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We Didn T Start The Fire Rhetorical Devices

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While the Berlin Wall was being torn down and NASA was launching a new spacecraft into the atmosphere, Billy Joel released one of the most controversial singles of his career. “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, premiered in 1989 and immediately became a hit with not only the nation, but the world. The one-hundred and eighteen historical words he manipulated to form a catchy pop hit helped him emphasize his deeper meaning behind the purpose of the song. That purpose, was to explain the truths behind history placed in the word choice he used. The truth that his generation, known as the Baby Boomers, were used as a scapegoat for society to blame for how history transpired during their existence. Billy Joel’s single represents the history from his birth to the late 80’s, when it released, using rhetorical tools to emphasize that it is not his generation’s fault the world was on fire. Billy Joel begun his career with his first album in 1971. It was not until he released his hits like “Piano Man” and “Captain Jack”, that he begun to gain credibility and a …show more content…

Truman, who was president of the United States at the time, called for troops to aid the South Koreans. Panmunjom, Korea is also a reference used in the song which is the location where North Korea and the United Nations negotiated for ending the war. Even though the war was left in a stalemate, it had a great impact on America and its people. A war that did not end in a stalemate was the Vietnam War. The country split into a communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. America fought to contain communism, so the US invaded Vietnam in hopes of suppressing North Vietnam and their spread of communism. Ho Chi-Mehn is the leader of the North Vietnamese, who led the battle against the United States and the French. While war was an important topic for Billy Joel to emphasize, the wars within the US were an equally crucial

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