# "We Didn't Start the Fire" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692 "2010-11-23T19:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/21 "2010-11-24T02:34:36Z")
I prefer R.E.M.'s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” for my stream of consciousness pop culture and historical references. Downeaster Alexas is awesome however and after that I had to listen to Goodnight Saigon and Suicide is Painless. Now **moi** has me on suicide watch.) ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/22 "2010-11-24T03:17:06Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Though in [the song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlDSzbrH5M) Downeaster is the name of his boat as well. I’m not sure what you mean by this. “Alexa” is the only part of the title that’s in quotes, and in the video you linked to, that’s the only name printed on the side of the boat. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/23 "2010-11-24T03:20:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The song is a laundry list of people and events; there is little connection other than a roughly chronological one. Each couplet is its own year, until the last, which is just the 1980s. The “1960” couplet is “U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, “Psycho”, Belgians in the Congo” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/24 "2010-11-24T03:28:19Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > I’m not sure what you mean by this. “Alexa” is the only part of the title that’s in quotes, and in the video you linked to, that’s the only name printed on the side of the boat. Ah, my bad. I thought the boat’s name was DOWNEASTER ALEXA. That said I’m not really sure where the downeaster part comes from as “downwind Alexa” doesn’t really make sense. There is a company that builds boats with that name but they build sports vehicles (yachts, sailboats, catamarans, etc.). Other definitions of downeaster in addition to the Maritime term and the coast of Maine: 1.a full-rigged ship built in New England in the late 19th century, usually of wood and relatively fast. 2.a native or inhabitant of Maine. 3.a native or inhabitant of New England. 4.Canadian . a native or resident of the Maritime Provinces. None of these really work to modify Alexa. ETA: Okey dokey, [it’s a kind of boat](http://oya.com/downeast.php), usually just called a ‘Downeast’ or ‘lobster boat’. Personally I still like it best as the name of the boat and elect to keep it as such; Alexa’s too “naked” as a boat name. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/25 "2010-11-24T03:51:17Z")
Well for what it’s worth, according to [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downeaster_Alexa), “Joel does in fact own a downeaster lobster/swordfish hybrid boat by the name _Alexa_, built on a Maine lobster boat hull, which should not be confused with the pleasure craft built by the Downeaster company.” P.S. Mmmm… naked Alexa… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/26 "2010-11-24T04:34:03Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > That being said, we listened to Arlo Guthrie’s _Alice’s Restaurant_ during American history junior year, and I imagine that makes someone else out there feel old. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/27 "2010-11-24T04:56:58Z")
> [@](#): > > P.S. Mmmm… naked Alexa… OK, that’s just cruel. I just Googled her, and she’s stunning, but there do not appear to be any naked pictures of her (or at least, Google doesn’t know about them if there are). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/28 "2010-11-24T05:05:03Z")
And she can’t be 56, she’s younger than I am. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/29 "2010-11-24T05:49:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, that’s just cruel. I just Googled her, and she’s stunning, but there do not appear to be any naked pictures of her (or at least, Google doesn’t know about them if there are). Ha, yeah, sorry… the only naked pictures of her that I know of are the ones in our imaginations… 🙂 P.S. I think **Sampiro** was saying Christie Brinkley was 56, not Alexa, **foolsguinea**. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/30 "2010-11-24T08:07:00Z")
Try your hand at some of the references in this one: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGaRtqrlGy8) For most of it, you just had to 've been there! ---
**Author:** ![Evelyn\_K.Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Evelyn\_K.Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evelyn_K.Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/31 "2010-11-30T19:49:26Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > we listened to it in 7th grade for american history and it was awesome. See, I have to do a project on this song right now. We were split into groups and assigned a certain section of the song to do a presentation on to “teach” the class about that certain time period. This is why I asked about those specific lyrics because it’s part of my assigned section. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/32 "2010-11-30T20:07:35Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Each couplet is its own year, until the last, which is just the 1980s. The “1960” couplet is “U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, “Psycho”, Belgians in the Congo” Why is Chubby Checker part of “The Fire”? He seems a very random person to blame in an angry song about frustration with the world’s ills… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/33 "2010-11-30T20:20:18Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Why is Chubby Checker part of “The Fire”? He seems a very random person to blame in an angry song about frustration with the world’s ills… Not all the events/persons were a negative, just significant at the time in some way. Rock Around the Clock Joe DiMaggio Doris Day vaccine(polio) Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland Just to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/34 "2010-11-30T20:27:20Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Why is Chubby Checker part of “The Fire”? He seems a very random person to blame in an angry song about frustration with the world’s ills… I don’t think the song is meant as an indictment of the world’s ills; just an homage to significant people, places and things (Nouns!) I’ve always taken the title to mean the present generation didn’t event strife or success for that matter. That war, beauty, corruption, creativity etc. have always been around. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/35 "2010-11-30T20:38:42Z")
Also seems weird that Joel starts skipping years at the end of the song, especially during the 60’s. Joel would have been 16-21 in the late 60’s, so you would think that would’ve had the most profound influence on him, even if he wasn’t a “hippie” or an active part of the counterculture scene. He methodically goes year by year in the early part of the song when he would be too young to directly remember a lot of those things, then glosses over most of the 60s and 70s. I get that the song is meant to excuse a lot of those “60’s” things (Hey, we didn’t start this crazy stuff), but really the early parts just list pop culture items from each year without comment on whether they were good or bad or how they led to “starting the fire”. So if he’s just reflecting on significant world events in his life to that point, you’d think later events would be mentioned more. And that’s more than I 'd ever pondered about that song until now. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/36 "2010-11-30T22:10:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, that’s just cruel. I just Googled her, and she’s stunning, but there do not appear to be any naked pictures of her (or at least, Google doesn’t know about them if there are). It’s funny that the facial features that make Billy so… odd-looking actually make Alexa, who really resembles him much more than Christy, quite beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/37 "2010-12-01T18:19:49Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > This is one of my wife’s favorite songs. and **Stranger** is right - it is incredibly evocative and beautiful. In fact, I’d say it’s the best modern song of the sea, save for _The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald_. You need to check out Stan Rogers’ The Mary-Ellen Carter, The Jenny C., and The Blue Nose. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/38 "2010-12-01T19:28:40Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t think the song is meant as an indictment of the world’s ills; just an homage to significant people, places and things (Nouns!) I’ve always taken the title to mean the present generation didn’t event strife or success for that matter. That war, beauty, corruption, creativity etc. have always been around. Thanks, that makes sense, I was going on my hazy memory of the song and the music video. Googling the lyrics, it really seems to be just a random list song with a tenuously related chorus. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692/39 "2010-12-01T20:49:28Z")
> [@Evelyn\_K.Stone](#): > > In the song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel… > > “dylan”–do they mean Bob Dylan??? He’s so unhip that when you say ‘Dylan,’ he thinks you’re talking about Dylan Thomas (whoever he was). The man ain’t got no culture! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-didnt-start-the-fire/561692.md?page=1)