Fall Out Boy have a history of covering '80s classics and guess what? They're at it again.
The emo stalwarts have combed through the news archives from the past 34 years and given us the update of Billy Joel's 1989 hit, "We Didn't Start The Fire" we didn't know we needed. Bassist Pete Wentz spoke to Apple Music's Zane Lowe about the cover, telling him, "Dude, honestly, this idea has been brewing for so long. I’ve been trying to get somebody to do this for so long because it just seems so perfect."
Covering everything from the L.A. Riots to Tom Delonge and aliens, the Boys put their own spin on Joel's fiery classic, choosing to forgo the original's chronological order for a more convenient rhyming scheme. Of course, missing from the lyrics is a mention of COVID-19 and that pandemic we endured over the last three years. And of course, the world didn't waste any time pointing out all that was wrong with it.
Ok you guys nailed it, but what about the whole global pandemic thing lmao
— Danielle (@Mindswideasleep) June 28, 2023
Thinking of all the things Fall Out Boy did include, and then what they omitted:
— DFA Keegan Akin (@ChrpngBrd) June 28, 2023
OJ Simpson
Barry Bonds
Enron
Katrina
2008 financial crisis/ bailouts
Kony 2012
Smart phones
Student loans
Ferguson
LGBTQ+ rights
Charlottesville
Covid*
RBG
* they did mention Tiger King
My guesses for the Fall Out Boy We Didn't Start the Fire cover
— Fabian (@__Fathm) June 28, 2023
- Fall of the Berlin Wall
- New Milleneum
- 9/11
- Computers/Technology Boom
- 2008 Recession
- Afghan War
- Death of Bin Laden
- Trump
- Capitol Riots
- Covid
- BLM Riots/George Floyd
- Russo-Ukranian War
Wentz did explain to Lowe how they decided on what global events to cover, however, he didn't quite defend his decision to name-drop Michael Keaton's Batman over, say, the worst global health crisis in modern history.
“There were things that were in that we kind of bailed on because we thought other things were more important and less important,” Wentz continued. “The thing I liked about the original is that it’s just kind of a time capsule, so it’s just got things in it, but there’s no judgment on it or whatever. It’s just of like, ‘Here are these things that happened.’ There’s triumphant characters and there’s despair and it’s just kind of the tapestry of human existence. And so, I think we kind of tried to do that.”
Watch FOB's cover and Billy Joel's original below.