We Didn't Start the Fire — Billy Joel
Chords and lyrics for We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel (key of C).
Verse 1
[Intro] (main piano riff)
Verse 1
[G]Harry Truman, Doris Day, [D]Red China, Johnnie Ray
[Em]South Pacific, Walter Winchell, [C]Joe DiMaggio
[G]Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, [D]Studebaker, television
[Em]North Korea, South Korea, [C]Marilyn Monroe
Verse 2
[G]Rosenbergs, H-bomb, [D]Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
[Em]Brando, The King and I, [C]and The Catcher in the Rye
[G]Eisenhower, vaccine, [D]England's got a new queen
[Em]Marciano, Liberace, [C]Santayana goodbye
[Chorus] (Play the Intro)
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
Verse 3
[G]Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, [D]Nasser and Prokofiev
[Em]Rockefeller, Campanella, [C]Communist Bloc
[G]Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, [D]Toscanini, Dacron
[Em]Dien Bien Phu falls, [C]Rock Around the Clock
[G]Einstein, James Dean, [D]Brooklyn's got a winning team
[Em]Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, [C]Elvis Presley, Disneyland
[G]Bardot, Budapest, [D]Alabama, Krushchev
[Em]Princess Grace, Peyton Place, [C]trouble in the Suez
Chorus
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
Verse 4
[C]Little Rock, Pasternak, [Am]Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
[Em]Sputnik, Chou En-lai, [D]Bridge on the River Kwai
[C]Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, [Am]California baseball
[Em]Starkweather homicide, [D]children of thalidomide
Verse 5
[G]Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, [D]space monkey, Mafia
[Em]Hula Hoops, Castro, [C]Edsel is a no-go
[G]U-2, Syngman Rhee, [D]payola and Kennedy
[Em]Chubby Checker, Psycho, [C]Belgians in the Congo
Chorus
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
Verse 6
[G]Hemingway, Eichmann, [D]Stranger in a Strange Land
[Em]Dylan, Berlin, [C]Bay of Pigs invasion
[G]Lawrence of Arabia, [D]British Beatlemania
[Em]Ole Miss, John Glenn, [C]Liston beats Patterson
[G]Pope Paul, Malcolm X, [D]British politician sex
[Em]JFK blown away, [C]what else do I have to say?
Chorus
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
Verse 7
[G]Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, [D]Richard Nixon back again
[Em]Moonshot, Woodstock, [C]Watergate, punk rock
[G]Begin, Reagan, Palestine, [D]terror on the airline
[Em]Ayatollah's in Iran, [C]Russians in Afghanistan
[G]Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, [D]heavy metal suicide
[Em]Foreign debts, homeless vets, [C]AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
[G]Hypodermics on the shores, [D]China's under martial law
[Em]Rock and roller cola wars, [C]I can't take it anymore
Outro
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
But when [Em]we are gone
It will [C]still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and
on
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
It was [Em]always burning
Since the [C]world's been turning
[G]We didn't start the [Dsus2]fire
No we didn't [Em]light it
But we tried to [C]fight it
X