Editing We Didn't Start the Fire (section)

{{Short description|1989 single by Billy Joel}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = We Didn't Start the Fire
| cover         = WeDidntStarttheFire.jpg
| alt           = The cover of Billy Joel in a black-and-white photograph posted in a newspaper with its name, The New York Times largely cut out, situated beside the last lines of the lyrics and underneath the header, showing the enlarged name of the artist, and the song title as its sub-header.
| type          = single
| artist        = [[Billy Joel]]
| album         = [[Storm Front (album)|Storm Front]]
| B-side        = House of Blue Light
| released      = {{start date|1989|9|18}}
| recorded      = 
| studio        = 
| genre         = [[Pop rock]]<ref name="Best2004">{{cite book|author=Curwen Best|title=Culture @ the Cutting Edge: Tracking Caribbean Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyyqqOQjhnUC&pg=PA138|year=2004|publisher=University of the West Indies Press|isbn=978-976-640-124-5|page=138}}</ref>
| length        =
* 4:49 (album version)
* 4:29 (single version)
| label         = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer        = Billy Joel
| producer      =
* [[Mick Jones (Foreigner guitarist)|Mick Jones]]
* Billy Joel
| prev_title    = [[Baby Grand]]
| prev_year     = 1987
| next_title    = [[Leningrad (song)|Leningrad]]
| next_year     = 1989
| misc          = {{External music video|{{YouTube|eFTLKWw542g|"We Didn't Start the Fire"}}}}
}}
{{listen |filename=WeDidntStartTheFire.ogg |title="We Didn't Start the Fire" (1989) |description="We Didn't Start the Fire" lists historical events in stream of consciousness. |format=[[Ogg]]}}
"'''We Didn't Start the Fire'''" is a song written by American musician [[Billy Joel]]. The song was released as a single on September 18, 1989, and later released as part of Joel's album ''[[Storm Front (album)|Storm Front]]'' on October 17, 1989. A [[list song]], its fast-paced lyrics include [[List of references in We Didn't Start the Fire|a series of brief references]] to 119<ref>{{cite web |last=Matthias |first=Meg |title=All 119 References in "We Didn't Start the Fire," Explained |url=https://www.britannica.com/list/all-119-references-in-we-didnt-start-the-fire-explained |website=Britannica}}</ref> significant political, cultural, scientific, and sporting events between 1949 (the year of Joel's birth) and 1989, in mainly chronological order.

The song was nominated for the [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year]] and, in late 1989, became Joel's third single to reach number one in the United States [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. ''Storm Front'' became Joel's third album to reach number one in the US. "We Didn't Start the Fire", particularly in the 21st century, has become the basis of many pop culture [[Parody|parodies]], and continues to be repurposed in various television shows, advertisements, and comedic productions. Despite its early success, Joel later noted his dislike of the song musically, and it was critically panned as one of his worst by later generations of music critics.