We Didn’t Start the Fire: 5th Edition

May 18, 2020

We Didn’t Start the Fire

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.

we didn't start the fire

Christie Brinkley

we didn't start the fire

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

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Extra: We Didn’t Start the Fire (annotated)

April 5, 2015

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.

We Didn’t Start the Fire (annotated) was first posted on July 13, 2014, almost nine months ago. 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, put the song together and chose the people and events which mattered over forty years. Without his knowledge or consent, we provided the background information and commentary.

Now, routinely, we post for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday – Sunday. So consider this an Extra post, and a chance to

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