Musical Interlude: We Didn't Start The Fire (1989)

Billy Joel's "Storm Front" CD was released at the end of 1989, and as 1990 began, the first single, "We Didn't Start The Fire", was exploding into heavy airplay on MTV. A lifetime of history lessons spun into musical verse, "Fire" was Joel's---and Columbia's, for that matter---answer to R. E. M.'s "It's The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine), released a couple of years earlier, and while Michael Stipe attempted to rap, Joel simply mixed together pop culture, political headlines, and other newsmakers spanning over 30 years into 4 1/2 minutes. Scope!

Edit, 4/4/24: Had to change the video. This copy from Vevo has the opening sound effects edited out.