We Didn't Start The Fire
sung by: Billy Joel
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray,
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio,
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe.
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio,
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe.
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye,"
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye,"
Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen,
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye!
Chorus:
We didn't start the fire,
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it.
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it.
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc,
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron,
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team,
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland,
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev,
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez.
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc,
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron,
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team,
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland,
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev,
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez.
Chorus
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac,
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball,
Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide, Oh-oh-oh.
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball,
Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide, Oh-oh-oh.
Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur", space monkey, Mafia,
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go,
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy,
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo.
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go,
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy,
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo.
Chorus
Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion,
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania,
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson,
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex,
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say?
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion,
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania,
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson,
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex,
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say?
Chorus
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again,
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock,
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline,
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan,
"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide,
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz, Hypodermics on the shore,
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock,
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline,
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan,
"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide,
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz, Hypodermics on the shore,
China's under martial law, Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore.
We didn't start the fire,
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on.
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on.
We didn't start the fire,
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it.
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it.
We didn't start the fire,
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire...
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire...
1950
Television
Some time after WWII America started to prosper again economically. The Depression was over, the war was over and American's were starting to put some extra cash back into their pockets. It was also during this time that the television started to become standard in American households. Television was invented in the late 1920's but it really started to boom during the 1950's.
In the 1950's a GE 20 inch black and white console television cost about $299. A GE 17 inch black and white table top television cost about $289. A colored 21 inch table top cost on average $500 where the color console would cost $1295 for a 15 inch model. The closer a family lived to a larger city the more channels they could get on their television. Many rural areas would only get static on their television sets. The primary stations were ABC, CBS, and NBC.
A few of television firsts happened during the 1950's such as the first presidential ad was in 1952, the release of the TV guide was in 1953 and the first colored televised baseball game, which was between Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves, was in 1951. Some shows that we are familiar with today got their start in the 1950's such as The Today Show (1952) and The Tonight Show (1954).
FCC instilled some guidelines for television similar to those of the radio in that they have to give equal political focus to all parties, and to censor obscene material. Also a certain percentage had to be used for public use. Issues related to sexual content was considered obscene. As an example when Lucy, form the show, I Love Lucy was pregnant the cameras could only show her above her pregnancy belly. Married couples could not be in the same bed either. Shows that could be deemed as indecent were to be shown late at night when children should be in bed.
Westerns, variety shows, and game shows were quite popular to watch. Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel and Gun Smoke were enjoyed by the males both young and old. Family shows, such as Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, and Ozzie and Harriet showed the values of the traditional American family. American Bandstand appealed to teenagers on social trends in music and fashions. Other shows that are popular were Ed Sullivan Show, The Bob Hope Show, This Is Your Life, and Truth or Consequence.
At the beginning of the decade about one million televisions were being used. At the end of the 1950's more than two-thirds of American households owned a television set. The onset of television brought the country together as a whole slowly did away with regional fads and stories.
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