It’s a thumbs-up from Billy Joel! The legendary singer went on to comment about Fall Out Boy’s updated version of “We Didn’t Star The Fire,” giving them the blessing! “I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events – some that disappeared into the sands of time –others that changed the world forever,” Fall Out Boy went to explain on Twitter at the time of the release. The song features several major cultural events from the past 40 years.
“So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years – we felt like a little system update might be fun. Hope you like our take on it,” they added.
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Following his performance at BST Hyde Park in London, Joel was interviewed by BBC Radio 2. There, he was asked by DJ host Zoe Ball about his personal thoughts about Fall Out Boy’s new version, to which he responded that he didn’t need to record a sequel to the original song.
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“Fall Out Boy yeah, I heard about this… Everybody’s been wanting to know when there’s going to be an updated version because my song started in ‘49 and ended in ‘89 – it was a 40-year span,” Joel stated.
“And everybody’s been saying ‘Are you going to do part 2? Are you going to do part 2?’ and I said ‘Nah I’ve already done part 1’ so Fall Out Boy, go ahead, great, take it away!”
Believe it or not, Joel went on to admit that he sometimes even forgets the words to the song due to the heavy lyrical content. “Well, sometimes I’m watching people sing along, hoping they’ll guide me because you get one word wrong and it’s a train wreck, which happened to me. I was in Toronto and I forgot the words, and then I just stopped the song. ‘STOP THE MUSIC’ and the crowd made this noise like ‘aagghh’ so it’s like walking on a tightrope with that thing,” he stated.
Like its 1989 predecessor by Joel, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” serves as a comprehensive anthology of significant global events within a specific historical timeframe. Joel’s original composition predominantly focuses on events that took place during and revolved around the Cold War. Fall Out Boy’s rendition seamlessly carries on from Joel’s narrative, delving into the events spanning the years 1989 to 2023.
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