History on Fire: The Cold War Through Billy Joel’s Lens
What I Plan to Cover & How Learners Will Engage
We’ll embark on an epic journey through history, using Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire as our roadmap. Across 9–10 interactive sessions, we will break down all 119 Cold War–era references in the song, unpacking the political, cultural, and scientific moments that shaped the 20th century.
Each session will focus on a specific set of references, moving chronologically from the end of World War II through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Learners will explore key events, famous figures, conflicts, cultural shifts, and groundbreaking inventions, all connected to the tensions of the Cold War.
How you’ll engage:
Lyric-by-lyric investigation – learners will decode each reference and link it to real historical context.
Interactive polls & quizzes to test Cold War knowledge in real time.
Mini debates & role-play – take on the perspective of world leaders, spies, or everyday citizens.
Multimedia – original news footage, photos, and music from the era.
Session challenges – each week ends with a “mystery lyric” to solve before the next class.
By the end, learners won’t just know the song — they’ll understand the decades of history it compresses into three minutes of music.