The iconic Billy Joel song We Didn't Start the Fire was a major hit in 1989. In only four and a half minutes, Joel took us through important and notable events covering most of the 20th century. It was catchy, educational, and one of the last hits Joel had before moving to classical compositions.
34 years later we now have a cover of 'Fire' from Fall Out Boy. The song looks to cover the gap from then until now. I gave it a listen and while it sounds similar to the original I feel it's not that great. Personally, some of the choices made were not worthy like Metroid or Michael Keaton as Batman. But what gets me the most is the song is not in chronological order of the events mentioned. All the topics jump around from the 90s to last year and then everything in between. And that's where Billy Joel's magic was made. Keeping things in order AND making it work is why Fire still endures today.
I will give Fall Out Boy credit for trying to cover the song, but I think there's a better layout that could've been done. I do hope that every 30 years or so a band will create a new cover and include everything that's happened since the prior version.
If you want to watch the video you can click here or watch it below if YouTube allows it to be embedded.