We Didn’t Start the Fire

Billy Joel

Here’s the fifth iteration of We Didn’t Start the Fire (Annotated), first published on July 13, 2014 and last posted on February 10, 2018. For whatever it’s worth, no post at Mark Rubin Writes gets more views

Christie Brinkley

Elle Macpherson

William M. Joel writes and sings songs. On March 23, 1985 he married tall and very classy Christie Brinkley. (They divorced on August 25, 1994.) Was Ms. Brinkley the Uptown Girl in Uptown Girl, Mr. Joel’s big 1983 hit song? Only maybe, for while Mr. Joel—the short, Downtown Guy—knew and was friendly with Ms. Brinkley when he wrote the song, at the time he was dating taller very Uptown babe

We Didn’t Start the Fire (Annotated)

[We dedicate this reposting to our ahistorical POTUS. If anyone knows the man, pass this along. The ignorance should astound everyone.]

“Here at MRW we don’t routinely cite to ourselves, and I’m pretty sure we’ve never re-posted. No rule is absolute, however, and when reason dictates that we deviate, we’ll do the right thing.”

Those were our words on April 5, 2015, when we reposted We Didn’t Start the Fire (annotated). We Didn’t Start the Fire was first posted on July 13, 2014. It’s a long piece—5000 plus words—and lots of effort went into putting it together. Billy Joel, a very intelligent, serious songwriter/singer, wrote the song and chose the people

“Here at MRW we don’t routinely cite to ourselves, and I’m pretty sure we’ve never re-posted. No rule is absolute, however, and when reason dictates that we deviate, we’ll do the right thing.”

Those were our words on April 5, 2015, when we reposted We Didn’t Start the Fire (annotated). We Didn’t Start the Fire was first posted on July 13, 2014. It’s a long piece—5000 plus words—and lots of effort went into putting it together. Billy Joel, a very intelligent, serious songwriter/singer, wrote the song and chose the people and events which mattered over forty years. Without his knowledge or consent, we provided the background information and commentary.

Recycling is a virtuous endeavor, despite what former

We Didn’t Start the Fire was written by Billy Joel, whose real name is William Martin Joel. He married Christie Brinkley on March 23, 1985, and they divorced on August 25, 1994. And the Uptown Girl in Uptown Girl—Mr. Joel’s big 1983 hit song—was maybe only partly inspired by Ms. Brinkley, as this 5’5” downtown guy, while he knew and was friendly with Ms. Brinkley when he wrote the song, was dating 6’ uptown girl Elle Macpherson.

Some readers know about my affinity for trivia. Every Monday night for going on four years I play with my team, the Emperor Penguins, at Sky Bar in Tucson. Only illness, a family crisis or being out of town keeps me away,

Coming soon, today:  the annotated We Didn’t Start the Fire! Stay tuned!