Adding Fuel to the Fire

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

– Billy Joel

Regular readers of this blog know that music has always been a big part of my life. I recently wrote a post about the nostalgia of certain songs, and this post continues that idea.

I remember when Rock Band added Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire to their library. I was stoked because I could finally learn those verses I kept tripping over while trying to memorize them. I have memorized them, by the way! I realize it’s a silly accomplishment, but people always seem to be impressed when they learn I know all of the words to this particular song, so thanks, Rock Band!

There was always one thing that puzzled me about this song…

Why would Joel mention something as idiotic as “Cola Wars” in the same song where he mentions “Children of Thalidomide“? My curiosity got the better of me, and I looked it up. Joel says he included the line because of the stupidity of competing soft-drink companies and people losing control of their anger if someone didn’t agree on Coke or Pepsi as the superior beverage choice…

Personally, I would gladly pass up either for a cup of coffee, water with lime, or Snapple peach tea.

There are many more serious issues the world is burning with, but Joel said he felt the line proved his point that we are always living in a historical event.

That quote hit me, and I instantly thought of people rioting because they couldn’t get a Popeye’s chicken sandwich in the middle of a pandemic!! I remember staring at the television as I watched the news in horror with my hands in my hair, thinking, “What have we become!?”

Speaking of chicken sandwiches, my Economics professor taught me that Popeye’s unintentionally started the chicken wars. Perhaps Billy Joel should modernize the song with all of the crap between 1989 (the year the song was released) and 2022.

Anyway, Popeye’s version of the chicken sandwich was so popular, other fast-food chains started creating their own version of the famous sandwich to compete. This caused a spike in demand for chicken; thus, causing inflation.

People love to blame the sitting president for inflation, but the two do not go hand in hand. Not to mention, the chicken wars started under the previous president, and as much as I’d love to blame him, he is not responsible for the increase in the price of chicken, beef, lettuce, oil, or anything else. Of course, he also didn’t do anything to help our economy either. Economics was by far the most depressing course I have ever taken. Our country’s finances are in a terrible state, and I wish I could march through the doors of the White House in my high heels and take my red marker to the books and help fix it.

I suppose Billy Joel was right. We are always living in a historical event because history keeps repeating. We read the books, recognize the warning signs, and yet, we keep making the same mistakes because we are unwilling to learn from those before us and set aside our differences to stand united. It takes something as drastic as terrorists causing destruction for us to band together, and that is something I will never understand.

We may not have started the fire, but we keep adding logs to it.

Love & life lessons,

Kristian