“We didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel
The song “We didn’t start the fire” by Billy Joel is about the history and crisis the world has experienced from the year Joel was born 1949 to the year the song was released in 1989. The underlying meaning of the song is that the world is always going through issues caused by vicious leaders. The lyrics present a lot of ethos, pathos, and logos, which are all forms of persuasion with different meanings. Ethos means convincing through character and credibility. Pathos is persuading through emotion. Logos is the persuasion by using logic and reasoning. Throughout “We didn’t Start the Fire,” Billy Joel depicts exceptional examples of ethos, pathos, and logos.
Billy Joel, one of the most well known musical performers of all time, begin his career as a young child playing piano. By the time he was sixteen already on his way to success being apart of three bands already (Billy Joel 2013). Billy Joel was influenced by his interest in history for the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. Joel’s father was into history as well and would test Billy Joel everyday on each fact in the song. Schools incorporated Joel’s song into its curriculum because it served as a learning tool to teach about historical events (A year of Billy Joel). This song plays a major role in Joel’s life since it not only plays a major role in his life but it also plays a role in many other people’s lives since it is used as a teaching mechanism.
The events in the song represent ethos pathos and logos. Logos is used since the issues referred to in the song occurred in the past and will continue to occur in the future. The chorus in the song “We didn’t start the fire it was always burning since the worlds been turning…” applies to logos since it explains how humans are not the determinant of all issues since the beginning of earth, but in the song humans are the cause of each issue mentioned. Ethos is also used in the chorus since it is discussing how people were trying to fight the problems that were occurring. Pathos is used in this song since it uses emotional situations such as the war between North Korea and South Korea, the Rosenberg trial, and the Watergate scandal (Dell). Dell explains how ethos, pathos, and logos are all incorporated into the song and how some of the information could also be misleading since the events have not taken place since the world has been turning. Dell’s point is that the human population has solely caused all these events.
By looking at the lyrics of the events from 1964-1989 it is easy to decipher which parts of the song represent ethos, pathos, and logos. The birth control legalization represents ethos since it was an emotional break through. Many people are against the use of this pill since they feel it is taking away someone’s life. The legalization of this pill led to the legalization of abortion, which is a strong argument for many people. Ho Chi-Minh and Richard Nixon both also represent ethos. Ho Chi-Minh was a ruler who was communist and fought both the French and Americans. (Kurtis). This was extremely emotional since it has to do with war. War is a sensitive topic and causes death and destruction. Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal is one of the greatest political scandals of all time. Joel connects with his audience by telling the story of the plumber. Joel’s creative use of this example connects the meaning of his lyrics to the life of an everyday blue collar American. Pathos and ethos are both expressed in this example, not only creating an emotional connection, but also connecting with the audience.
Punk rock is heavy metal hard-edged music that typically has shorter songs became popular in 1974. Some punk rock bands would spit at the audience. Ethos is symbolized since a punk rock concert is a connection with the band and the audience. In 1990 there were lawsuits against heavy metal music groups. These groups would sing about topics such as sex, violence, and Satan. Since the topics were so harsh this type of music offended people. “Christian groups felt that this type of music was a form of satanic worship” (Heavy Metal Suicide). This type of music caused many suicides and people to worship Satan. A lawsuit is about whether heavy metal music caused the suicide attempt of two boys in Nevada. The parents thought that the subliminal messages in the heavy metal music these boys would listen to triggered their suicide attempt (Heavy Metal Suicide). Both ethos and pathos are represented in this historical event in the song. Heavy metal suicide is an emotional situation since it refers to heavy topics that influenced people to go into their darkest stages. Audience is involved in heavy metal suicide because the people that are listening to this type of music are persuaded by the topics discussed.
Ethos is revealed in Joel’s lyrics as a whole because our nation chose to fight in the wars discussed. This shows the irony of the nation because ethics weren’t appealed since the war could’ve been resolved more efficiently. This also relates to logos because the nation was not using logic to solve its major issues.
Throughout Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” ethos, pathos, and logos are all expressed. The historical events discussed in the song demonstrate how our nation has been going through issues that are difficult to solve. Ethos relates to the ethics our nation uses to solve the wars discussed in the song. Pathos is portrayed in the emotional events such as the Watergate scandal and heavy metal suicide. Logos is shown through the logic the nation uses to solve the issues rendered throughout the song.
Work Cited
Dell, Rachel. “Idea’s Critique of We Didn’t Start the Fire | Rdell1727.” Rdell1727. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
Kurtus, Ron. “”We Didn’t Start the Fire” (Facts) History Summary from 1949-
1989.” We Didn’t Start the Fire (Facts) History Summary from 1949-1989 by Ron Kurtus. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
“A Year Of Billy Joel.” A Year Of Billy Joel. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
“Billy Joel.” 2013. The Biography Channel website. Oct 06 2013, 07:17
“Heavy Metal Suicide.” Heavy Metal Suicide. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
Lanie Halpern 