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We Didn't Start the Fire (Fall Out Boy song)

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"We Didn't Start the Fire"
Black text on a white background, in all caps. The text reads: "A Fall Out Boy cover of the Billy Joel song “We Didn’t Start The Fire” covering newsworthy items from 1989 - 2023".
Single by Fall Out Boy
ReleasedJune 28, 2023 (2023-06-28)
Length3:35
LabelFueled by Ramen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Neal Avron
Fall Out Boy singles chronology
"Hold Me Like a Grudge"
(2023) 		"We Didn't Start the Fire"
(2023)

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a 2023 single by American rock band Fall Out Boy. It is a cover of Billy Joel's 1989 song "We Didn't Start the Fire", updating the song's cultural references to span the years since the original was released. Critics reacted negatively to the song, panning the tone and content of its updated lyrics.

Composition

"We Didn't Start the Fire", like Billy Joel's original version released in 1989, is a catalog of major events in world history through a certain time period. Joel's original mainly centers around the events during and surrounding the Cold War, and Fall Out Boy's version continues where Joel's ends, covering the events from 1989 to 2023. Fall Out Boy's version includes references to Brexit;[1] the Boston Marathon bombing; Bush v. Gore;[2] and Myspace, which Stereogum notes was connected to the band's rise to fame.[3]

In a deviation from the original, Fall Out Boy's updated lyrics abandon chronological ordering, at one point referencing Rodney King next to deepfakes.[2][4] Wentz talked about that choice in an interview with Zane Lowe:

Listen, we did our best. It’s very, very, very difficult. His is not totally in chronological order, but it’s more in chronological order than ours. We just wanted the JFK blown away line, and clearly, I think that the World Trade one was a little more… that was probably… People probably felt a similar way. You remember where you were or whatever. So it’s just a little bit out of order, but it is what it is. Listen, we wanted the Internet to still have something to complain about.[5]

The COVID-19 pandemic is notably absent from the song;[1][6] Wentz cites the event's ubiquity and the need for rhyme space for Bush v. Gore in explaining why it was not included.[5]

Critical response

"We Didn't Start the Fire" was met with a mocking and negative reaction from critics. Chris DeVille with Stereogum wrote "Well, this is happening.";[3] the staff of Slate wrote "Move over, Gal Gadot's 'Imagine'!";[7] and Alexandra del Rosario with the Los Angeles Times wrote "sugar, it isn’t goin' down well with some fans".[6] James Rettig with Stereogum described the song as "abominable"[5] and Owen S. Good with Polygon described it as "tasteless", the latter with the respect to the song's rhyming of "George Floyd" with "Metroid" (in addition of the first Metroid being released in 1986, outside of period concerned in this song).[2] Reviewers also criticized the song's omission of several notable events and people; Lyndsey Parker with Yahoo! Entertainment noted the lack of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Hillary and Bill Clinton;[8] the staff of Slate brought up the film Titanic and O. J. Simpson as missing elements.[7] Morgan Hines with USA Today and del Rosario described reaction on social media as mixed and controversial.[1][6]

Events mentioned

Like the original, many events were mentioned. Unlike the original, which largely listed events in chronological order, the cover intermixes events from across the time period. They are listed here in the order presented in the song, noting the year, with the original lyric appearing in bold. There are 78 events referenced in total.

Charts

Chart performance for "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[9] 8
UK Singles (OCC)[10] 52

References

  1. ^ a b c Hines, Morgan (June 29, 2023). "Fall Out Boy covers Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' and people have mixed feelings". USA Today. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Good, Owen S. (June 28, 2023). "Somehow, Fall Out Boy made an all-time bad song even worse". Polygon. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  3. ^ a b DeVille, Chris (June 28, 2023). "Fall Out Boy update "We Didn't Start The Fire" with events from the past 30+ years". Stereogum. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  4. ^ Minsker, Evan (June 30, 2023). "Fall Out Boy update Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' with lyrics about news from 1989 to 2023". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Rettig, James (June 28, 2023). "Pete Wentz explains why Fall Out Boy's updated 'We Didn't Start The Fire' isn't chronological and doesn't mention COVID". Stereogum. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c del Rosario, Alexandra (June 29, 2023). "Fall Out Boy updated Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire'. Fans say it's 'unhinged'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "The 33 things wrong with Fall Out Boy's updated 'We Didn't Start the Fire'". Slate. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  8. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (June 28, 2023). "Fall Out Boy references 9/11, Cobain, 'Tom DeLonge and aliens,' Fyre Fest in updated 'We Didn't Start the Fire'". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  9. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
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