"We didn't start the fire..."

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hush
Senior Member

since 2001-05-27

Posts 1653
Ohio, USA

0 posted 2002-12-27 03:27 AM

"We didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it..."

Curious about peoples' takes on this song?

Christopher

Moderator

Member Rara Avis

since 1999-08-02

Posts 8296
Purgatorial Incarceration

1 posted 2002-12-27 07:14 AM

I think it took an incredible amount of talent not only to write, but to sing as well.

But then, I'm rather partial to the man.

hush
Senior Member

since 2001-05-27

Posts 1653
Ohio, USA

2 posted 2002-12-27 11:19 AM

Okay, what I'm really interested in is this- what does the song mean?

My boyfriend and I discussed this at length on day, with no consensus.

He said it was just Joel doing a rundown of things that have happenned in his lifetime.

The thing about that is, there's a negative tone cast onto it- the quote I pasted above, plus it also seems like he ends each verse with something negative-

"trouble in the sewage"

"JFK blown away, what else do I have to say?"

"Rock & Roll & Cola wars, I can't take it anymore!"

But, he also goes namedropping- Elvis, Kerouac, Hemingway... unless he means the death of these people? I'm having trouble orienting everything in its order, I'm not all that jazzed up on contemporary American history (my bad, should have hit that class up in high school...) but my boyfriend tells me all the events are chronologically arranged, and that seems about right...

It just doesn't seem that everything he cites in the song is negative... I mean, c'mon, John Glenn? I don't know the song ver batim (yet) so I guess I might be taking things out of context...

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

3 posted 2002-12-27 12:44 PM

http://www.wuerzburg.de/gym-fkg/schule/fachber/englisch/joel/songtext.html

Hush, this link might shed a little light. Hope you enjoy...

Sun

hush
Senior Member

since 2001-05-27

Posts 1653
Ohio, USA

4 posted 2002-12-28 02:08 PM

Neat. Thanks Sunshine.

Jaime

Registered

Member
Posts 250

5 posted 2003-01-06 10:25 PM

I saw an interview of sorts with him once that was about the song and he said the was having a conversation with someone and they said that things were much harder now than before. So Joel started thinking about it and thought that it wasn't really true because such and such events happened before during his time and so on.. so "we didn't start the fire, it was always burning since the world's been turning".

I don't know if that makes any sense. I just vaguely remember it.. hope that helps.

And she said, I thought I'd never see me again.

sweetwater
Member

since 2002-12-16

Posts 178
Perth

6 posted 2003-01-07 09:54 AM

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~yel/Fire.html

brian madden
Member Elite

since 2000-05-06

Posts 4374
ireland

7 posted 2003-01-07 02:25 PM

Personbally I always looked at the song as a photo snap of the 20th century, it is amazing how far we have progressed since the industrial revolution, at the turn of the century we had rail transport and automoblies, by the 60's we had people in space. I think the song is about how we are driven as a race to progess to evolve but how it can have a negative impact....
How our evolution and destruction go hand in hand.

To quote a lyric from another song
"DENY YOUR CULTURE OF CONSUMPTION. THIS IS THE CULTURE OF DESTRUCTION"

watched from the wings as the scenes were replayed we saw ourselves now as we never have seen" ian curtis

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