Geri

“We Didn’t Start the Fire”

A song that comes to mind as I look back on this year is Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” The melody of the song is, as the singer himself said, like a dentist drill. If you listen to the song by itself without the lyrics, it isn’t much of a song. It’s an annoying repetitive tune that makes you want to put on your earplugs.

But the lyrics of the song help to put everything into perspective. At least, for me it does. We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world’s been turning. The fact that it’s been a crazy year hasn’t escaped anyone. It’s all we ever talk about now. But as I turn up the volume of my speakers and listen to Billy Joel list out all the events that happened since the 1940s, I realise the world has always been in a state of crisis. The ones we are facing now are just another event to be added into a song made in the future.

Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start the Fire