Which Billy Joel song contains the lyric 'We didn't start the fire'?

The Billy Joel song containing the lyric “We didn't start the fire” is “We Didn't Start the Fire.” Released in 1989, the song became one of Joel's most recognizable historical pop songs and later appeared on his album Storm Front.

Its rapid-fire lyrics mention 119 people, events, inventions, and cultural moments spanning roughly 1949 to 1989. The references begin around Joel's birth year and move through the Cold War, politics, entertainment, science, and sports. The famous chorus argues that each generation inherits problems it did not create, while still having to confront them.

A common mix-up is confusing the song with the 2023 Fall Out Boy track of the same title. Fall Out Boy's version is an updated cover that references events from 1989 to 2023; the Billy Joel original is the canonical answer to this question.