We Didn't Start the Fire

Sometimes, one of the silver linings of a tragedy can be the art. After WWII, the world got to read some of the most gut-wrenching books and see some of the most inspiring films ever created.

The tragedies that beget art always lead to art that commentates on the world it was born from. I suppose a not-so-subtle example of this would be Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire. The song reflects the state of the world that a baby boomer grew up in.

As part of the generation who's college funds were tanked in the 2008 depression, lived in constant fear of school shootings, and who's job market got absolutely smashed by COVID-19 right before graduation, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with the amount of things that have happened this decade. Far too much to fit into a song.

For example, here are some notable events from this year:
  • Kobe Bryant's death
  • Trump's Impeachment
  • George Floyd's death and the subsequent protests
  • Trump's Travel Ban
  • Parasite ironically wins best picture
  • Weinstein's jailing and death
  • Another failed Sanders campaign
  • Breonna Taylor's death
  • The stock market gets crushed by COVID-19
  • Florida gets crushed by COVID-19
  • Australia caught fire
  • The Amazon caught fire
  • Remember when we thought Kim Jong-Un was dead?
  • Remember when we thought the pentagon released UFO footage?
What has this year been.

And here are some events from 2013. That shouldn't feel like too long ago, right?

  • Maryland approves same-sex marriage
  • Obama was officially declared the winner of the 2012 election
  • Lance Armstrong admits to drug abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
  • The North Korea crisis!
  • The Boston Marathon Bombings
  • Delaware legalizes same-sex marriage
  • The spire is installed on One World Trade Center--the main building of the rebuilt complex
  • Boy Scouts of America lift their ban on gay youth
  • George Zimmerman was acquitted of his charges
  • Orange is the New Black was released
These years are so jam-packed with...things that have happened.

There's just no room to breathe.


Comments

  1. JessJuly 27, 2020 at 10:55 AM

    I clicked on your post as soon as I saw mention of this song. This song has been so important in my life and teaching. I actually use this song the first week of school in my Geography class each year. It lays the foundation of my class and its theme. We go over the lyrics, the video, why it was written, and what it means. We basically analyze it. Then I ask the students why they think I went over this in Geography. Then for the rest of the school year we bring the song back up and the chorus. We discuss the 'fires' and possible solutions as we discuss different regions of the world. We discuss the 'snowball' effect and how things happen over time. This year, I think I am actually going to go cross curricular with my English classes and have student add verses to the song (like you just did).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. George KantelisJuly 29, 2020 at 2:04 PM

      You could probably re-write that entire song with just events that have happened this week!

      Delete

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