Billy Joel Classic Revamped for Coronavirus Era
Billy Joel’s 1989 hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire” received a series of upgrades to reflect the coronavirus pandemic as fans shared their suggestions on Twitter.
The original song, from his album Storm Front, assembled references to big news stories from the first 40 years of Joel’s life, including the Korean War, the hydrogen bomb, the space race, Woodstock, Beatlemania, Watergate and dozens of others.
Rolling Stone noted that The Simpsons contributing writer Matt Warburton tweeted, “Today was like if ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ was a day.”
That led piano teacher and Joel fan Brittany Barkholtz to suggest the lines, “Schools close, Tom Hanks, trouble in the big banks / No vaccine, quarantine, no more toilet paper seen / Travel ban, Weinstein, panic COVID-19, NBA, gone away, what else do I have to say?”
“I was born in 1990, and the song ends at the end of the '80s,” Barkholtz explained. “I said, ‘We need a part two because everything in my life came after that song.’” A series of other fans’ suggestions cover the same subjects Bakholtz chose.
Watch Billy Joel's ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ Video
Meanwhile, Aerosmith pleaded with their fans to limit their social engagement during the pandemic. “#BeatTheVirus," they tweeted. "You may have it and not know it. Don't spread the disease. Stay home as much as you can. Wash your hands often and try to keep six feet apart. Now is the time to engage online and not in person. It is not just about you, it's about us. ... All of us!"
Joan Jett posted an image of some of the advice relating to precautionary practices, noting that the "next 3-7 days are critical. Let's all take the advice so we can protect each other and get back to doing what we love — playing rock ’n ‘roll for you. Even if it hasn't hit your community yet, this is real and we all must take it seriously.”
“Dear fans all over the world, wherever you are ... please take good care of yourself," Scorpions said in a tweet. "More than anything we're wishing all of you good health ... we gotta be strong and united, in this very difficult time.”