A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
<< Back to Billy Joel Song List
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Version 4Billy Joel We Didn't Start The Fire [Intro] (piano) e|---------------------------------------------| B|-------8-10-12---8-10-12-10-8---8-10-12-10-8-| G|-7-7-9---------9--------------9--------------| Repeat D|---------------------------------------------| A|---------------------------------------------| E|---------------------------------------------| [Verse] G D Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray Em C South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio G D Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television Em C North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe (Intro Riff) G D Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Em C Brando, The King and I, and The Catcher in the Rye G D Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen Em C Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye [Chorus] (Play the Intro) G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it [Verse] G D Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev Em C Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc G D Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron Em C Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock G D Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team Em C Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland G D Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev Em C Princess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the Suez (Chorus) G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it [Verse] G D Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Em C Sputnik, Chou En-lai, Bridge on the River Kwai G D Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball Em C Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide G D Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, Mafia Em C Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go G D U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Em C Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo (Chorus) G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it [Verse] G D Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land Em C Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion G D Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania Em C Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson G D Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex Em C JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say (Chorus) G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it [Verse] G D Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again Em C Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock G D Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline Em C Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan G D Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide Em C Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz G D Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law Em C Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore (Chorus) G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em But when we are gone C It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it G We didn't start the fire Em It was always burning C Since the world's been turning G We didn't start the fire Em No we didn't light it C But we tried to fight it C