Famous People in "We Didn't Start The Fire" (3) Quiz

Answer:

"We Didn't Start The Fire" has a series of verses listing cultural and historic landmark events and personalities of the latter 20th century. And the chorus reminds us of the concept that many of the conflicts around the world may seem like they were ignited by the current generation, but instead have actually been an ongoing pattern generation after generation. The song reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and continues to get a lot of radio play as well as some parodies.

To start, these are the seven names that are NOT mentioned in the song, "We Didn't Start The Fire": Maxim Gorky, Allen Ginsberg, Nick Cave, William Faulkner
Orbison, Say Hey Willy, Mandela

"Davy Crockett" is mentioned in the verse following the first chorus. In that verse, along with Davy Crockett are a long list of names and events including Elvis Presley. Now, Davy Crockett, the legendary frontiersman and politician lived from 1786 to 1836-not exactly the era in which Billy Joel experienced his particular nostalgic childhood or youth or adulthood. But Billy Joel's childhood is the era of Disney's 1955 miniseries, "Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier". It starred Fess Parker, and was a popular television show at the time with boys. In an interview with last.fm Billy Joel mentioned that he took on the role of voicing Dodger in "Oliver and Company" (1988) because of his love of Disney cartoons as a child.

"Mickey Mantle", must have surely also been as heroic to Billy Joel at that impressionable age. Mantle played for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968, the heart of Billy Joel's nostalgia song. Mantle became one of the most iconic players in baseball history, finishing his career with 536 home runs, three American League Most Valuable Player awards, and induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" also focuses on significant political figures of the era, who may not have been the object of a young boy's admiration, but who Billy Joel recognizes years later when writing the song, as having an influence in the world. Among those figures he mentions are "Charles De Gaulle", the President of France from 1958 to 1969. De Gaulle established France as an independent power during the Cold War, as he saw the country develop a nuclear arsenal, becoming a world power.

Another world president that Billy Joel mentions is "Syngman Rhee", the first President of South Korea, who served from 1948 until resigning in 1960 during his country's widespread protests and political instability. Rhee's presidency was characterized by authoritarian rule and the United States' support during the Korean War.

"Castro" is another in the list of Presidents that Billy Joel noted. In fact, Billy Joel's father Howard Joel was born in Germany and left during the Nazi regime, coming to the United States by way of Cuba due to immigration quotas for German Jews. Howard Joel and his family were in Cuba during a time when Fidel Castro was rising to power.

While those political figures have their pros and cons, one politician Billy Joel mentions is distinctly a villain on the global stage. "Eichmann", the high-ranking official in Nazi Germany who played a key part in organizing the Holocaust. Karl Adolf Eichmann was eventually captured by Israeli agents years after World War II ended. In 1960 he was tried in Jerusalem, and found guilty of crimes against humanity. He was executed in 1962.

Billy Joel mentions "Edsel" the marketing disaster of Ford Motors, that became a buzzword in popular culture for its utter failure. Edsel was not just the name of the model it was the name of Henry Ford's son, whom the car was named after.

The lyrics also contain the name of many authors, among them "Pasternak", "Kerouac", and "Hemingway."
The Russian author Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958 for "Doctor Zhivago". Billy Joel ticks off both the arts and politics with Pasternak's inclusion as his writing was controversial within the Soviet Union for its damning depiction of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath.
Back home in the U.S. "Kerouac" whom Billy Joel adds to the list was a key figure in the Beat Generation best known for his influential novel "On The Road" that was so popular during the heart of the "We Didn't Start The Fire" generation. The 1957 work delved into literary idea of rebellion, spirituality and life's meaning, becoming a springboard for the upcoming '60s decade.
Another American writer mentioned ins "Hemingway" whom Billy Joel saw as a cautionary tale personally. In an interview with "Vulture" magazine Billy Joel talked about how he used to drink too much, and it was starting to interfere with his songwriting. "Let me have a drink and fool myself into thinking I can write while I'm drunk" he remembers thinking, so he stopped. He said he didn't want to be one of those authors like Ernest Hemingway who killed themselves because they drank too much.

And speaking of songwriting, Billy Joel does indeed mention many fellow recording artists in his memoir of a song. "Buddy Holly" is a pioneering figure in rock and roll, and Billy Joel mentions him along with "Elvis Presley" and "Dylan".
Holly, who died tragically young in a 1959 plane crash, still has a lasting influence in shaping rock music.
Billy Joel was a fan of Elvis Presley as a child, recalling that his sister had a portable record turntable with "Elvis" written on it. Billy Joel had performed an imitation of Elvis Presley in elementary school, and then cut to years later, when he was a star, Billy Joel paid homage to Elvis again in a way, when he recorded cover versions of two of Elvis Presley hits, "All Shook Up" and "Heartbreak Hotel," for the soundtrack of the movie "Honeymoon in Vegas" (1992).
Billy Joel also covered one of Bob Dylan's songs, "Make You Feel My Love," to which Dylan remarked, "Billy Joel's a very dynamic artist and he can hear things in a song because he's also a songwriter."