The scary thing to me, as a 70 year old, is that the younger generation doesn’t know any of the history Billy shows in his video. They don’t learn it in school and don’t care.

This song lists off alot of the "current events" from Billy's life, starting with things that happened when he was a child and progressing up through his life up until the time of the writing. A lot of high school history & social studies classes used this song as a full blown history lesson. The genius of this song cannot be understated

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it ...Winston Churchill.

Teacher in my sons' high school played this and gave the students assignment to choose 10 subjects from the song a write brief essays on each one from their list in proper format. A full quarter of grade for the year. It was a success for my son

Ironically, if he waited one more month, he could have added one of the most important events of the 1980's, the fall of the Berlin wall.

If I remember correctly he wrote this in response to a young man complaining about current events commenting that Joel’s generation had it so easy because “nothing really happened” in those days.

The "V" word in this song is the 1953 polio... every event in this song goes from 1949 to 1989

Billy Joel turned 40 in 1989 and wrote this song covering what happened during his lifetime. As someone else mentioned John Lennon's son Sean once told him "you were a kid in the 50s and everyone knows nothing happened in the 50s" so Billy wrote this song.

My husband's second cousin won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo of Viet Nam shooting. His name was Eddie Adams. He was a reporter going down the road with his movie camera and witnessed this. The photo came from the movie film. He was a very good guy and was from our home town of Arnold/New Kensington. Later he lived in NYC. RIP.

there is an old quote "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" this song kinda proves that

Billy Joel has money now, but most of his early royalties were ripped off by his manager and first wife. It’s a wild story.

Everyone believes that the world began when they were born. I'm blessed and grateful to remember everything that he made reference to. History is of paramount importance in my mind. I'm just an old hippie! Peace and Love ❤❤

This song will be relevant 100 years from now.

Billy Joel's " still rock and roll to me" another banger and my fav!

This covers history from the 50's to 1989. In 1990, My 11th grade social studies teacher assigned us to pick a topic from this song and write a paper on it. That same teacher played a lot of Billy Joel in class and used it as part of his lessons. He was a Vietnam vet and such a wonderful teacher. I loved his class and looked forward to it everyday. This man really taught us and respected us on a level not many teachers got to. Billy Joel has a special place in my heart because of Mr. Manson's class and because he's a brilliant artist. This song unlocked a core memory for me. Thanks for doing this.

Billy covered 1949-1989 in his original and Fall Out Boy did a cover covering newsworthy items from 1989-2023.

You wonder how long the Israel/Palestine thing has been going on? It’s mentioned in the book of Exodus 15:14, only in that reference they were called the Philistines. What Billy was referring to was the Palestinian war in 1949 after the State of Israel was formed.

If the "V-word" is something that KZfaq started losing its shit over in 2020, he's referring to the Polio V-word, developed by Jonas Salk in the 1950s. I'm sure there's websites out there explaining every single reference (U2 refers to the spy plane, not the band) in the song.

I would love for Billy Joel to do a second version of this from where he left off until the present.

I am about to turn 68 and I lived through all of this. I have heard this song many many time but right now that thought is blowing my mind.

There is a line from a tv show years ago where the older guy says "Back in the 60s we were going to save the world." The young man asks him. "What happened?" "I dunno, I guess we got high and forgot about it." That was just some crappy sitcom but that exchange has stuck with me for about 30 years. Sometimes something just grabs you and it is so memorable you can't forget it. This song is one of those.

During my Junior year our history teacher played this song in class. We spent the rest of the semester sorting out every reference and researching its significance in history. The discussions were great and it was the first time I ever felt like an older person saw us as more than just kids. He was a phenomenal teacher and I’ve never enjoyed a history class more!

Billy Joel is one of the greatest!

He’s naming off the main events in history during his lifetime. One decade at a time. It’s a historical time piece from the 50’s through the 80’s. ✌️😎

Billy Joel "PRESSURE" (Original Video). 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Billy Joel's best album is _The Stranger._ _"We may never understand how The Stranger is inspired. But he isn't always evil, and he is not always wrong!"_

Had my kids look up all the references in this song their senior year. We homeschooled!

If I was a History Teacher I would use this song and take the whole year diving into it for my students it's that good.

He references 119 people and events, before 1989, just this slice of life is unheard of by youngsters today, Thank God for history so we can learn from the past. BJ is never afraid to jump in with both feet.

35 years 🎂. Written by Billy Joel. He wrote this to celebrate 🍾 his 40th birthday 🎂 in 1989. Billy Joel granted a license to Scholastic to use this song 🎵 to teach American history and Western history. Underrated album Storm Front. Produced by Billy Joel and Mick Jones. Recorded parts in Warehouse Studios 🎙, Vancouver, Canada 🇨🇦. Still under the ownership of Bryan Adams. Suggested video 📹: Billy Joel sings I Go to Extremes.

"Billy Joel must have so much money..." Yea, read up on the song "River of Dreams" which was his eventual reaction to his best friend/brother-in-law/manager stealing something like $50 mil. Now that is some betrayal. "My best friend married my sister, became my manager... and then ran with the cash." But, he found his way back...

Every time I hear this song, I feel a pounding in my heart and,even tears well up 💟 in my eyes. So powerful the lyrics are and so beautifully executed!

I was in 6th grade when this came out. It was quite a sensation. My history teacher used it in class to great effect. I wasn't much of a student then, already skipping school to hang out frequently. During this semester I didn't skip much because I wanted to come in for the discussions of this song. To this day I know what each of these references refers to and their social context. I love history (really just a long unfolding story) largely because of this song.

One of the pre-KZfaq viral videos in the early internet days is a homemade video for this song that flashes pictures up for every reference in the lyrics.

I was in the Army when this song came out. We had so much fun listening to this during the down times. Joel's a Boomer, and I'm a GenX. A few years ago, a local GenY band was playing at a local venue, and they did an updated version of this starting with the 1980s. It was so good! They haven't really made it yet, so there isn't any recording of their version that I've been able to find.

I love the point made by the daughter smoking a joint and the dad downing a couple of fingers of hard liquor.

What whaaaaaat!!! These are the times to Remember by Billy Joel is one of my favorites by him. Beautiful, timeless and connects with pretty much everyone who’s had some great memories in life WHAAAAT WHAT!!!!!!

Keep them entertained with circus and entertainers and they will not see the frog boiling in the water.

"The Downeaster Alexa" is my favorite Billy Joel song, such a great story teller.

CBS Sony sent free of charge cassettes of this song with lyric sheets to any school that wanted to help teach US history.

This song is brilliantly clever, it’s all the historical people, events and inventions of the first 40yrs of Billy Joel’s life

This song is my favourite from Billy Joel! It's so cleverly written and it makes me just need to dance around 😅. Thank you for your reaction. It's awesome

It makes me sad to realize how many people have no idea of the stories behind the historical photos shown in this video. Every generation thinks previous generations dropped the ball, and they're the only ones seeing the truth. Wrong. Every generation sees the darkness and the wrongs, and the individuals try to fight it, ignore it, or succumb to it.

Love Billy Joel

Loved him in my teens. Still brings tears to my eyes today. Great musician. Great performer. Great overall human being. Highly underrated, I'd say. 🥰

I was a teenager when this song came out. I loved it then and I still love this song today. It is an absolutely amazing song.

It's cyclical! If you live long enough, you can see it coming back 'round again...

"History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes"

Yeeees finally another billy reaction

DUDE!!! Harry Nilsson "Jump into the fire" It has a burning bass line.

Seems like for each fire we put out two or three more are lit. Billy Joel has so many great songs. Can't wait to see you react to It's Still Rock And Roll To Me. An Innocent Man. Honesty. Allentown. Only The Good Die Young. There are so many more.

yeah, boy...Yasser Arafat and the PLO were in the news constantly back in the day...things don't change.

When I went to the Back To Back Concert with Billy Joel and Elton John and he sang this song the dome just roared. Fantastic song and it was a fabulous concert.❤ Stay safe.

Brilliant lyrics.

Billy is always good for a history lesson. Sadly so many people don't know the events he's talking about in this song,and for this very reason the older generations tell us we have to know our history to be able to learn from. Not dwell there but learn from it. The vaccine was the polio vaccine. In 1948 British Mandate over Palestine end and created two new states ,one Jewish and Arab. In 1988 Palestine National Counsil declared itself as a state. I think Palestine has been at unrest since the Ottoman Empire. Someone has created a current version of this song but I don't know who it is singing it,but it is the same title with Bonus track tacked on to it.

This song will NEVER be out dated. Through the generations there could always be something added on to it. There are a couple other videos for this song that I do like better. A video that shows news / magazine clip pictures of many of the references in the song. Just seems to make it a more powerful song.

I was 12 years old when this song came out. I recorded it from the radio to a tape so I could listen to it over and over and memorize the lyrics. I had to ask my mom and Dad on a few that I couldn't recognize (Prokofiev for example). But I persevered and learned it by heart and have been able to sing the entire thing from memory ever since. It's probably my all time favorite Billy Joel song (and I love his entire library).

This song is so awesome. It mentions every important event in every year, starting with his birth year (1949).

To really understand the lyrics of this song, it helps if you are a Baby Boomer [born between 1946 to1964].

One of my college English professors used this song in an assignment. We looked at the lyrics and went through the decades. Then we had to go find the newspaper headlines in the days surrounding our birthdate and write a synopsis to present to the class. It was so meaningful.

There is an update from Fall Out Boys, We didn't start the fire. It was released last year.

It would be EXTREMELY interesting to see what you come up writing PART 2 to this song. You've got the talent, your library is amazing.

"Innocent man" my fave ❤❤❤

I used this song and Powerpoint back in 1998 with high school history classes to illustrate everything and most of these references were new to them. Their teacher kept the final product and used it for years after!! Billy Joel, making a difference!!

8:46 The feeling you’re talking about is expressed in the song, “Feel It Still”. The references go in chronological order. As I recall, each year is a different verse, beginning around 1952.

I would Love it if billy would add another verse, since it's been over 20 yrs😮......

I love this song and video! I can remember every word and I love the historical significance of the song. Billy Joel is a genius!! Yes, if we don't watch it we will relive some bad history, we can't let a wannabe dictator win this election. We must remember and learn from past mistakes, like the mistake the Germans made when they thought Hitler was harmless!💖💖

This song has so much packed into it - in some ways it reminds me of Don McLean's "American Pie". I'm always shocked though by the generations who really don't get the references in the song. You're right - history continues to repeat 'cuz human nature doesn't change. The personalities, egos & ambitions of ancient rulers (Genghis Khan, Stalin,, Chairman Mao) are similarly embodied in current dictators (Putin, Kim Jung-Un).

Just saw Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks at Soldier Field a few weeks ago, and for 75 and 76 years old, those two still put on fantastic shows. This was the first song of BJ's encore, and the place went NUTS. Great tune. He played a montage of all the people and events mentioned during this song and it was amazing. I still remember all the lyrics to this banger lol

“RIVER OF DREAMS “ Is another great Billy Joel song , with another totally different sound !! Great!!

A lot of great comments on this song. To his wealth, he lost millions from his brother in law stealing it and bad investments. Billy Joel filed for bankruptcy about 25yrs ago or so. But he had to tour a lot more to recoup millions that he lost. One of the greatest songwriters and performers ever, with a huge catalog. Saw him in the 90’s with Elton John playing duel pianos at old Veterans Stadium here in Philly. I’m here for it BP 🤘🏻🇺🇸💯

I had a History Teacher in College, who used this song as part of their curriculum, but we had to write verses for each Decade after the time the song was written. Love it!

What a message! ❤️✌🏻🎶

Dang. Of all the reactions I have watched, you are the first to mention the background photos. Thank you.

I am so glad to read from your viewers that this song has been used in History classes. When I was in k-12 school, I hated history class as it seemed to always start with Columbus discovering the Americas and never even got up to the Civil War. I learned more when taking college classes because they were more specific time periods and included other parts of the world (I even took an Ancient Rome class), but it was still something I was required to do for credit. When I started reading history on my own, I discovered little-known people/occurrences, such as The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names, The Paris Library, Letters Home from Vietnam, and Before We were Yours - I gained a greater appreciation for history and the people who lived through it. (My favorite non-fiction is How the Irish Saved Civilization - it has an unintentional parallel to the recent struggle against book banning in U.S. schools.) I've even begun to have more appreciation for "history movies" which I always thought were just action flicks. I found instead that some can be very eye-opening, thought-provoking or inspirational such as Three Came Home, Men in War, Hotel Rwanda, Imitation Game, Hacksaw Ridge, The Siege of Jadotville, and most recently Golda and One Life, to name just a few. Thank you so much for reacting to this song. Hopefully, others will see history can be more interesting and is more important than they think.

Great song, great social commentary.

You’re absolutely right, this song is definitely prophetic. It’s a history lesson and at the same time a reminder that we have a chance to learn from history and not make some of the same mistakes. Thanks so much for this great reaction and a look back in time. 👏👏🥰

Bruv, I subscribed to your channel a few months ago. As a black man, who grew up in the hip hop when it was battle rap and who was the best , never really considered this music. It wasn't cool if you know what I mean. Not that I am 47 and really look back on this music, as the way you do, we really grew up in an era where every genre of music had something to bring to the table. My friends, who were mostly white at the time, listened to alternative rock, my dad listened to classic rock, and I now have a better appreciation for music and you've brought more of that appreciation to the forefront. I really discriminated music and didn't open my mind, nor my ears, and now my Spotify playlist has grown even more because of you. You won't take the old skool hip hop or Motown out of me. No way, now how, but thanks for reinvigorating my mind and giving a lot of this music another chance. By the way, I take it you were in Germany in the early 80's but where were your parents stationed? I am currently down in Stuttgart working for a military credit union, but spent time in Bamberg, near Nürnberg, and Babenhausen near Frankfurt. Keep up the great work bruv. I really enjoy your feedback on all types of music.

Now listen to It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) by r.e.m. And Subterranean Homesick Blues by Dylan.

Billy Joel is an American treasure. A rare genius who is a member of a handful of musical gods. Sir Paul McCartney is in that group. If you’re interested in net worth he probably has an impressive number. I don’t really care as long as they do good things with their excess wealth and as far as I know, they both do. 🌺✌️

The magic of this song is chronology within his verses... someone else made an update version of this song but he was all over the place.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful, insightful reaction. We are blessed by your channel.🥰

The fallout boys picked up where Billy Joel left off.. that song would make sense to the younger generation

Fall Out Boy made an updated version of this song. So if you wanted to know what the lyrics would be today, you should check out the song from Fall Out Boy

Fall out boy did the next section of this from when Billy Joel’s version came out to when Queen Elizabeth dies. Might want to see it also.

I was in grade 4 in the mid 80s when a particular scholarly and astute teacher told us what is happening now, like a friggin modern day Nastradamus. From the evolution of the word "terrorist" and the definition of terrorism, to bees being threatened with extinction and the catastrophic affect on humans, to climate change (used with different words) and the resultant migration patterns of various species (including humans). From the proliferation of class action law suits, to the return of illnesses once considered eradicated (got your measles vaccine...again?). On and on it goes.

True, but it's also important that we don't stop trying to fight it, because then the world would just end.

If you haven't heard/reacted to it yet, Leningrad will blow your mind. It's a story about two people growing up in completely different worlds - one in the US and the other in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It's based on a real life encounter he and his daughter had when he visited Russia when that was made legal again.

Great reaction. My stepfather used to always say those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.❤️✌️🌼

Now, I'm going to have to revisit some of those events. Thanks, BP. Excellent reaction.

All I have to say is.. Good luck to the person trying to do this for a local Karaoke party 🐱. Thanks for keeping the love going for Billy Joel. This was the "comeback" song for him. After he married Christie Brinkley, I believe in 85, there was a span of 6 years between #1 songs for him. Uptown Girl, in 1983, which features Christie in the video then this in 89.

I believe the reference to vaccines was about the polio vaccine. I remember my mom telling me that everyone had to get the polio vaccine when it came out, or at least that's how she remembered it

This is one family growing from 1943 to 1987

There is an updated tribute of We Didn't Start The Fire done by Fall Out Boy which covers from 1989-2023

15:00 Soon after this album came out, Billy discovered that his first wife's brother, who had been his business manager for over a decade, had embezzled a huge amount of money from him, leaving him effectively broke, despite the 4 million sales. He had to really work hard to earn it all back, and it probably was one of the contributors to destroying his second marriage (to "Uptown Girl" Christy Brinkley). He'd probably be worth a whole lot more if he hadn't put so much trust into the wrong people throughout his life.

Billy Joel wrote this song based on world events that occurred from the time his was born (late 50’s) until the year it was released (1989). People have asked him to do a second part from the 1990’s through today.

You've been takin' about this song so much and I'm glad you re-visted it! It does hit harder with the actual lyrics. This version still stands today, but Fall Out Boy made an updated version last year if you're interested. I would love a more detailed breakdown with you and Don. 40!

i am an Australian just retired teacher.. high school world history was a subject I wld teach when necessary but I primarily taught mAths & physics… since teenagers not that interested in anything much, i decided to use “we didn’t start the fire” as an assignment., i divided the song into 4 parts and term papers were to be delivered on the particular world event. they were allocated.. it was such a great way to teach politics/major world events., the students really loved it and at end of year the students collected their works & put it a book form., and gave it to me as a v present come as., across the book.. title was; Best History Lesson E-V-E-R In my classroom.. this was my most valued teaching tool.. after that.. and my high school students introduction to the realities of humanity! i hope some teacher sees this., that song was not only a gift to so many..

Interestingly, the state of doom and gloom you sense, is strewn throughout this song as well. We’ve been fighting the fire forever. If we all take a deep breath, relax, show some humanity and love for one another, the kids of 2100 can be singing this song and feeling the end is near. And hopefully then, cooler heads will prevail again, and again, and again. 😉

Perfect song for you to react to, lyric man. Love it