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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
from the album So Much (for) Stardust (Digital Deluxe edition)
ReleasedJune 28, 2023 (2023-06-28)
GenreAlternative rock
Length3:35
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Neal Avron
Fall Out Boy singles chronology
"Hold Me Like a Grudge"
(2023) 		"We Didn't Start the Fire"
(2023) 		"So Much (for) Stardust"
(2024)

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a 2023 single by American rock band Fall Out Boy, which was included in the band's eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust as a digital deluxe bonus track. 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

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"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 Woodstock 99, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, Brexit;[1] the Boston Marathon bombing, Bush v. Gore,[2] the assassination of Shinzo Abe;[3] the death of Michael Jackson, the Arab Spring, the Fukushima nuclear accident and MySpace, which Stereogum notes was connected to the band's rise to fame.[4] In the chorus, the original lyric "we tried to fight it" is replaced with "we're trying to fight it", and in the bridge, "will it still burn on and on…" is replaced with "it will still go on and on…".

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][5] Pete Wentz explained the 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.[6]

The COVID-19 pandemic is notably absent from the song;[1][7] Wentz cites the event's ubiquity and the need for rhyme space for Bush v. Gore in explaining why it was not included.[6]

Critical response

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"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.";[4] the staff of Slate wrote "Move over, Gal Gadot's 'Imagine'!";[8] and Alexandra del Rosario with the Los Angeles Times wrote "sugar, it isn't goin' down well with some fans".[7] James Rettig with Stereogum described the song as "abominable"[6] 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".[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;[9] the staff of Slate brought up the film Titanic and O. J. Simpson as missing elements.[8] Morgan Hines with USA Today and del Rosario described reaction on social media as mixed and controversial.[1][7]

Charts

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References

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  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. ^ Times, Alexandra Del Rosario Los Angeles (June 30, 2023). "Fall Out Boy updated Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire.' Fans say it's 'unhinged'". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3 July 2023". The ARIA Report. No. 1739. Australian Recording Industry Association. July 3, 2023. p. 9.
  11. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  12. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  13. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Overseas – Week of July 12, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  14. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  15. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  16. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  17. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  18. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  19. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  20. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  21. ^ "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  22. ^ "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  23. ^ "Rock & Alternative Airplay Songs – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
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