Fall Out Boy - We Didn't Start the Fire (Lyric Video) - Fall Out Boy

[TexasTowelie]

I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events- some that disappeared into the sands of time- others that changed the world forever. So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years- we felt like a little system update might be fun. Hope you like our take on it…

====================

Fall Out Boy covers Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' and people have mixed feelings

Fall Out Boy released a cover of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" Wednesday. But with the song, the band did start a fire of some sort, with social media users sharing very mixed reactions to the remake, including some burning reviews.

The cover, which has updated lyrics to include newsworthy events from 1989 - when Joel's original released - through 2023, includes a slew of references like "World Trade," "Brexit," "Stranger Things," "Taylor Swift," "Obama," "Columbine," "Sandy Hook," "Twilight," "Tiger King" and "Michael Jordan 23" plus "Michael Jordan 45," among others.

Some notable happenings that called for major headlines in that time period, including the COVID-19 pandemic, were not mentioned.

And there are some caveats. The group said that the events span covered is 1989 through 2023. But Nintendo game "Metroid" mentioned was released originally in 1986 in Japan and in 1988 stateside — that said, there have been plenty of iterations of the game released since so we'll cut the band some slack.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/06/28/fall-out-boy-billy-joel-we-didnt-start-the-fire-cover-mixed-reviews/70364448007/

====================

Note to forum hosts: I believe that this video qualifies for inclusion in the V&M forum since it is referring to contemporaneous events.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. I don't get the objection, apart from the fact that I've always thought that song was lame

Ergo, so is this one

Gimme some It's the End Of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine) all day, every day. And it came first.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I prefer REM over Billy Joel every day of the week.

I suspect that the new video will get about a week worth of attention, then it will be forgotten. Unfortunately the cover video gives credence that nobody knows how to write music anymore so they have to rehash the old stuff. I never heard of Fall Out Boy before, so this might be his 15 minutes of fame.

[spudspud]

3. Not sure if you were serious about Fall Out Boy and 15 mins of fame

My sarcasm meter might be broken. But in case you were being genuine, they're a pretty big band/group. This one clip is from one of their older songs, but it's got over 136 million views (one of their songs Centuries, has about half a billion views).

[TexasTowelie]

4. I'm a 58-year-old white guy that has been out of the music scene for about the last decade.

My musical knowledge drifts back into the 1950s, but the decades that I know the best are the 60s and the 80s when I was in college. My knowledge after 2010 came from riding around with my friend and he would play what his kids listened to. I should have refrained from that comment since I was ignorant of their background.

[okaawhatever]

5. Fall out Boy exists because of Joe Biden! Sounds crazy but Pete Wentz

parents met while working as staffers for Biden during his first Senate term (his dad was on his very first campaign staff). FWIW also campaigned for Obama.

FOB had some huge hits like Sugar, we’re going down and Thanks for the Memories. As a result they had an enormous following and much was made on social media about his Biden connection. During Joe’s campaigns you would see a list of Biden’s greatest accomplishments with FOB topping the list. It worked great with the younger crowd.

Pete Wentz is definitely one of us, and very active in democratic/humanitarian causes. I think the song is in good hands with him. I hear the RW had a go at
a cover but couldn’t find words that rhymed with proselytize and baby killing slut. Plus they put Church of Christ in charge of the band so there’s that. 😀😀😀

[TexasTowelie]

6. Okay, thanks for that information and the connection to Obama and Biden.

I obviously need to expand my musical repertoire and get into the new millennium. Unfortunately, there is so much music out there that is either pure crap or in genres that don't interest me that I'm going to miss out unless somebody points it out to me.