wondered if you would comment on "Belgians in the Congo." (I was able to fill Dad in on a few things, like Stranger in a Strange Land. He didn't grok that one.)
I've heard of history teachers using this song to pique their students' curiosity about the recent past. This may not be his best song but it's catchy and if it inspires people to think, It's not a failure, IMO.
I agree! The thing I notice is the background - an entire wall of books! His background isn't filled with star wars, marvel, harry potter or hello kitty figurines (LOL). His intelligence is further evidenced by his verbalization of coherent thoughts and reasonable insights. I love his reactions!
I have a son about your age. When he was 12-ish, maybe 13 he had been hearing this song and asked me about thalidomide babies. So, we went to my computer so I could look it up for him. I knew what it referenced, but knew he'd want to see and discuss. My mother had been offered thalidomide in her last pregnancy but thankfully turned it down. I had been offered anti-nausea drugs when I was pregnant but also turned them down because I had heard of the issues with thalidomide, even though the doctor assured me the drugs were safe now.
I didn't know what it was until I heard this song. I just liked the song at first and the more I heard people talking about things mentioned in it, the more I started reading and that's how I learned of this and luckily I had avoided this drug.
Funny fact for you. There's a connection between 2 films you mentioned, Planet of the Apes + The Bridge on the River Kwai were based on books by the same author ( French name escapes me). So unlike each other, except human survival instinct. This song was Billy's response to a 20 something aged fan telling Billy that not much had happened during his lifetime. The song follows history, chronologically, from his birth year, 1948 to present, 1991. I saw BJ in 1973 in Pittsburgh, 5th row free tickets for 4 college students. Had only heard "Worse comes to Worse" on radio and we're blown away by his performance. Been a fan since. Worth a deep dive. One the the top singer/songwriter/performer of my life.
What a great surprise awaited you when you accepted the free ticket to see Billy Joel! It reminds me of the time my best friend , who was in grad school, got free tickets to see a new comedy opening weekend. I’d never heard of it but we went and got to see “My Cousin Vinny “ in a packed theater, where the whole audience laughed through the whole movie. What an unexpected experience. I’m glad you went to see Billy Joel.
Wow! I’m so impressed you knew what all the references were. As an Australian, it was literally like an American history lesson to me. Great reaction! Happy New Year! ❤️🇦🇺
They're in chronological order too. When I saw him live in May, this was the song that ended the three or four hour concert. He played lead guitar on it, instead of piano or keyboard. In 2022, Fallout Boy did a new version of this song, with events from 89 (when this song came out) till 2022, although it isn't in chronological order. He's talked about passing it on as a sort of cultural thing for others to continue over the decades, which to me, is super interesting.
I've been a Billy Joel fan since this song came out, and this is the first time that anyone has pointed out that "Ben Hur" and "space monkey" both have a Charlton Heston connection, haha! Even though space monkey refers to the actual monkeys launched into space, and Planet of the Apes wasn't released until about a decade later (it would be further down the lyric timeline). Also like someone else commented, your grasp of world and US history is better than many Americans'.
The chorus is the point, his response to a 20-something (Julian Lennon in some stories) complaining about the world Billy Joel's generation has given the 20-something's generation to set right. "We didn't start the fire. We didn't light it though we tried to fight it. ... and it goes on and on." The history lesson is every generation inherits a world with both good and bad left by previous generations for the next generation to navigate and remember -- celebrate the good and do better about the fires left to put out.
Great reaction & love your appreciation for Mr Billy Joel. ❤ So funny how you know more about my country than I do! All your TV/Movie watching paid off! Billy is from Long Island. I am also….. I remember the hypodermic needles being found on the beaches. Catcher in the Rye is one of my top 3 books. I highly recommend this classic. There is a new version of this song out. I heard it at the grocery store a few weeks ago. I am not sure who the artist is that sings it. It is very similar but the events/people sung about are more recent.
🛡️🛡️🛡️ good one Saeed. Tough to keep up with this song. You didn't mention how the video kept changing as the eras rolled along. The home , the art , the fashion , the haircuts all kept changing in duet with the lyrics. Billy Joel is quite a history buff. 🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼
The video is another part of the puzzle - part of it is a representation of "I Love Lucy" which was a popular television comedy on TV during many of the years of the events listed in the composition of the song....
Yes, this. If you turn the volume down and just watch the video, you can get a lot of cultural and historical clues that fit in the song without being mentioned. I had to see the video a few times before I picked up that aspect of the presentation. I watched a black reactor to this song and he was pretty torn up by that photo behind Billy Joel of a black man chained to a tree. I think that’s what got me to pay more attention to the video clues. American history was one of my favorite subjects in high school, but I don’t know all of the references in the song, even the American ones, let alone world history mentions. I had no idea about the atrocities committed by the Belgians in the Congo before this song. I guess they couldn’t teach everything, there’s just too much.
@@sylvanaire I saw an interview with Billy Joel years ago saying he doesn't like television except for sports and the History Channel. He has to love History. I do too.
I remember first seeing and hearing this video here in the uk on top of the pops all those years ago, we always recorded on video and must have played this back about 50 times over a few days. I knew every word within a week, me and another lad used to sing it in school flawlessly
Billy had just turned 40 in 1989 when he wrote, recorded and released this song and that is a milestone age. He had been talking to John Lennon's son Sean and a friend of his and the friend said that it was an exciting time for them to be early teenagers, what with the Cold War coming to an end and the Berlin Wall came down not long after that. Billy said that he understood how they felt as he was young too when things were going on and the friend said nothing much happened in the 50s. So Billy started listing off a few key people and events and then later as more of a mental exercise, he listed several other key people and events from his year of birth in 1949 to 1989 when he turned 40. He usually writes music first and then lyrics but did it in reverse this time and so is not fond of the melody to the verses and the chorus was set to the tune of an old country song he had previous written but never recorded. The "we didn't start the fire" line was a retort to younger generations blaming previous ones for the troubles in the world, considering every generation blames the one before. Ironically, Sean Lennon and his friend will be in their 40s now and approaching 50 even.
The juxtaposition of all of these events and the oblivious family in the video living their lives without a clue their house is burning down along with the world around them is priceless.
Love your reactions. Enjoying watching you go down the Billy Joel rabbit hole. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant is his masterpiece, but for you specifically, I recommend The Stranger and Ballad of Billy the Kid.
The song mentions Thalidomide babies. I was born in 1964 and there were kids with deformed limbs in school from their pregnant mothers taking Thalidomide. Luckily it was pulled from the market in the early 60's.
In a high school class our teacher made us write our own verse to this song to name events and people since we had been born. One of my favorite assignments in school.
Saeed, as usual your reaction is more informed and clever than any I’ve heard! That said, I’ve read that Billy decided to write the song after being witness to a conversation in which someone refused to include the ‘50’s because “nothing happened in the ‘50’s.”
Hey Saeed, This is a history lesson I would have had an easy time learning if he was my history teacher! I loved the look on your face when he said Belgians in the Congo, wasn't it nice to be included in the song!
Hey Deb! A lot of history in one song and definitely an important one to include if we want to learn from it and not repeat our mistakes. Have a great day!
I hope our Americans, once they listen to this song would be interested in each person, event entertainment, sports figures and learning about our past history.
He's going decade by decade through the events of his lifetime up to that point - 1949 to 1989. My brother was in the Congo in the USAF in 1960 when the revolution started there, and all the US personnel had to be airlifted out.
I was in middle school when this song came out. As an assignment, my social studies teacher had us pick out ONE reference in this song and write a report on it as a history lesson. Sadly, she didn't accept my first paper on "The Great Cola Wars of the 80's" and told me to choose a more serious topic *sigh*...
Love the depth u put into your reactions! A little fun story about this song. When my sisters 2nd husband passed, her youngest daughter made up a list of three Billy Joel songs for his funeral. This was one of them............. he was cremated. It took a while before my sister realised why I was laughing when she told me. Then she had a bit of a laugh. I reckon he was having a joke from above.
Pop / Alt group Fall Out Boy did a sequel in 2023, with the same title. Evidently Billy Joel said "Go for it, but I'm warning you it's really hard to sing live". I don't think the lyrics are up to the original, but of course Billy Joel is a genius at getting lyrics to scan in a satisfying way.
Boomer Anthology. I would know. First heard Joel (literally) on a live, local radio broadcast from a Memphis club. Looked up his LP the next day. Piano Man and Captain Jack were FM hits at the time, gaining traction. The earliest opportunity to see him live came at a 2400 seat venue. Half the place was empty. Joel stepped out on stage, covering his sensitive eye condition from the spotlights, saw so many empty seats, told us there, “It’s quality, not quantity”. Won us over from the start and played a fantastic , rockin’ show. Less than a year later he was selling out stadiums to 10,000 or more after his break out hit, Just the Way You Are.
My family went to Normandy in September. One of my cousins didn’t know what D-day was. Our education system often fails students but sometimes students don’t listen.
One of Billy Joel's best IMHO. Right up there with "Uptown Girl" an "The Longest Time". He crammed so many cultural references into this song! I remember the child victims of Thalidomide - I'm not sure that recent generations would know the reference though.
@@llanitedave Not trying to be a dick here but it was actually a friend of Sean Lennon's, although Sean was there too at the time. And the friend has said nothing of note happened in the 50s when Billy was growing up.
There has been a lot of statues, named buildings, etc. being removed here in the US as well. History may not be pretty, it definitely looks different in the rear view mirror, but it is crucial to recognize and teach it. We can't just erase the past
There’s a novel called The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, about a family of missionaries who go to the Congo in 1959. Written mostly by four daughters, you get different points of view. She’s an engaging fiction writer. Thalidomide was a drug given to pregnant women.Their babies were born without hands or feet, just flipper like appendages.
Kinda fun seeing others have their take on this and what went down in the years that he sings about. To add so much in a small amount of time is something.
For the record, Catcher in the Rye is a must read. It's very profound and brilliant!! As for this song, it s all historical people and events in history from Billy Joel's birth year until the year this song came out. "Space monkey' refers to the fact that chimps were sent into outer space. History was made when, I believe it was two of them, survived the trip. Each reference was listed in a booklet for schools to use to teach back in the day. Now, it's all online. Billy Joel is a history buff, and I believe he once said he almost became a history teacher. lol
Definitely will read it. It has been on my reading list for so long. Those poor monkeys. I once read about this and about dogs too, but totally forgot about it. This song definitely inspired me to do some extra reading. Thanks so much for watching and sharing some extra info. Love to learn!
@@karinanderson9722 There is a version done by Fall Out Boy that picks up from the year Billy’s version ends thru 2023. They intentionally left Covid to the next generation to update. Billy endorsed the cover.
@@907Bluedot I am not sure that he endorsed it per se and just said that people have been asking him to do an updated version what with so much have happened since 1989, but he said he had said his piece and if anyone else wanted to take it up then it was OK with him and Fall Out Boy were welcomed to it.
He wrote this song because he and a few other people younger than him was standing around talking and the younger people started blaming his generation for all the problems the world was having so he decided to write this song showing it was happening when he was born this song expands from 1949 until 1994. Fun fact the Fall Out Boys loved the song and asked Billy Joel if they could do a version of the song and it covers their time
Yeah, this isn't Joel's usual approach to lyric-writing, but wow, what a project... how do you condense your life into a series of world-shaking events, in a list, in order, and make it sound good? Gives me a headache just thinking about it. Did you ever read Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock"? That's what him flipping the table at the end brings to my mind... future shock.
Man I was addicted to this song when it came out, quite different from mist of Billys songs.... There were a lot of haters when this came out for some reason that I never understood. But, time has proven that it was a great song regardless... Great reaction as usual!! 🎉🎉
Congrats, you are one of the reactors that knew more references, and is important to point out that he said all this happened, but the war is going since the begin of time, there is always war, is nothing new
My favourite line is...children of thalidomide. Most people don't remember these truly evil moments when horrible mistakes were made and victims suffered with shocking deformities. Meaning amongst the catchiness.
It is fun listening to a young person try and navigate this song! when it came out is was current and all those things were current or recent news which makes me feel very very old..
It definitely must be jarring to see someone take this as history, cause when it came it this news was top of mind and current. Time is a strange concept. Thanks for watching and Happy New Year!
Of note, the issue about the statues is not whether these historical figures should be remembered. The issue is whether they should be in books, history classes and museums or be in statues and names of parks and buildings. It's not whether they should be remembered but whether they should be honored and glorified.
"Billy Joel, a self-described “history nut” who wanted to be a history teacher when he was younger, got the idea for the song as he was talking with someone on the verge of turning 21, who opined that the world was an unfixable mess. Joel replied to him, “I thought the same things when I was 21”. The person replied, “Yeah, but you grew up in the 50’s and everybody knows that nothing happened in the 50’s”. Joel retorted, “Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of Korea, the Hungarian freedom fighters or the Suez Crisis?”
What impresses me the most about this song is, not only did he rhyme all of these names and events, but he did it in chronological order.
You're doing better on the American history than a whole lot of Americans.
Truth!
Not accurate. He is doing _insanely_ better on American history than a whole lot of Americans, including me
So true! Great reaction!
Sad but very very true! MAGA has made having knowledge to be uncool. Ha! That’s what all fascist movements do. Besides destroying public education.
History, both American and European, were required classes in my high school back in the early 80s. It was a private school, don’t know about public schools at the time.
What a pleasure to listen to a well informed, well read, young person react to this song and grasp the historical significance of it. Cheers!
I concur
Exactly, it's wonderful hear his spot on reactions.
Agreed, I listened to this when those things were near relevant and very well known as major news in society at large.. he did very well knowing the names and the history (I am 61 years old)
Saeed, that’s the best reaction to this song I think I have seen, mainly because of your general knowledge and ability to understand the significance of so many of the events. And your knowledge is from learning in different formats, you aren’t old enough to have lived through many of them, if any, 1988 was the last one mentioned, excellent work again!
This a history lesson between 1949-1989.
Modern American History teachers use this song as a majority of their curriculum.
It starts when Joel was born, and every decade since. The sequel (a year or 3 ago?) is NOT as good, but still impressive.
@@Gimpygladiator Yeah the sequel was by Fall Out Boy in 2023, with lyrics updated to include events from 1989 to 2023 but it was a bit all over the place and not in date order like Billy's original version.
When I was a sophomore in high school (1990), my history teacher asked us to pick one of the topics discussed in this song and write a paper about it. I chose the JFK Assassination. It's a ride through history from 1950 to 1989. We didn't start the fire means the conflict has always been there. Long before us and it will be here long after us. The years will pass and things will change but, that fire will always burn. That same teacher played a lot of Billy Joel music in class. One of the best teachers I ever had. Billy's music was everywhere in the 80's and was unofficially the soundtrack of my youth. Great reaction.
The look on your face when Joel sang "Belgians in the Congo" was priceless.
came to the comments just to see this, lol
I will have to dive into that, I’m half Belgian.
The timestamp is just after 5:30 if anyone wants to jump to it.
This song was about everything that happened from the year he was born til the age of 40. He wrote it cuz someone told him that nothing major happened in the "old days" . There is a college that has a whole class dedicated to this song. The students have to break down and write about each event and person. Totally awesome song.
What I love about your reactions is that you 1) are well read and not an idiot, 2) you do your homework. Saeed, keep up the amazing work.
Yes he is awesome compared to most younger people today.. he knows his stuff props to him!
His reaction is great. Some of the reactions from younger to middle age Americans that I have seen leave a lot to be desired.
started from his birth year until when the song came out.
Was just going to post that.
Both of my daughters studied the lyrics of this song in high school social studies.
"Space monkey" actually refers to early space flights before they sent men up.
Fall Out Boy did an updated cover
When I was in high school, my history teacher was getting ready to retire, and he decided to spend the last month or two having the class listen to this song repeatedly while learning about each person/event.
Still love this song. Great reaction.
The genius and musical scope of Billy Joel on display.
Thanks for sharing.
All in the setting of a kitchen because in his time (and mine), you discussed these items at the kitchen table. Brilliant !!
Billy Joel is so amazing; so many great songs! Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), New York State of Mind, You May Be Right, And So It Goes, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, Only the Good Die Young, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, River of Dreams, Piano Man... what a catalog! I was lucky enough to see Billy Joel on tour with Stevie Nicks last year - such a fantastic show! He's coming around this year with Sting and I cannot wait!
A song that not only gives the fastest history lesson ever, but adresses the tendency of the newest generation to always blame the generation before for troubles when it's a never ending wheel, from the beginning of time that keeps the "fire" burning. And the generation after them will blame them as well.
"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"
You're very thoughtful about the lyrics and the musical composition. There's another song with very deep lyrics from a little known band (Not known well in the current time anyway) . The "Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics. A song everyone should hear once in their lives.
This song came out on my 40th birthday. My dad was almost 70. He didn't think much of modern music, but he and I spent a fascinating afternoon listening to the song and working out the lyrics. (No Google back then.) He had a lifetime of reading at least two newspapers every day, and taught high-school classes like Civics, Economics, and Problems of Democracy. He gave me a whole master class in history that day, thanks to Billy Joel's rhyming skills. Great memory. Thanks, Saeed! I wondered if you would comment on "Belgians in the Congo." (I was able to fill Dad in on a few things, like Stranger in a Strange Land. He didn't grok that one.)
I grok that reference! ; )
I've heard of history teachers using this song to pique their students' curiosity about the recent past. This may not be his best song but it's catchy and if it inspires people to think, It's not a failure, IMO.
You are my favorite reactor, so thoughtful , thorough and intelligent, thank you.
I agree!!
I agree! The thing I notice is the background - an entire wall of books! His background isn't filled with star wars, marvel, harry potter or hello kitty figurines (LOL).
His intelligence is further evidenced by his verbalization of coherent thoughts and reasonable insights. I love his reactions!
@ great observation! I love his reactions too
The best reaction to this song I have seen. I'm a fan of Billy Joel, and am also a fan of you. Thank you!
This is history in chronological order.
I have a son about your age. When he was 12-ish, maybe 13 he had been hearing this song and asked me about thalidomide babies. So, we went to my computer so I could look it up for him. I knew what it referenced, but knew he'd want to see and discuss. My mother had been offered thalidomide in her last pregnancy but thankfully turned it down. I had been offered anti-nausea drugs when I was pregnant but also turned them down because I had heard of the issues with thalidomide, even though the doctor assured me the drugs were safe now.
I didn't know what it was until I heard this song. I just liked the song at first and the more I heard people talking about things mentioned in it, the more I started reading and that's how I learned of this and luckily I had avoided this drug.
Funny fact for you. There's a connection between 2 films you mentioned, Planet of the Apes + The Bridge on the River Kwai were based on books by the same author ( French name escapes me). So unlike each other, except human survival instinct.
This song was Billy's response to a 20 something aged fan telling Billy that not much had happened during his lifetime. The song follows history, chronologically, from his birth year, 1948 to present, 1991. I saw BJ in 1973 in Pittsburgh, 5th row free tickets for 4 college students. Had only heard "Worse comes to Worse" on radio and we're blown away by his performance. Been a fan since. Worth a deep dive.
One the the top singer/songwriter/performer of my life.
@RichardSchaefer-zx9ig It was a conversation with John Lennon’s son Sean, and Sean’s 20 year old friend. Which would still make them fans😎
What a great surprise awaited you when you accepted the free ticket to see Billy Joel! It reminds me of the time my best friend , who was in grad school, got free tickets to see a new comedy opening weekend. I’d never heard of it but we went and got to see “My Cousin Vinny “ in a packed theater, where the whole audience laughed through the whole movie. What an unexpected experience. I’m glad you went to see Billy Joel.
@@terri2494yeah saw him the following year @ Quinnipiac back home in CT. Streetlife Serenade tour. Another stellar show.
Wow! I’m so impressed you knew what all the references were. As an Australian, it was literally like an American history lesson to me. Great reaction! Happy New Year! ❤️🇦🇺
Education and knowledge is supper cool at any age, he is definitely one informed young man
They're in chronological order too.
When I saw him live in May, this was the song that ended the three or four hour concert. He played lead guitar on it, instead of piano or keyboard.
In 2022, Fallout Boy did a new version of this song, with events from 89 (when this song came out) till 2022, although it isn't in chronological order. He's talked about passing it on as a sort of cultural thing for others to continue over the decades, which to me, is super interesting.
😯😯😯😯
Really? Wow! That makes it even more impressive!
@@SaeedReacts. Yep, I agree.
I edited my comment with more info.
@@SaeedReacts.Yes, it's in chronological order and starts in 1949, the year Billy Joel was born.
Dude, you are becoming one of my favorite channels. I love your insight and writers perspective. Keep up the great vids!
Compliments my friend. I watch a lot of reaction videos as an old, retired guy. Your analysis of this song is absolutely the best, top notch.
This song was written and released in 1989 on his Storm Front album… It is 40 years of rapid fire history, starting in 1949, the year Billy was born.
I've been a Billy Joel fan since this song came out, and this is the first time that anyone has pointed out that "Ben Hur" and "space monkey" both have a Charlton Heston connection, haha! Even though space monkey refers to the actual monkeys launched into space, and Planet of the Apes wasn't released until about a decade later (it would be further down the lyric timeline). Also like someone else commented, your grasp of world and US history is better than many Americans'.
The chorus is the point, his response to a 20-something (Julian Lennon in some stories) complaining about the world Billy Joel's generation has given the 20-something's generation to set right. "We didn't start the fire. We didn't light it though we tried to fight it. ... and it goes on and on." The history lesson is every generation inherits a world with both good and bad left by previous generations for the next generation to navigate and remember -- celebrate the good and do better about the fires left to put out.
It was a conversation with a teenaged Sean Lennon, and his 20 year old friend.
@@leannmiller7153 Thanks for this clarification. I thought it was a Lennon but got the wrong one.
@@shirleydurr411 Thank you both for this information. I never knew that.
Billy is still with us. He could release a new song bringing us up to date.
When I was homeschooling my oldest, who is now 24, I had him look up and write about every event mentioned in this song one semester
Great reaction & love your appreciation for Mr Billy Joel. ❤
So funny how you know more about my country than I do! All your TV/Movie watching paid off!
Billy is from Long Island. I am also….. I remember the hypodermic needles being found on the beaches.
Catcher in the Rye is one of my top 3 books. I highly recommend this classic.
There is a new version of this song out. I heard it at the grocery store a few weeks ago. I am not sure who the artist is that sings it.
It is very similar but the events/people sung about are more recent.
🛡️🛡️🛡️ good one Saeed. Tough to keep up with this song. You didn't mention how the video kept changing as the eras rolled along. The home , the art , the fashion , the haircuts all kept changing in duet with the lyrics. Billy Joel is quite a history buff. 🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼
The video is another part of the puzzle - part of it is a representation of "I Love Lucy" which was a popular television comedy on TV during many of the years of the events listed in the composition of the song....
Yes, this. If you turn the volume down and just watch the video, you can get a lot of cultural and historical clues that fit in the song without being mentioned. I had to see the video a few times before I picked up that aspect of the presentation. I watched a black reactor to this song and he was pretty torn up by that photo behind Billy Joel of a black man chained to a tree. I think that’s what got me to pay more attention to the video clues. American history was one of my favorite subjects in high school, but I don’t know all of the references in the song, even the American ones, let alone world history mentions. I had no idea about the atrocities committed by the Belgians in the Congo before this song. I guess they couldn’t teach everything, there’s just too much.
@@sylvanaire I saw an interview with Billy Joel years ago saying he doesn't like television except for sports and the History Channel. He has to love History. I do too.
This was history to him. As far as his timeline ran, it started out at the beginning of his life.
And followed his timeline.
..and now "It's the end of the world as we know it (And I Feel Fine)" from REM!
Yes!
This one sure gets you thinking, doesn't it. Thanks, my friend. ❤😊
I remember first seeing and hearing this video here in the uk on top of the pops all those years ago, we always recorded on video and must have played this back about 50 times over a few days. I knew every word within a week, me and another lad used to sing it in school flawlessly
I bought all his albums and love every song - Billy is a genious!!!
this was a huge song on the radio when it was out
His first hit back in the 70's Captain Jack about a heroin dealer on Long Island will always be my favorite. It really caught the time then.
Billy had just turned 40 in 1989 when he wrote, recorded and released this song and that is a milestone age.
He had been talking to John Lennon's son Sean and a friend of his and the friend said that it was an exciting time for them to be early teenagers, what with the Cold War coming to an end and the Berlin Wall came down not long after that. Billy said that he understood how they felt as he was young too when things were going on and the friend said nothing much happened in the 50s. So Billy started listing off a few key people and events and then later as more of a mental exercise, he listed several other key people and events from his year of birth in 1949 to 1989 when he turned 40.
He usually writes music first and then lyrics but did it in reverse this time and so is not fond of the melody to the verses and the chorus was set to the tune of an old country song he had previous written but never recorded. The "we didn't start the fire" line was a retort to younger generations blaming previous ones for the troubles in the world, considering every generation blames the one before.
Ironically, Sean Lennon and his friend will be in their 40s now and approaching 50 even.
I believe the song came about when he spoke to a 21 year old who thought the world nowadays was a mess and said it was ok for him in the 50,s and 60,s
Yes, it was a conversation with John Lennon’s son Sean, and his 20 year old friend. Sean was still a teenager.
and da manner in his voice rises in urgency is awesome
Great reaction! Brings me back!
The juxtaposition of all of these events and the oblivious family in the video living their lives without a clue their house is burning down along with the world around them is priceless.
Love your reactions. Enjoying watching you go down the Billy Joel rabbit hole. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant is his masterpiece, but for you specifically, I recommend The Stranger and Ballad of Billy the Kid.
The song mentions Thalidomide babies. I was born in 1964 and there were kids with deformed limbs in school from their pregnant mothers taking Thalidomide. Luckily it was pulled from the market in the early 60's.
Great reaction!
I loved this when it came out and hearing all the historical references. It’s even better now.
In a high school class our teacher made us write our own verse to this song to name events and people since we had been born. One of my favorite assignments in school.
Billy Joel's journal where he wrote the lists of the events for every year to write the song was displayed in Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Saeed, as usual your reaction is more informed and clever than any I’ve heard! That said, I’ve read that Billy decided to write the song after being witness to a conversation in which someone refused to include the ‘50’s because “nothing happened in the ‘50’s.”
Great song. We didn’t start it, we’ve tried to fight it. You’ll really have to go back and read the lyrics on this one. 😊. Several centuries…..😊❤
I have read about a few of the people/events mentioned since recording this. He definitely made me want to learn more. Centuries indeed!
Hey Saeed, This is a history lesson I would have had an easy time learning if he was my history teacher! I loved the look on your face when he said Belgians in the Congo, wasn't it nice to be included in the song!
Hey Deb!
A lot of history in one song and definitely an important one to include if we want to learn from it and not repeat our mistakes.
Have a great day!
@@SaeedReacts. You are so right Saeed! I absolutely loved your reaction to this one! I hope your New Year is all you want and need it to be!
Deb
Thank you for the heart, I appreciate it very much! I appreciate the time it takes to leave them for me!
Love this song
Thank you very much for the reaction. I've asked before. I'm glad you get to it. Kiss. Ana
I hope our Americans, once they listen to this song would be interested in each person, event entertainment, sports figures and learning about our past history.
He's going decade by decade through the events of his lifetime up to that point - 1949 to 1989. My brother was in the Congo in the USAF in 1960 when the revolution started there, and all the US personnel had to be airlifted out.
I know most of the references both because I was alive for most of it and I also read a lot of history.
Ditto
Brilliant job again! Well done. You have a very well-rounded education. Love listening to your reactions.
I was in middle school when this song came out. As an assignment, my social studies teacher had us pick out ONE reference in this song and write a report on it as a history lesson. Sadly, she didn't accept my first paper on "The Great Cola Wars of the 80's" and told me to choose a more serious topic *sigh*...
Love the depth u put into your reactions!
A little fun story about this song. When my sisters 2nd husband passed, her youngest daughter made up a list of three Billy Joel songs for his funeral. This was one of them............. he was cremated. It took a while before my sister realised why I was laughing when she told me. Then she had a bit of a laugh. I reckon he was having a joke from above.
Pop / Alt group Fall Out Boy did a sequel in 2023, with the same title. Evidently Billy Joel said "Go for it, but I'm warning you it's really hard to sing live". I don't think the lyrics are up to the original, but of course Billy Joel is a genius at getting lyrics to scan in a satisfying way.
Boomer Anthology. I would know.
First heard Joel (literally) on a live, local radio broadcast from a Memphis club. Looked up his LP the next day. Piano Man and Captain Jack were FM hits at the time, gaining traction. The earliest opportunity to see him live came at a 2400 seat venue. Half the place was empty. Joel stepped out on stage, covering his sensitive eye condition from the spotlights, saw so many empty seats, told us there, “It’s quality, not quantity”. Won us over from the start and played a fantastic , rockin’ show.
Less than a year later he was selling out stadiums to 10,000 or more after his break out hit, Just the Way You Are.
My family went to Normandy in September. One of my cousins didn’t know what D-day was. Our education system often fails students but sometimes students don’t listen.
Some don't even know who the vice President is at any given time. lol...
One of Billy Joel's best IMHO. Right up there with "Uptown Girl" an "The Longest Time". He crammed so many cultural references into this song! I remember the child victims of Thalidomide - I'm not sure that recent generations would know the reference though.
And this ends your History lesson/review for today.😉 Thanks for reacting to to Billy Joel and this great song.
These are different events that have occurred throughout his life beginning with the year he was born
Story goes that some kid told him the events of the day were the most important in history, Billy wrote this to prove him wrong.
That "some kid," as the story goes, was Julian Lennon.
@@llanitedave Not trying to be a dick here but it was actually a friend of Sean Lennon's, although Sean was there too at the time.
And the friend has said nothing of note happened in the 50s when Billy was growing up.
Another great song by an awesome singer!!❤❤
You did a great job picking up on and understanding a lot of US history.
He said he didn't finish high school, but he is so smart. Actually speaks English better than most Americans. I love his reactions.
There has been a lot of statues, named buildings, etc. being removed here in the US as well. History may not be pretty, it definitely looks different in the rear view mirror, but it is crucial to recognize and teach it. We can't just erase the past
I think his reference to space monkey was actually a nod to the first monkey to be sent into space.
"H-Bomb, not so much fun" made me spit out my wine
I look forward to your reactions, sir. Always including lyrical reactions as well as musical. Excellent!
There’s a novel called The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, about a family of missionaries who go to the Congo in 1959. Written mostly by four daughters, you get different points of view. She’s an engaging fiction writer.
Thalidomide was a drug given to pregnant women.Their babies were born without hands or feet, just flipper like appendages.
He's summing up American history! ❤😊
World history.
Kinda fun seeing others have their take on this and what went down in the years that he sings about.
To add so much in a small amount of time is something.
He's right. We didn't start the fire.
all time classic!
People, places, events in the evolution until the time of his writing the song...
For the record, Catcher in the Rye is a must read. It's very profound and brilliant!! As for this song, it s all historical people and events in history from Billy Joel's birth year until the year this song came out. "Space monkey' refers to the fact that chimps were sent into outer space. History was made when, I believe it was two of them, survived the trip. Each reference was listed in a booklet for schools to use to teach back in the day. Now, it's all online. Billy Joel is a history buff, and I believe he once said he almost became a history teacher. lol
Definitely will read it. It has been on my reading list for so long.
Those poor monkeys. I once read about this and about dogs too, but totally forgot about it.
This song definitely inspired me to do some extra reading.
Thanks so much for watching and sharing some extra info. Love to learn!
A brilliant song! 🔥❤️
I’m not sure how a Part 2 would work but anyone could do it Billy Joel could. 😀
@@karinanderson9722 There is a version done by Fall Out Boy that picks up from the year Billy’s version ends thru 2023. They intentionally left Covid to the next generation to update. Billy endorsed the cover.
@@907Bluedot I am not sure that he endorsed it per se and just said that people have been asking him to do an updated version what with so much have happened since 1989, but he said he had said his piece and if anyone else wanted to take it up then it was OK with him and Fall Out Boy were welcomed to it.
@ He said “Great take it away”
Its still burning
Someone made a video of this song that shows a photo for every thing he says. A picture is worth a thousand words, so its even more detailed.
There are a few but I saw one where they put up an image of the band U2 rather than the spy plane.
"world" history in a song what more could we want.
He wrote this song because he and a few other people younger than him was standing around talking and the younger people started blaming his generation for all the problems the world was having so he decided to write this song showing it was happening when he was born this song expands from 1949 until 1994. Fun fact the Fall Out Boys loved the song and asked Billy Joel if they could do a version of the song and it covers their time
"Elvis Joins The Army" I have actual prints of a photo shoot of Elvis in the army.
Wow! I loved Elvis.
Yeah, this isn't Joel's usual approach to lyric-writing, but wow, what a project... how do you condense your life into a series of world-shaking events, in a list, in order, and make it sound good? Gives me a headache just thinking about it. Did you ever read Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock"? That's what him flipping the table at the end brings to my mind... future shock.
Man I was addicted to this song when it came out, quite different from mist of Billys songs.... There were a lot of haters when this came out for some reason that I never understood. But, time has proven that it was a great song regardless...
Great reaction as usual!! 🎉🎉
Congrats, you are one of the reactors that knew more references, and is important to point out that he said all this happened, but the war is going since the begin of time, there is always war, is nothing new
My favourite line is...children of thalidomide. Most people don't remember these truly evil moments when horrible mistakes were made and victims suffered with shocking deformities. Meaning amongst the catchiness.
It is fun listening to a young person try and navigate this song! when it came out is was current and all those things were current or recent news which makes me feel very very old..
It definitely must be jarring to see someone take this as history, cause when it came it this news was top of mind and current. Time is a strange concept.
Thanks for watching and Happy New Year!
Of note, the issue about the statues is not whether these historical figures should be remembered. The issue is whether they should be in books, history classes and museums or be in statues and names of parks and buildings. It's not whether they should be remembered but whether they should be honored and glorified.
"Billy Joel, a self-described “history nut” who wanted to be a history teacher when he was younger, got the idea for the song as he was talking with someone on the verge of turning 21, who opined that the world was an unfixable mess. Joel replied to him, “I thought the same things when I was 21”. The person replied, “Yeah, but you grew up in the 50’s and everybody knows that nothing happened in the 50’s”. Joel retorted, “Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of Korea, the Hungarian freedom fighters or the Suez Crisis?”
Yea! U get it 😊
What a fun reaction!