Fall Out Boy have released an updated version of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” his No. 1 hit single from 1989 that runs down a list of proper nouns ripped from the historic headlines. The band attempts to pick up where Joel left off by referencing moments from 1989 to 2023.
Among the side-by-side couplets are Rodney King and deep fakes, Twilight and “Michael Jackson dies,” Kim Jong-un and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, as well as Meghan Markle and George Floyd. The words “what more do I have to say” are the counterpart to “World Trade second plane.” Fyre Festival? The assassination of Shinzo Abe? Brexit? The balloon boy? It’s all here. Watch the lyric video for the new song below.
Revisit Pitchfork’s Sunday Review of Billy Joel’s 1977 classic, The Stranger.