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Quilotoa@lemmy.ca to Mildly Interesting@lemmy.world · 5 days ago

Only 3 People Mentioned in "We Didn't Start the Fire" Are Still Alive

www.neatorama.com

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Only 3 People Mentioned in "We Didn't Start the Fire" Are Still Alive

www.neatorama.com

Quilotoa@lemmy.ca to Mildly Interesting@lemmy.world · 5 days ago
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Yesterday, French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot died at the age of 91. Her passing prompted this X post: Brigitte Bardot’s death means there are now just three people mentioned in @billyjoel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire who are still alive.— Jon Hollis (@JonHollis9) December 28, 2025 Billy Joel's 1989 song "We Didn't Start the Fire" contains lengthy lists of prominent people and major events from 1949, when Joel was born, until 1989. It's an anthem of Baby Boome...
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  • snappy@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Bob Dylan, Chubby Checker, Bernhard Goetz

    • RobotToaster@mander.xyz
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      If this is a highlander situation my money is definitely on Goetz.

      • Apeman42@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        And that’s when Chubby Checker hits you with The Twist.

        • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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          5 days ago

          And a lawsuit….

        • pruwyben@discuss.tchncs.de
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          5 days ago

          They’ll never see it coming.

      • troglodytis@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        There will be only one

    • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      Ages 84, 84, and 78, respectively.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      Bernhard Goetz

      First time I heard him called Bernhard…

      Yeah, Bernie Goetz

      I’'ve been thinking about Bernie Goetz

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60V0eayiAY

      Doomtree - 38 airweight

      • Asidonhopo@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        3 day old reply but immediately after reading your comment I figured maybe you weren’t familiar with the Beastie Boys “Stop That Train” from the Paul’s Boutique album. Around 0:55 they can be clearly heard full-naming Mr. Goetz.

        https://youtu.be/Dq8rRxIGSnw

        Or maybe you’re a fan and never realized you had heard him called Bernhardt? Anyways cheers

    • Tudsamfa@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      In order of the FMK game, I assume?

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      Bob Dylan probably doesn’t have long, lol

      • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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        judging by his recent gigs, he may already be gone

        • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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          By “recent”, you mean the last 50 years?

          • BeeegScaaawyCripple@lemmy.world
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            yeah, i was in austin the same time he was recently. everyone was goggling about going to see him and were you going to go see him? I was like, for the $400 they’re asking i can watch a tape. i saw a mid-80s year old buddy guy a few years back and while as a guitar player it was a really technically interesting concert, he hardly played any songs. he mostly imitated other greats who have died and had been influenced by his style. like, cool you can play like stevie and jimi but i came to hear you dude. buddy was only $20 a pop so it was still a great concert. I was not going to risk that at $400 a pop.

            • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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              “buddy guy” is not the same as Buddy Guy. If you think capitalization isn’t useful, here’s an example of where it is.

              • BeeegScaaawyCripple@lemmy.world
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                you understood well enough

  • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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    Also Brigitte Bardot is a racist pos. People, especially media, want to gloss over that because she was hot. Same with how Coco Chanel still gets venerated.

    • tempest@lemmy.ca
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      HP Lovecraft racist or rich white woman born in the 30s racist?

      • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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        Marrying the advisor of Jean-Marie Le Pen ( leader of Front Nationale a far-right French political party) type of racist. Plus she called Marie le Pen (daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen and also a fascist) the Joan of Arc of the 21st century in an interview.

        • BeeegScaaawyCripple@lemmy.world
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          i mean if she lights the pyre

      • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz
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        HP Lovecraft racist or rich white woman born in the 30s racist?

        That’s literally the same racism, when do you think HP Lovecraft was living/writing…?

        Also, we gotta stop giving old people passes. They have the ability to change, they just choose to be bigots. My 90+ year old grandma wholeheartedly embraces my trans friends even if she doesn’t fully understand how or why “Robert” became “Annalise”, and she had never interacted with a trans person in her life before then.

        Brigitte Bardot was just a racist, xenophobic bitter POS until the end.

        • 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚎𝚘𝚠@programming.dev
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          Lovecraft’s racism was born and fuelled out of fear of the unknown. Bardot’s racism is more of the common hate-kind.

      • tatann@lemmy.world
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        Uber-racist (and homophobe, anti-feminist, etc…)

        She would have been a great asset in the Trump administration

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    The list of suspects narrow…

    • BedSharkPal@lemmy.ca
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      The long arc of justice will prevail.

  • RobotToaster@mander.xyz
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    The song also mentions the Beatles, and I’m sure there’s at least one Belgian still in the Congo.

    • kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      It mentions Beatlemania, which I think we can safely say has died.

      And you’d need two Belgians in the Congo.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      Any troubles in the Suez still?

      • AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works
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        Has the boat gotten stuck again?

  • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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    I wish the Fall Out Boy update to the song was good.

    • Postimo@lemmy.zip
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      In Bo Burnham fan circles people joked that That Funny Feeling from Inside is the truer generational update to We Didn’t Start the Fire 🥲

      • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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        That’s… entirely correct. Jesus.

    • Ech@lemmy.ca
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      At last there’s a decent 1985 update:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaAYUZqZvlA

      • RobotToaster@mander.xyz
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        I liked the medieval version https://youtu.be/drDs-Y5DNH8

    • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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      What’s your issue with it?

      I didn’t realize the Fall Out Boy version existed before this comment and streamed it. It sounds fairly good, about what I’d expect from a Fall Out Boy update

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        The selection of items seems weaker to me, but for me the main sin is that the original is basically chronological, which makes it more impressive that it’s a coherent song at all, if a bit overrated and very boomerific. Fallout Boy one just throws shit in at random to make the lines scan and rhyme, so it’s very “meh” even as a follow-up. It feels like they kind of didn’t understand that the original was a survey of the time period.

      • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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        The Fall Out Boy version just blasts out a bunch of random events from the generation it is covering. Joel’s version has clearly defined decades/eras and the progression through time.

  • FardyCakes@lemmy.world
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    I mean some of them weren’t alive even when the song came out.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    Holy shit, Chubby Checker is still alive? Wow!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chubby_Checker

    • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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      15 years ago he was in the news suing because someone put out a smartphone app named “Chubby Checker” and that’s was not the sort of association he wanted to his name. 😉

      • hypnicjerk@lemmy.world
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        15 years ago… smartphone app…

        • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz
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          Holy shit, a Fire Punch meme on Lemmy. (read Fire Punch, everyone)

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    Here’s the list of everyone mentioned.

    • tourist@lemmy.world
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      This was an interesting choice of image for the JFK mention.

      "JFK blown away" with a link to the Wikipedia page of JFK's assassination alongside a forensic drawing of JFK's head during the event. Wikipedia probably has better alt text, check there.

  • LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    This Billy Joel song is from his album that marked the beginning of his decline, no longer cranking out masterpieces, and this song has always annoyed the bejeezus out of me.

  • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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    I know mashups are pretty tired but I always wanted to hear a mashup of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and Prodigy’s “Firestarter”.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
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    Only three people listed in the song are still alive: Bob Dylan, Chubby Checker, and Bernhard Goetz.

  • Phegan@lemmy.world
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    It’s wild that payola was a scandal, compared to today where it’s a drop in the bucket of corruption

  • nemanin@lemmy.world
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    I mean…only like 7 of them were alive in 1994 in the first place.

    • Rise1547@feddit.org
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      Song came out in 1989, you fool

      • Swordgeek@lemmy.ca
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        You could have made you point just as effectively without adding ‘you fool.’

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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          But alas, he had to add “you fool”, because he’s secretly gilbert godfried!

          • harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            Or Gandalf. Or Vezzini (sp?).

  • Amuletta@lemmy.ca
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    The medieval version.

    https://youtu.be/drDs-Y5DNH8

    • thermal_shock@lemmy.world
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      New cover by fallout boy

      https://youtu.be/2LkVKCWL0U4

  • Dagnet@lemmy.world
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    Is this a battle royale or what?

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