Beech Tree News Network

Last week, I began reviewing the timeline of events chronicled in Billy Joel’s 1989 classic “We Didn’t Start The Fire”.  Today, we pick up where we left off: 1960.  

A U-2 spy plane flown by American CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union, causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.  It does not refer to the band U2, which formed in 1976.  Elsewhere, Syngman Rhea is rescued by the CIA after being forced to resign as leader of South Korea.  Payola, illegal payments for radio broadcasting of songs, are publicized by Dick Clark’s testimony before Congress and Alan Freed’s public disgrace.  John F. Kennedy, U.S. senator from Massachusetts, beats Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. Presidential election.  Chubby Checker popularizes the dance The Twist with his cover of the song by the same name.  The original was two years earlier, 1958 by Hank Ballard.  The Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho becomes a landmark in graphic violence and cinema sensationalism.  The screeching violins heard at this point in the song are a trademark of the film’s soundtrack. Billy’s reference of “Belgians in the Congo” refers to the Republic of Congo being declared independent of Belgium.  

1961 begins with Ernest Hemingway dying by suicide after a long battle with depression.  Adolf Eichmann, a “most wanted” Nazi war criminal, is convicted in Israel for crimes against humanity in World War II.  Billy’s “Strangers in a Strange Land” reference is a book of the same name written by Robert A. Heinlein.  It was a breakthrough best seller with themes of sexual freedom and liberation.  Bob Dylan, then known as Robert Zimmerman, is signed to Colombia Records after a New York Times review by critic Robert Shelton. The final two references in ’61: Berlin’s separation into West Berlin and East Berlin is cemented when the Berlin Wall is erected.  The Bay of Pigs invasion closes the year.  This was a failed attempt by U.S. trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro.  

1962: Academy Award-winning film Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O’Toole, premiered.  The next reference is British Beatlemania, referring to the Beatles becoming the world’s most famous rock band.  Billy’s “Ole Miss” reference is pertaining to Southern segregationists rioting over the enrollment of black student James Meredith at the University of Mississippi.  Also this year, John Glenn flew the first American-crewed orbital mission termed “Friendship 7”.  The line “Liston beats Patterson” refers to Sonny Liston knocking out the rarely defeated Floyd Patterson in the first round of the world heavyweight boxing championship.

1963: Pope Paul VI becomes pope when Cardinal Giovanni Montini is elected to the title.  Malcom X incites controversy, including his statement that “the chickens have come home to roost”, about John F. Kennedy’s assassination.  British politician sex refers to British Secretary of State for War John Profumo has a scandalous sexual relationship with showgirl Christine Keeler.  JFK blown away is pretty obvious, as it refers to his assassination in Dallas, Texas.  We move to 1965 with the line “birth control, Ho Chi Minh”.  In this year, Griswold vs Connecticut challenges a Connecticut law prohibiting contraceptives.  This is the year Operation Rolling Thunder begins, with the first U.S. combat troops deployed in South Vietnam in opposition to North Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh.

1968: the line “Richard Nixon back again” refers to Nixon, after his loss to Kennedy in 1960, being elected President in 1968.  The two 1969 references are “Moonshot”, referring to Apollo 11 becoming the first successful human landing on the Moon. Also this year, Woodstock music festival attracts 400,000 as a touchstone of the counterculture movement.

1972-1975: Watergate: the Republican burglary of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate office complex leads to the resignation of President Nixon.  Billy’s “Punk Rock” line references the year bands such as the Ramones and Sex Pistols are founded.  ’76-’77 see Menachem Begin becoming Prime Minister of Israel and negotiates the Camp David Accords with Egypt’s president.  Ronald Reagan, former governor of California, begins his US presidential campaign in 1976 and is elected in 1980.  The ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict escalates as Israelis establish settlements in the West Bank. “Terror on the airline” refers to numerous aircraft hijackings taking place, including an Air France flight diverted to Uganda, where the plane was stormed in Operation Entebbe.

1979: Ayatollahs in Iran: The Iranian Revolution replaces secular Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with Islamic rule by Ayatollahs led by former exile Ruhollah Khomeini.  “Russians in Afghanistan”: The Soviet Union deploys its army into Afghanistan, beginning a decade-long war.

1981-82; Wheel of Fortune, an American television game show, debuts in 1975, hires Pat Sajak and Vanna White before becoming widely popular in syndication.  1983: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space by flying aboard Challenger on the STS-7 shuttle mission.  “Heavy Metal Suicide”- Heavy metal songs such as “Suicide Solution” and “Better By You, better than Me” are blamed by the families of fans who committed suicide.  Foreign debts refers to persistent trade and budget deficits leading to numerous countries defaulting on their debts.  Homeless vets: Veterans of the Vietnam War, including many disabled in the service, are becoming homeless and impoverished.  Also in 1983, AIDS, the immunodeficiency disease caused by HIV, emerges as a pandemic.  

1984: Crack cocaine became a widely used form of the drug in impoverished inner cities.  Bernie Goetz shoots four young black men he claimed were trying to mug him on a New York City subway but is cleared of attempted murder charges.  1988: “hypodermics on the shore” refers to medical waste being found washed up on the beaches of Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut after being illegally dumped at sea.  The final year of the song was 1989: “China’s under martial law”- China declares martial law, resulting in the use of military forces against protesting students to end the Tiananmen protests.  The final reference, “rock and roller cola wars” refers to soft drink giants Coke and Pepsi each running marketing campaigns using Rock & Roll and popular music stars.  (www.wikipedia.com) 

 I hope you enjoyed this extensive look at the years in “We Didn’t Start The Fire”.  There are some similar songs spanning events of certain years.  I’ll get into those in later month.  I’ll keep it a surprise so keep reading.  You never know when it might show up!