[islandgal]

This song & its title was answer to a recent Final Jeopardy -- only one person got it right -- question was (paraphrased)
"What 1980's song do history teachers praise for its educational value." Never could understand all the references on Billy Joel's song --
fortunately, with this VIDEO, given the picture(s), now can "see" what our "ears" couldn't. Anyway, checked to see purpose behind the song.
Apparently, it's Joel's homage to the 40-years of historical headlines since his birth (1949).
Wish we could have appreciated the depths of this song when it was released.
Twenty years later, it's amazing what Joel was able to put into music and lyrics lasting only a few minutes.

Here it is, set to pictures... It's a neat flashback through the past half century. Turn up volume,
sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes! Thanks to Billy Joel and
some guy from the University of Chicago with a lot of spare time.
Top left gives you full screen... top right lets you pause. Bottom left shows the year.
The older you are, the more pictures you will recognize. But it's great at any age.

http://yeli.us/Flash/Fire.html

[jblum8156]

Amazing! And of all those names about the only one left is Chubby Checker. Who woulda thunk it?

[Tom Hannon]

I believe Doris Day is still alive also

From wikipedia--

"Of the 56 individuals mentioned by name in the song, the following nine are still alive as of November 7, 2010: Doris Day, Queen Elizabeth II, Brigitte Bardot, Fidel Castro, Chubby Checker, Bob Dylan, John Glenn, Sally Ride, and Bernhard Goetz."

Very entertaining video islandgal. Thanks.

Saw Billy Joel in concert in downtown Denver around 1983/1984. This song is later than that-- 1989. Christie Brinkley was with him on stage for a short period.

[Talk Host]

I really enjoyed that. Does it say if Billy Joel was involved in making the video, or was that an independent company?

[brostholder]

one of the great "story teller" song writers of our generation.

[K9-Lovers]

Thank you IslandGirl, very cool.

Talk Host, before the video starts it states that it was created by someone named Ye Li and how many hours it took him. He also asks for a donation at the end. There is also a place to click on to see the submliminal messages he imbedded in the video, which is very interesting, too.

I really enjoyed this -- Thanks again.

[Pturner]

While I knew that the song mentioned current and past events and people, I never understood all the words. Having all the words filled in and the compilation of pictures of the people/events was fabulous. It would have been even better with good sound reproduction and without the distracting "chatter" on the screen during the chorus. I'll watch again for the subliminal messages.

Thanks, Islandgirl