First Time Reaction - Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire (Official HD Video)

[@amandagladden6703]

He starts the song in 1949, the year he was born, through the time he wrote the song. It's a history lesson.

[@jdbroders64]

And brilliant.

[@nivoset]

there is a copy showing what each line is referencing too and omg it makes me appreciate it so much more

[@cobaltfog]

It's close to a summary of current events too, unfortunately.

[@Cookingwithfire99]

Not a crystal ball but it shows how much history repeats itself

[@dalehammers4425]

It actually wasnt really meant as a history lesson though, it was aimed at those blaming his generation for the problems of the world. He's pointing out that the world was already pretty fukd up when he was born, so its kinda hard to blame them.

[@pennydreadfull]

Dude, he didn't make predictions he's just spouting history. Just shows how history repeats itself when we don't learn the lessons.

[@sammic7492]

In the 1970's there was a spate of plane hijackings and Russia was in Afghanistan long before America and their allies.

[@delpoi]

The Mujahideen fought alongside the USA and UK plus other various nations to overcome the Russians think that was the prelude to the cold war they were the soviets then crazy how things change no lessons ever learned 🤔

[@olanaowen7320]

The hijacking idea was possibly born from an episode of The Twilight Zone.

[@marquisdelafayette1929]

Not only that Russians were in Afghanistan, so was the CIA, who funded and trained Osama Bin Laden and the hardcore religious side because they thought better to get rid of the secular politicians (who *might* possibly be aligned with communism). Look how that turned out. Same thing with Central and South America. Overthrowing legitimately elected governments because they may not be as friendly to American businesses basically raping them. Then the DEA goes in and destroys the livelihoods of village farmers by dropping banned pesticides because an informant said that they MIGHT be growing drugs. Spoiler: 99% of the time it’s BS but the informants get millions and protection from the DEA for their “cooperation”. But yay democracy!!

[@PrisonKilljoy]

My uncle's plane (Northwest Airlines) was one of those that were hijacked at that time.

[@Winged1212]

Think it was 1977 under Carter that Iran hijacked a plane abd held about 400 hostages for months.

[@Rosiepooh75]

Everything he talks about in this song is history. The fact that so much sounds prophetic and still relevant just shows how we as humans repeat history and further strengthens his premise: we didn't start the fire... It was Always burning since the world was turning. We never learn and we repeat. Our technology progresses, but we still start wars and each generation still blames the generation before it, and belittles and criticizes the generations that come after it... ❤

[@WeChallenge]

It's the true circle of life. We come into it kicking and screaming seeking to make our mark on the world, we put our stamp on society give our input good, bad, or indifferent, then we step aside, wither away and die, so those future generations have a stage and the same opportunity to screw up their world just like the generations before them have managed doing.

[@KevynJacobs]

Santayana's death in 1952 is mentioned in the lyrics of the song. It's clear Billy Joel remembers Santayna's gift of wisdom to humanity: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Billy Joel is making sure we remember the past with this song.

[@katarinad1309]

@Rosiepooh75 well said. our inability to learn history so we can prevent repeating the mistakes is so sad. Everyone thinks the world has been horrible in their time and the future has it easier because of technology but the same fundamental issues persist. We must evolve as a species. Humans may be the pinnacle of evolution but we can also be as dumb as rocks.

[@RaptorNX01]

its not just about repeating history, but also how, if you don't do what's needed to truly resolve a conflict, it never ends. "russians in Afghanistan" is the most pure example of this. cliff mentions it as being prophetic, but it was actually because thats what started it. Russians invade Afghanistan, the US "helps", but then abandons the afghan people, which leads to them getting slaughtered and taken over, which leads to the rise of bin laden and the taliban, which leads to the 1993 WTC bombings meant to bring down the towers, which, since that fails, leads to 9/11, which then leads to the US invading Afghanistan.

[@susantownsend8397]

It’s not prophecy, it was history. I was born a year later than Billy Joel. Nothing has really changed all that much, the technology has just gotten more advanced.

[@WeChallenge]

My ex wife had an elective class on pop culture about the time this song blew up. She spoke of an instructor of the class played each bit of history mentioned in the song and assigned each topic to a student so each wrote a paper on each event mentionned by Billy Joel, and the next class each student shared in order what they had written on their assigned segment of "the fire" Billy Joel spoke of In song. Doing so caused all the students to learn about things theyd never studied before where wveryone walked away a bit smarter than before the class started. I just t hought it was so cool to use this song as a teaching tool, and honestly it should still be used as one for younger genertions who should know and learn about the worlds issues and how what they are seeing and a part of now is nothing new and has been ongoing for as long as mankind has been walking the earth and will probably conttinue burning long after each and every one of us are long gone and forgotten. Thanks for reacting to this Cliff, I'm going on 60 years old and this brings back a lot of old memories, from as far back as i can remember all the way up to 1989 when the song dropped. Peace Man. Stay safe.

[@andreadeamon6419]

Going on 57. I agree

[@stevedavis5704]

One of my sons was in high school in the middle 20 teens. His eleventh grade history teacher let the kids write a paper on ten things she assigned from the song or take the mid year test. Each kid would have different topics so you couldn’t just copy from a friend. You could pick whichever you wanted but you couldn’t change your mind if you didn’t like what you picked.

[@misabissett2000]

Also did this In a high school, interdisciplinary course circa 1996.

[@dalehammers4425]

I had a history teacher do this as well. Some absolutely crazy stuff is mentioned in this song that most people have never even heard of.

[@RobinT-treehugger]

These are HEADLINES from his life time.

[@kristalandrews1550]

Billy Joel is one of the best lyricists of all time. He once worked as a piano player in a lounge. He met his wife there while she waitressing and a whole slew of regulars. He wrote 'Piano Man' about those people. You will not be sorry.

[@JeffreyBos75]

Totally agree on Billy Joel's lyrics. I've been a Metalhead since my teens and hitting 49 years old this July but Billy comes from another planet when it comes to lyrics The guy is a genius, my favorite song of Billy also comes from the album Storm Front, The Downeaster "Alexa"...

[@sopdox]

The song came about when John Lennon’s son,Sean, and his buddy were complaining to Billy about how tough their generation had it. Billy had just turned 40 and decided on a song that listed all the things that occurred in his 40 years that were not his own generation’s fault. Billy Joel has since then said he doesn’t really like this song, that it was poorly constructed. He’d rather not perform it but audiences demand it. Can you imagine? I have always loved this song. There are schools that teach US modern history based on his lyrics. Have you ever heard Children of Thalidomide? I’m 57 and didn’t know about it until this song.

[@janetbaker645]

The children of thalidomide happened in the 60’s drs. didn’t know at the time the morning sickness pill was damaging to the baby

[@leannmiller7153]

@@janetbaker645it was first licensed for use in the UK in 1958, and discontinued in 1962. It was never approved in the US, but a lot came in during clinical trials, or purchased in Europe. Only 17 children in the US were born with the deformities caused by Thalidomide. Sadly a some of countries continued using it into the ‘70’s.

[@wendyryder2708]

Yes I’ve heard of Thalidomide! I’m in my mid sixties and a boy at my high school was affected by it!

[@dalehammers4425]

And the funny thing is that history shows us that the 80's, historically speaking, was one of the most peaceful times in history, and they actually had it quite good. I'd give anything to go back to those times.

[@scottNNJ]

I’m 50, and didn’t know about thalidomide until my dad explained it to me - because of this song.

[@ruthrussell1329]

9/11/2001 was not the first time a plane was highjacked. The one mentioned here was a plane taken to Entebbe, in Uganda. A holdout ended in a Military Strike. But there were many more even before this. Plus, Afghanistan was invaded by Russia, well the USSR at that time, also in the 80s. The point was, us Baby Boomers didn't start this fire either. As said, "the world's been burning since the world's been turning".

[@jasonlengyel1104]

He's not making predictions. History repeates itself when we don't learn the first time.

[@mariaeisenhardt2296]

He wrote this song in reply to young people complaining about how hard things are in the 80s. So he started with events from the 40s to the 80s. The fire was burning since the start of time and going to continue to burn until the end of times. All the events happening now are nothing new. It’s important to learn where we’ve been to see where we are going.

[@dalehammers4425]

The difference back then though is they actually fought against the fire, its fed today.

[@RaptorNX01]

@@dalehammers4425it was fed then, too. and people are fighting the stuff happening today. the internet has just given the feeders a means to make fake accounts making it look like more people support the BS they feed then actually do.

[@teenystudioflicks1635]

I always appreciated that he mentions the thalidomide babies 'children of thalidomide'. Everyone wiped them from memory. I used to babysit one who looked like a fish. He only had flippers for arms and legs and no ears. The birth defects were caused by a prescription drug given to pregnant women to reduce stress during their pregnancy. They pulled the drug but no one was really accountable and the message of drugs on expecting mothers not given its seriousness until much later.

[@carokat1111]

The closest I've ever seen to that was seeing children deformed by Agent Orange in Vietnam. It was really confronting. I'm Australian, so I don't know if the US ever apologised or gave reparations or assistance to the Vietnamese families impacted by their defoliants.

[@jcofortco]

Yep we talked about it in Nursing School pharmacology class. Not as a current drug. More about Big Pharma, how what seems good at the time isn't guaranteed to be safe . It takes time to discover problems. And it was 10000% swept under the rug and not handled currectly. 😔 I was a Pharmacy Tech when pregnant & was instructed to not even handle certain bottles... because certain meds were sooo toxic to forming babies even dust on the hand should be considered Dangerous.

[@tracyperez2341]

The drug, Thalidomide, wasn't given to women to combat the stress of pregnancy. It was prescribed to women for severe nausea during pregnancy. Thalidomide was actually what was left over from the processing of gin. The company, Gordon's Gin, knew about the side effects and said nothing. All they saw was money. The children, now adults (if they lived), were born affected by the drug, are still waiting for money after the gin company was sued on their behalf.

[@barbarapugh5662]

It's still an ongoing issue because the differences between male and female physiology is still poorly understood and including women in health studies wasn't done until comparatively recently. There's also massive ethics issues in how you trial medical interventions for women when they are pregnant.

[@lyonprairie2691]

I thought I read that Thalidomide was a cure for nausea for pregnant women? Not sure about this

[@ejf8350]

Basically, every generation had and will have its challenges. No generation "had it easy".

[@marquisdelafayette1929]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 The 80s? Seriously? Their motto is “fuck you I gots mine” as they pulled the ladder up behind them.

[@juliawolna9646]

? @@marquisdelafayette1929

[@juliawolna9646]

What do you mean to say?

[@RaptorNX01]

@@marquisdelafayette1929you are talking about boomers, not the 80's gen x crowd. the boomers are the "fuck you, i got mines" generation.

[@fishpierce7851]

The message of the song is that “historical events” don’t happen in a vacuum. Everything emerges from what came before. “We didn’t start the fire; it was always burning since the world’s been turning”.

[@becca1189]

I still have this song as a single on cassette. Side Two has Billy Joel talking about it: people saying [to him] "I didn't know U2 was around back then." -- it wasn't. He had to tell them that he's talking about the plane, not the band. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜

[@hodgekim]

History for each decade since he was born

[@oddrules]

Born in 62. Was there when this song came out...I'm still here. You're right, I could not have imagined what has happened since then.

[@IMMoreThanUSee]

Me too!

[@cindydegraaff5083]

The teachers use this song in my kids history class. Billy Joel wrote this in response to Sean Lennon saying that nothing was happening in history now and that the 80’s were tough. So Billy Joel started with just headline news from when he was born in 1943 highlighting big events in history up through the 80’s. Fall Out Boy updated it a few years ago.

[@freyjabeth4372]

Every single song that Billy Joel sings tells a great story and awesome singing and music!

[@xxKaTxx]

"Longest Time" by Billy Joel was on repeat in my childhood. I was obsessed 😍

[@Melanie-AlwaysJustMe]

Cliff you got to one of my fave songs I had as a young one! Because when I was in Jr High, our teacher had us break this song down and we were in groups of 3. Had to use the library to research what the lyrics was talking about and do a huge paper on it. We used newspapers, encyclopedias, old books, microfilm......it literally was my favorite thing we ever did in school. Kids today would have zero idea what I'm talking about 😂

[@Elisabet7519]

This and Land of Confusion by Genesis, history lessons in song. Enjoying your reactions to an eclectic mix of music

[@scottNNJ]

There was more history in the Land of Confusion video than the song. The lyrics alone are too generic to really explain what was going on. But it (the original Genesis version) is a fantastic song and video. Disturbed did a good cover, but the video doesn’t do anything for me.

[@celinelia8127]

7:54 - he pulled the fire out of the friggin' fridge. The fire was always inside of them. It was never only outside of their house, around, while the families live their safe happy little lives. The fire directly affects them. it is in their house, their sould, their home, their body, their fkin' fridge.....

[@debrawalkermeyer9109]

I was born in 1962. I remember watching this the first day it was on MTV at least 10 times. I have not heard this song in 20 years. Thanks for sharing. Singers expanding to video was awesome in so many ways. To me he was saying that no generation starts the fire, they inherit it from previous generations. Something to remember for people that now blame their parent’s generation when their parents also inherited issues. All the lists are things that happened in that era that are historical.

[@mjlh7079]

He was reciting, history. One thing about history it repeats

[@fidel2xl]

Good reaction, bro. Regarding the "Terror on the airlines" line around the 7:09 minute mark, that was actually a play-on-words (a double entendre) that was meant to convey, "Tehrani airlines" (as in the capital city of Iran...Tehran). So, the clever line sounds like both "Terror on the airlines", and "Tehrani airlines". Just a brief background ---- many Iranian terrorists came from the city of Tehran...and during the 1980s especially a great number of planes worldwide were hijacked by those terrorists. But it was usually the terrorists using the opportunity to demand certain policy changes and the release of certain prisoners etc. Also, regarding the line "Russians in Afghanistan" around the 7:18 minute mark....the Russians actually invaded that country around 1979, so it wasn't a 'prediction' from Billy Joel...lol. It was an actual world event that had taken place about 10 years before this song. Anyway, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, the USA (via the CIA etc) covertly trained and armed the Afghan rebel forces...the TALIBAN. In fact, one of the people that the CIA trained and utilized as a key asset back then was a guy by the name of Osama Bin Laden. Btw, Billy Joel is one of the biggest recording artists in history, and he's still around. If anyone can cleverly update this song to the current era, it'll probably be him.

[@ASalvaro]

Billy Joel could make a 60 minute long song just covering the last 4 years

[@LaDonnaHudson-f5y]

You need to watch the song on video. The year 2525. will blow your Mind away. released back in the 1960s.

[@ScootrRichards]

"Terror on the airlines" refers to start of airline hijacking that occurred in late 1960s-early 1970s. The first hijackers method of operation was to hijack the plane to a preferred escape destination, using the passengers as hostages. The goal ultimately was for the hijackers to escape. 9/11 was a profoundly shocking change to destruction of plane, passengers and target location. The world changed that day, but it started with those earlier hijackings.

[@jcofortco]

My son recently found out someone made a sequel to this for MY generation. (Born in 70) & played it for me. It's not bad. But it's NOT this. Joel was a WIZARD with this creation. It's a LONG TIME favorite of mine. It's about the World & important events/subjects that happened in his lifetime.

[@jenniferhanses]

Yeah. The Fallout Boy version is a huge disappointment. Because I was very much in favor of someone writing an updated sequel song. Totally a cool thing to do. But they totally ignored the importance of putting things in chronological order. Which kind of destroys the whole point of the song. Also makes it impossible to source. "Obama" Okay what about Obama? What about him are trying to include? His election? His re-election? His healthcare policy? His stimulus checks? What?

[@1WildFlower93]

My father saw Billy Joel perform in Germany back when the wall was still there

[@jenniferneuensmorgan9272]

Babe. This song is from his album “Stormfront”. I had this album on cassette. And in that cassette, the lyrics to every song were printed out onto the backing. I took the lyrics to that song, sat down with my Mother and had her explain to me every situation I was not familiar with. (The one I remember confusing me the most was “ children of thalidomide”. Trust me, I should have stayed confused on that one. 😭😭😭) She was able to educate on every. Single. Thing. My Momma ❤️❤️❤️

[@Panbaneesha]

I remember buying the vinyl single (might still be in the attic somewhere). I'm German, and was only a beginner at English back then, but the lyrics were printed on the record's sleeve. Many things I only understood much later, when my English got better and I got more acquainted with a few (US) history events. It's really great that your mom went through everything with you.

[@Its_me_Deebz]

Billy Joel is one of the ALL-TIME greatest story telling song writers. Great reaction!

[@andrewcraw7117]

arguably one of the greatest songs ever written

[@celinelia8127]

4:36 that sound effect from the movie "Psycho" which he just mentioned in the lyrics

[@s.b.907]

My history teacher when I was a teenager used this song to teach during two weeks. Seeing what we already knew and then studying what we didn’t. I do not live in the USA or UK so some things were a bit difficult to understand. But I loved those two weeks. So different from normal lessons.

[@lorismith5195]

I was in collage when this song came out. One of my professors used it in a class, and then sent us to the library to find newspaper headlines from the day/week we were born. It was such an interesting assignment.

[@robmcgrath5202]

Read the lyrics and you'll see that each item is a person, item, or event from that year. As others have said, it's a history lesson (and an amazingly written one at that).

[@erinhawks6602]

Fall Out Boy did a 1989-2023 version of this song 🎵

[@TrekBeatTK]

And it’s lousy because events are all mixed up and not loosely chronological. They also don’t understand that the little “oh ho ho” bit was a buddy Holly reference setting up that line snd makes no sense in their song.

[@JMulvy]

@@TrekBeatTK just so you know, they collaborated with Billy Joel himself on it.

[@TrekBeatTK]

@@JMulvy it’s still lousy

[@iaminsideyourhome69]

​@@TrekBeatTKyou gonna cry about it?

[@JMulvy]

@@TrekBeatTK that's your opinion. to each their own.

[@natecloe8535]

This song has one of the best origin stories I've ever heard. It's nothing but a clap back. Billy Joel was at a party or visiting a relative's house something along that line. And his 16-year-old nephew said something off-the-cuff like your generation didn't have to deal with anything that my generation has to deal with. You guys had it easy compared to us. This is the 16-year-old telling the 30 something your old Billy Joel this. So Billy Joel wrote a song that is nothing but the headlines of all the biggest events that happened in America/World before and since HE was born.

[@celinelia8127]

5:10 first time we actually see fire in the household. up until now we've seen only smoke. but the last scene shows it was always there. ... and all around the house.

[@corrinsclarioncall]

Pleasantly surprised to see you react to this Oldie. Since I was born in 1950, the year after Billy Joel, these are the memories of my life too. I don't recall seeing the video before either, but so many of the toys the kid is playing with bring back fond memories. Thanks!

[@danielluquire1313]

Terror on the airline was referring to I believe it was 1985 when a service member was killed on a tarmac. Terrorist hijacked the plane and killed him bc he was in uniform traveling.

[@pawprintz7166]

I love this song. I taught myself this song word for word.

[@shag139]

@4:52 the NVA guy who was executed was an NVA Captain was captured wearing civilian clothes and was a member of an NVA assassination squad. He was not some innocent civilian.

[@swami1]

He had killed a few people earlier that day. He got what was coming to him.

[@tracyallshouse2730]

This song came out before 89', I was listening to it in high school and I graduated in 87'. JS! Awesome reaction ‼️ Awesome Song‼️🥰

[@justme2]

He's going through time. It's a history lesson. Did you notice the family is aging matching the time period he's singing.......?

[@dmwalker24]

"All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again". What Billy was perhaps not as aware of... His lifetime almost perfectly encapsulates a distinct era in human history. That makes this song even more important than it would have been otherwise. And we're still going through the process of seeing how that era is going to play out.

[@Nancy-g2o]

And a Grammy. He has a huge variety of types of songs. History lesson in a song.

[@Danielle_Torres]

My history teacher in 89 used this song to help us learn...brilliant idea on his part...we were all riveted in our seats loving this "new" form of teaching! Thank you for bringing the songs I grew up on for the younger generations to hear! Also you seem to be on a roll of concerts I've seen...Guns and Roses in 91, Billy Joel in 90...Thank you again for appreciating and taking the time to really listen to these amazing artists and their songs!🎶🎶🎹🎹🎼🎼🖤🖤 Also the "things" that you thought he was predicting had all ready happened..ie....Russians in Afghanistan happened in 1979 as part of the Cold War.🖤🖤🎶🎶

[@nguyenkh2002]

Billy Joel wasn' predicting the future. He was talking about the US arming Afganistan in the 70/80's. We armed Afghanastan since they were at war with the USSR. We armed Iraq (aka Saddam) because of the Iran/Iraq war and we were against the ayatollah himani (leader of Iran). Most of the countries didn't like the strings attached to the weapons we gave them and turned on us. Most of the arms in the Middle East was ORIGINALLLY given by the US due to these conflicts that we took sides on and armed. We also did the same thing w/ Central and South America. Iranian/Contra (Nicaragua's rebel group) Affair. Billy Joel was a history teacher before he become a singer. He started the song the year he was born and moved forward.

[@michellekeyes1507]

'Terror on the airlines...' Prior to 9/11, there were many hijacking incidents, a forced flying to a hostile country with hostage stand offs that lasted weeks. Expensive but minimal loss of life. It's why the first 2 planes complied that day. 10:50, that was exactly the conversation that inspired the song. Today, they have just weaponized the messaging.

[@margijohnson5728]

Was good to hear this again😃 I enjoy your comments and breakdown of these old songs. I think we were all born into some or other "fire"😉Thankyou, that was good.

[@katscully]

Billy Joel is a “deep dive” must. Master of song writing & straightforward storytelling. Amazing pianist. Can’t go wrong.👍🥂

[@TheRejektid]

Fun reaction! I hope you see this and check out another Billy, Billy Strings. Specifically the song "Dust in a Baggie" where he is sitting on a couch. It's the video that blew him up like ten years back and a great intro to his music.

[@bar5radass]

It’s no crazier now than it was then, we just weren’t inundated on a daily basis with it…

[@heavin6586]

Glad to see Billy Joel getting some love! He has an unending list of hits.. Matter of Trust, the Longest Time, Only the Goid Die Young, Uptown Girl, And so It Goes...😂❤

[@daleenengelbrecht4861]

Love Billy Joel. Greetings from South Africa

[@KevynJacobs]

This is a songwriting masterpiece. I learned more about 20th Century History from this song than I learned in years of school.

[@tommanney3429]

A great history lesson from a very prolific songwriter. He would be a very deep rabbit hole to explore with many differnt songs over the decades he was releasing music. He just released his first pop album in over ten years. He was mostly focused on writing classical music with the exception of his residency at MSG

[@janetbreckon8211]

He had just turned 40yrs old, talking with Sean Lennon 20yrs old, who said things are worse than the 50's so he wrote this song about the first 40yrs of his life from 1949-1989. These happened in those 40yrs.

[@craigkeough878]

The inspiration for this song came when Billy was having a conversation with someone half his age. During this convo the man said that nothing really happened in the last 40 years. This rubbed Mr. Joel the wrong way. We didn't start the fire was his way of responding. ❤the channel. #HOG from the Hammer

[@Defensive_Wounds]

2:32 - Additionally, kids today are always blaming 'Boomers' for their problems - this guy is a Boomer and was saying the same thing back then to past generations...lol Nothing changes. There was a sequel to this song made recently by the band 'Fall Out Boy' that is also worth a listen! It goes from 1989 through to 2023 (sadly they didn't include 'covid 19' in the lyrics for some silly reason!!!) Besides, I have always said for decades that someone should do a sequel to this song, finally someone did and they didn't add COVID into the lyrics?? wat?

[@NamsaRay]

Pretty sure the song is against "Welp, these guys ignited the fire" The fire was always there "since the world was turning"

[@SRGoldfish]

I remember having to learn this in history class in middle school. Thanks for the trip down. Memory lane.

[@Linerwood2000]

Heard that song couple hundred times but never realized how specific he was on major events. 2001 11 september... The warnings been there since the 70's mostly.

[@aura81295]

Guess what? I turned 18 years old - recession. And I am at least one generation ahead of you. That is the point that he was making in this song. We tend to look at our time and think things were better in the past. But were they really? And would anyone truly want to be a king living in a castle in a time when there was no running water or electricity? Perhaps it is best to appreciate what we do have while we are here and make the most of it. Great reaction!

[@celinelia8127]

8:16 finally she sees him. she sees him and she knows he's always there,watching the history go down ,watching her family be born and then die and he just doesn't care.

[@irishangel5689]

Fall Out Boy did a Part 2, We Didn't Start The Fire 2 using Billy's track. It's nowhere near as good but it goes from 1989-2023. I was 19 when this song came out and it was a HUGE hit. I learned every word and still know it to this day (35 years later). I know every historical event he is talking about in this song and most of us GenXer's do. Now 35 years later, nothing has gotten better and I would have to say it has only gotten worse. Each generation loves to blame the one before it but forget to put the blame on those who are actually to blame, the governments of the world. He starts the song in 1949, the year he was born and brings it right up to 1989. The terrorists on the planes talks about things that happened back in the 70's and 80's when planes where being hijacked it seemed like all the time. It was like in todays news where they are always talking about a school shooting, then it was the planes. Russia was in Afghanistan and we should have taken notes from that time and realized it is almost impossible to war with Afghanistan in their own territory. And at the end when he talks about Berny Getz and Rock N Roller Cola wars, well, Berny Getz was a Vigilante on the NYC subway (where is was born and raised and living at that time), look it up back in the 80's and the Cola wars were between Coke and Pepsi and they drove us crazy with the damn commercials until Michael Jackson did a Pepsi commercial and his hair caught on fire. Those Cola wars stopped after that. LOL. This song is a history lesson with a lot to look up if you are not familiar. Like when he talks about the Children of Thalidomide. That's one of the worst reminders of something horrific. Look it up. And if you're game, listen to this song then immediately after, listen to How Far We've Come by Matchbox 20. LOL

[@andrewmurphy4116]

I'm a 60's child. We grew up constantly thinking things were bad. The difference is, now we know they really are!

[@chrisester2910]

This is a rundown of historically significant events and changes in primarily the USA and the world at large. The larger point is that the only constant is change and each generation does its best to deal with these things. Another thing to think about is how things haven't changed.

[@claireb9127]

Terror on the airline I believe was referring to the spate of planes that were hijacked

[@garavonhoiwkenzoiber]

This song reminds me of the documentary art film Baraka, which is a film with a very simple yet complex message. "This is us. Nothing more. Nothing less."

[@jameshughes1947]

Cliff love the channel this is one of those songs that you have to listen 100 times to get it all.

[@Blueeyedramblings]

When I was in high school, I had a Global History class. On the first day that we started the Cold War, the teacher gave everyone a copy of these lyrics and played the song because everything mentioned in this song happens during the Cold War

[@jwb52z9]

Bravo! You're one of the only reviewers who understands what is happening in the song.

[@ed.z.]

There is a word, “History “ learn it. Know it. Teach it.

[@JoanBelo-h5y]

Excellent CATCH Cliff! Bravo! You got it! That's the genius of (once in a lifetime) Billy ❤Joel!

[@jeffreymontgomery7516]

I love the reactions where people don't realize it's just a list of historic events, and trying to tie it down to some thread... But notice where he focused... but without knowing. "terror on the airlines" - those unfamiliar with the hijackings of the late 1970s - especially the Lebanese and TWA flights... FOR THE RECORD: It's events that occurred during Billy Joel's lifetime through the writing of the song.

[@djmagichat1721]

You should definitely listen to Vienna, another powerful song by Billy Joel. I always try to listen to it whenever I get too caught up in everything I want or need to be doing; it's how I remember to take a step back and breathe. I even pulled a friend out of a panic attack with that song, once. Absolutely worth a listen.

[@debbers]

Well, I think we all feel the way you feel at one time or another in our life! Needless to say, none of us started the fire, but we are expected to put it out one day! There's always hope and where there's hope there is life!

[@kkly27]

Can’t beat Billy Joel! Pick almost any song and you won’t be disappointed. Somebody from the UK rewrote this song and called it “We Didn’t Own an iPad”. It’s really good, especially if you grew up in the 70s/80s as it brings back some great memories. Some of the references will only be got if you are from the U.K., though.

[@carlavalecko5955]

The moral to the story is that basically the world has always been a mess. We keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. He mentions homeless vets. That has been an issue for 40 plus years and we've yet to fix it. We keep on letting the world burn instead of really addressing the issues.we tried to fight it he says.

[@stevecrisell108]

Hi Cliff, Can't Go Wrong With Billy Joel. Great Reaction.

[@nickjeffery536]

One of my absolute favourite Billy Joel tracks... an amazing way to highlight the failures of civilisation over many many years...

[@danielasantarelli6396]

Congratulations: you are one of the very few who understood the meaning (and drama) of this song ❤

[@brooke3293]

Appreciate your perspective ❤

[@tessasnow]

Great song!!! Think you’ll love it!!! 🖖🏻🇨🇦

[@ameyer1970]

“Russians in Afghanistan” is because during the 80’s the Soviet Union was trying to take over Afghanistan. It’s when Bin Laden got his start as part of the Mujahadin. Which later became Al Queda.

[@NerdyNanaSimulations]

Considering I was an adult in 1989 I could never have imagined the world today... and I'd go back in a heartbeat.

[@BAD46660]

10:26 He started from the year he was born till his 40th birthday. Teachers use this song to teach history.

[@gland1830]

It makes a difference when you had lived through it like I did. A lot of memories come flashing back.

[@hollywhite7449]

I KNEW you'd love this!!!!

[@evanirvana500]

I was in high school when this came out and my history teacher loved it! He made an assignment where we chose one reference and do a long paper on it or choose 3 and do short reports on each. I chose long reports on 3. I love history! I chose Marilyn Monroe, children of thalidomide, and moon shot.

[@jenniferewing4504]

Love this song.

[@lisamayreed6399]

Great reaction cliff❤

[@crouchwritinggallery]

We actually studied this song in history class when it came out. Each verse is a decade

[@doug729]

I'm glad you got it brother

[@ronaldnelson6692]

When he wrote it, he originally wanted it to be like a rap song but as he progressed with it, it didn't work out that way. It's about social issues throughout history and how they will continue way after we are gone. Fallout Boy actually has a part 2 going from 1989-2023.

[@NunYaO]

I was going say ...WTF, 14yrs? I was in high school when this came out and that was WAY MORE than 14yrs ago!!!