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Electromagnetic spectrum
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Class
Freq-
uency
Wave-
length
Energy
Ionizing
radiation γ Gamma rays 300 EHz 1 pm 1.24 MeV
30 EHz 10 pm 124 keV
HX Hard X-rays
3 EHz 100 pm 12.4 keV
SX Soft X-rays
300 PHz 1 nm 1.24 keV
30 PHz 10 nm 124 eV
EUV Extreme
ultraviolet
3 PHz 100 nm 12.4 eV
NUV Near
ultraviolet
Visible 300 THz 1 μm 1.24 eV
NIR Near infrared
30 THz 10 μm 124 meV
MIR Mid infrared
3 THz 100 μm 12.4 meV
FIR Far infrared
300 GHz 1 mm 1.24 meV
Micro-
waves

and

radio
waves EHF Extremely high
frequency
30 GHz 1 cm 124 μeV
SHF Super high
frequency
3 GHz 1 dm 12.4 μeV
UHF Ultra high
frequency
300 MHz 1 m 1.24 μeV
VHF Very high
frequency
30 MHz 10 m 124 neV
HF High
frequency
3 MHz 100 m 12.4 neV
MF Medium
frequency
300 kHz 1 km 1.24 neV
LF Low
frequency
30 kHz 10 km 124 peV
VLF Very low
frequency
3 kHz 100 km 12.4 peV
ULF Ultra low frequency
300 Hz 1 Mm 1.24 peV
SLF Super low
frequency
30 Hz 10 Mm 124 feV
ELF Extremely low
frequency
3 Hz 100 Mm 12.4 feV
Sources: File:Light spectrum.svg [1][2][3]
Legend[1][2][3]
γ = Gamma rays MIR = Mid infrared HF = High freq.
HX = Hard X-rays FIR = Far infrared MF = Medium freq.
SX = Soft X-rays Radio waves LF = Low freq.
EUV = Extreme ultraviolet EHF = Extremely high freq. VLF = Very low freq.
NUV = Near ultraviolet SHF = Super high freq. VF/ULF = Voice freq.
Visible light UHF = Ultra high freq. SLF = Super low freq.
NIR = Near Infrared VHF = Very high freq. ELF = Extremely low freq.
Freq = Frequency
The electromagnetic spectrum is the entire range and scope (spectrum) of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies.
The electromagnetic spectrum extends from below the low frequencies used for modern radio communication to gamma radiation at the short-wavelength (high-frequency) end, thereby covering wavelengths from thousands of kilometers down to a fraction of the size of an atom. Visible light lies toward the shorter end, with wavelengths from 400 to 700 nanometres. The limit for long wavelengths is the size of the universe itself, while it is thought that the short wavelength limit is in the vicinity of the Planck length.[4] Until the middle of the 20th century it was believed by most physicists that this spectrum was infinite and continuous.
Nearly all types of electromagnetic radiation can be used for spectroscopy, to study and characterize matter.[5] Other technological uses are described under electromagnetic radiation.
Contents
[hide]
1 History of electromagnetic spectrum discovery
2 Range of the spectrum
3 Rationale for spectrum regional names
4 Types of radiation
4.1 Boundaries
4.2 Regions of the spectrum
4.3 Radio frequency
4.4 Microwaves
4.5 Terahertz radiation
4.6 Infrared radiation
4.7 Visible radiation (light)
4.8 Ultraviolet radiation
4.9 X-rays
4.10 Gamma rays
5 See also
6 Notes and references
7 External links
History of electromagnetic spectrum discovery
See also: History of electromagnetism, History of radio, History of electrical engineering, and History of optics
For most of history, visible light was the only known part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The ancient Greeks recognized that light traveled in straight lines and studied some of its properties, including reflection and refraction. The study of light continued, and during the 16th and 17th centuries conflicting theories regarded light as either a wave or a particle.[6]
The first discovery of electromagnetic radiation other than visible light came in 1800, when William Herschel discovered infrared radiation.[7] He was studying the temperature of different colors by moving a thermometer through light split by a prism. He noticed that the highest temperature was beyond red. He theorized that this temperature change was due to "calorific rays" that were a type of light ray that could not be seen.
The next year, Johann Ritter, working at the other end of the spectrum, noticed what he called "chemical rays" (invisible light rays that induced certain chemical reactions). These behaved similarly to visible violet light rays, but were beyond them in the spectrum.[8] They were later renamed ultraviolet radiation.
Electromagnetic radiation was first linked to electromagnetism in 1845, when Michael Faraday noticed that the polarization of light traveling through a transparent material responded to a magnetic field (see Faraday effect). During the 1860s James Maxwell developed four partial differential equations for the electromagnetic field. Two of these equations predicted the possibility and behavior of waves in the field. Analyzing the speed of these theoretical waves, Maxwell realized that they must travel at a speed that was about the known speed of light. This startling coincidence in value led Maxwell to make the inference that light itself is a type of electromagnetic wave.
Maxwell's equations predicted an infinite number of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, all traveling at the speed of light. This was the first indication of the existence of the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Maxwell's predicted waves included waves at very low frequencies compared to infrared, which in theory might be created by oscillating charges in an ordinary electrical circuit of a certain type. Attempting to prove Maxwell's equations and detect such low frequency electromagnetic radiation, in 1886 the physicist Heinrich Hertz built an apparatus to generate and detect what are now called radio waves. Hertz found the waves and was able to infer (by measuring their wavelength and multiplying it by their frequency) that they traveled at the speed of light. Hertz also demonstrated that the new radiation could be both reflected and refracted by various dielectric media, in the same manner as light. For example, Hertz was able to focus the waves using a lens made of tree resin. In a later experiment, Hertz similarly produced and measured the properties of microwaves. These new types of waves paved the way for inventions such as the wireless telegraph and the radio.
In 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen noticed a new type of radiation emitted during an experiment with an evacuated tube subjected to a high voltage. He called these radiations x-rays and found that they were able to travel through parts of the human body but were reflected or stopped by denser matter such as bones. Before long, many uses were found for them in the field of medicine.
The last portion of the electromagnetic spectrum was filled in with the discovery of gamma rays. In 1900 Paul Villard was studying the radioactive emissions of radium when he identified a new type of radiation that he first thought consisted of particles similar to known alpha and beta particles, but with the power of being far more penetrating than either. However, in 1910, British physicist William Henry Bragg demonstrated that gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation, not particles, and in 1914, Ernest Rutherford (who had named them gamma rays in 1903 when he realized that they were fundamentally different from charged alpha and beta particles) and Edward Andrade measured their wavelengths, and found that gamma rays were similar to X-rays, but with shorter wavelengths and higher frequencies.
Range of the spectrum
Electromagnetic waves are typically described by any of the following three physical properties: the frequency f, wavelength λ, or photon energy E. Frequencies observed in astronomy range from 7023239999999999999♠2.4×1023 Hz (1 GeV gamma rays) down to the local plasma frequency of the ionized interstellar medium (~1 kHz). Wavelength is inversely proportional to the wave frequency,[5] so gamma rays have very short wavelengths that are fractions of the size of atoms, whereas wavelengths on the opposite end of the spectrum can be as long as the universe. Photon energy is directly proportional to the wave frequency, so gamma ray photons have the highest energy (around a billion electron volts), while radio wave photons have very low energy (around a femtoelectronvolt). These relations are illustrated by the following equations:
f = c λ , or f = E h , or E = h c λ , {\displaystyle f={\frac {c}{\lambda }},\quad {\text{or}}\quad f={\frac {E}{h}},\quad {\text{or}}\quad E={\frac {hc}{\lambda }},}
where:
c = 7008299792458000000♠299792458 m/s is the speed of light in a vacuum
h = 6966662606895999999♠6.62606896(33)×10−34 J·s = 6985413566733000000♠4.13566733(10)×10−15 eV·s is Planck's constant.[9]
Whenever electromagnetic waves exist in a medium with matter, their wavelength is decreased. Wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, no matter what medium they are traveling through, are usually quoted in terms of the vacuum wavelength, although this is not always explicitly stated.
Generally, electromagnetic radiation is classified by wavelength into radio wave, microwave, terahertz (or sub-millimeter) radiation, infrared, the visible region that is perceived as light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. The behavior of EM radiation depends on its wavelength. When EM radiation interacts with single atoms and molecules, its behavior also depends on the amount of energy per quantum (photon) it carries.
Spectroscopy can detect a much wider region of the EM spectrum than the visible range of 400 nm to 700 nm. A common laboratory spectroscope can detect wavelengths from 2 nm to 2500 nm[citation needed]. Detailed information about the physical properties of objects, gases, or even stars can be obtained from this type of device. Spectroscopes are widely used in astrophysics. For example, many hydrogen atoms emit a radio wave photon that has a wavelength of 21.12 cm. Also, frequencies of 30 Hz and below can be produced by and are important in the study of certain stellar nebulae[10] and frequencies as high as 7027290000000000000♠2.9×1027 Hz have been detected from astrophysical sources.[11]
Rationale for spectrum regional names
Electromagnetic radiation interacts with matter in different ways across the spectrum. These types of interaction are so different that historically different names have been applied to different parts of the spectrum, as though these were different types of radiation. Thus, although these "different kinds" of electromagnetic radiation form a quantitatively continuous spectrum of frequencies and wavelengths, the spectrum remains divided for practical reasons related to these qualitative interaction differences.
Electromagnetic radiation interaction with matter
Region of the spectrum
Main interactions with matter
Radio Collective oscillation of charge carriers in bulk material (plasma oscillation). An example would be the oscillatory travels of the electrons in an antenna.
Microwave through far infrared Plasma oscillation, molecular rotation
Near infrared Molecular vibration, plasma oscillation (in metals only)
Visible Molecular electron excitation (including pigment molecules found in the human retina), plasma oscillations (in metals only)
Ultraviolet Excitation of molecular and atomic valence electrons, including ejection of the electrons (photoelectric effect)
X-rays Excitation and ejection of core atomic electrons, Compton scattering (for low atomic numbers)
Gamma rays Energetic ejection of core electrons in heavy elements, Compton scattering (for all atomic numbers), excitation of atomic nuclei, including dissociation of nuclei
High-energy gamma rays Creation of particle-antiparticle pairs. At very high energies a single photon can create a shower of high-energy particles and antiparticles upon interaction with matter.
Types of radiation
The electromagnetic spectrum
A diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum, showing various properties across the range of frequencies and wavelengths
Boundaries
A discussion of the regions (or bands or types) of the electromagnetic spectrum is given below. Note that there are no precisely defined boundaries between the bands of the electromagnetic spectrum; rather they fade into each other like the bands in a rainbow (which is the sub-spectrum of visible light). Radiation of each frequency and wavelength (or in each band) has a mix of properties of the two regions of the spectrum that bound it. For example, red light resembles infrared radiation in that it can excite and add energy to some chemical bonds and indeed must do so to power the chemical mechanisms responsible for photosynthesis and the working of the visual system.
Regions of the spectrum
The types of electromagnetic radiation are broadly classified into the following classes:[5]
Gamma radiation
X-ray radiation
Ultraviolet radiation
Visible radiation
Infrared radiation
Terahertz radiation
Microwave radiation
Radio waves
This classification goes in the increasing order of wavelength, which is characteristic of the type of radiation.[5] While, in general, the classification scheme is accurate, in reality there is often some overlap between neighboring types of electromagnetic energy. For example, SLF radio waves at 60 Hz may be received and studied by astronomers, or may be ducted along wires as electric power, although the latter is, in the strict sense, not electromagnetic radiation at all (see near and far field).
The distinction between X-rays and gamma rays is partly based on sources: the photons generated from nuclear decay or other nuclear and subnuclear/particle process, are always termed gamma rays, whereas X-rays are generated by electronic transitions involving highly energetic inner atomic electrons.[12][13][14] In general, nuclear transitions are much more energetic than electronic transitions, so gamma-rays are more energetic than X-rays, but exceptions exist. By analogy to electronic transitions, muonic atom transitions are also said to produce X-rays, even though their energy may exceed 6 megaelectronvolts (0.96 pJ),[15] whereas there are many (77 known to be less than 10 keV (1.6 fJ)) low-energy nuclear transitions (e.g., the 7.6 eV (1.22 aJ) nuclear transition of thorium-229), and, despite being one million-fold less energetic than some muonic X-rays, the emitted photons are still called gamma rays due to their nuclear origin.[16]
The convention that EM radiation that is known to come from the nucleus, is always called "gamma ray" radiation is the only convention that is universally respected, however. Many astronomical gamma ray sources (such as gamma ray bursts) are known to be too energetic (in both intensity and wavelength) to be of nuclear origin. Quite often, in high energy physics and in medical radiotherapy, very high energy EMR (in the >10 MeV region)—which is of higher energy than any nuclear gamma ray—is not called X-ray or gamma-ray, but instead by the generic term of "high energy photons."
The region of the spectrum where a particular observed electromagnetic radiation falls, is reference frame-dependent (due to the Doppler shift for light), so EM radiation that one observer would say is in one region of the spectrum could appear to an observer moving at a substantial fraction of the speed of light with respect to the first to be in another part of the spectrum. For example, consider the cosmic microwave background. It was produced, when matter and radiation decoupled, by the de-excitation of hydrogen atoms to the ground state. These photons were from Lyman series transitions, putting them in the ultraviolet (UV) part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Now this radiation has undergone enough cosmological red shift to put it into the microwave region of the spectrum for observers moving slowly (compared to the speed of light) with respect to the cosmos.
Radio frequency
Main articles: Radio frequency, Radio spectrum, and Radio waves
Radio waves generally are utilized by antennas of appropriate size (according to the principle of resonance), with wavelengths ranging from hundreds of meters to about one millimeter. They are used for transmission of data, via modulation. Television, mobile phones, wireless networking, and amateur radio all use radio waves. The use of the radio spectrum is regulated by many governments through frequency allocation.
Radio waves can be made to carry information by varying a combination of the amplitude, frequency, and phase of the wave within a frequency band. When EM radiation impinges upon a conductor, it couples to the conductor, travels along it, and induces an electric current on the surface of that conductor by exciting the electrons of the conducting material. This effect (the skin effect) is used in antennas.
Microwaves
Main article: Microwaves
Plot of Earth's atmospheric transmittance (or opacity) to various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.
The super-high frequency (SHF) and extremely high frequency (EHF) of microwaves are on the short side of radio waves. Microwaves are waves that are typically short enough (measured in millimeters) to employ tubular metal waveguides of reasonable diameter. Microwave energy is produced with klystron and magnetron tubes, and with solid state diodes such as Gunn and IMPATT devices. Microwaves are absorbed by molecules that have a dipole moment in liquids. In a microwave oven, this effect is used to heat food. Low-intensity microwave radiation is used in Wi-Fi, although this is at intensity levels unable to cause thermal heating.
Volumetric heating, as used by microwave ovens, transfers energy through the material electromagnetically, not as a thermal heat flux. The benefit of this is a more uniform heating and reduced heating time; microwaves can heat material in less than 1% of the time of conventional heating methods.
When active, the average microwave oven is powerful enough to cause interference at close range with poorly shielded electromagnetic fields such as those found in mobile medical devices and poorly made consumer electronics.[17]
Terahertz radiation
Main article: Terahertz radiation
Terahertz radiation is a region of the spectrum between far infrared and microwaves. Until recently, the range was rarely studied and few sources existed for microwave energy at the high end of the band (sub-millimeter waves or so-called terahertz waves), but applications such as imaging and communications are now appearing. Scientists are also looking to apply terahertz technology in the armed forces, where high-frequency waves might be directed at enemy troops to incapacitate their electronic equipment.[18]
Infrared radiation
Main article: Infrared radiation
The infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum covers the range from roughly 300 GHz to 400 THz (1 mm - 750 nm). It can be divided into three parts:[5]
Far-infrared, from 300 GHz to 30 THz (1 mm – 10 μm). The lower part of this range may also be called microwaves or terahertz waves. This radiation is typically absorbed by so-called rotational modes in gas-phase molecules, by molecular motions in liquids, and by phonons in solids. The water in Earth's atmosphere absorbs so strongly in this range that it renders the atmosphere in effect opaque. However, there are certain wavelength ranges ("windows") within the opaque range that allow partial transmission, and can be used for astronomy. The wavelength range from approximately 200 μm up to a few mm is often referred to as "sub-millimeter" in astronomy, reserving far infrared for wavelengths below 200 μm.
Mid-infrared, from 30 to 120 THz (10–2.5 μm). Hot objects (black-body radiators) can radiate strongly in this range, and human skin at normal body temperature radiates strongly at the lower end of this region. This radiation is absorbed by molecular vibrations, where the different atoms in a molecule vibrate around their equilibrium positions. This range is sometimes called the fingerprint region, since the mid-infrared absorption spectrum of a compound is very specific for that compound.
Near-infrared, from 120 to 400 THz (2,500–750 nm). Physical processes that are relevant for this range are similar to those for visible light. The highest frequences in this region can be detected directly by some types of photographic film, and by many types of solid state image sensors for infrared photography and videography.
Visible radiation (light)
Main article: Visible spectrum
Above infrared in frequency comes visible light. The Sun emits its peak power in the visible region, although integrating the entire emission power spectrum through all wavelengths shows that the Sun emits slightly more infrared than visible light.[19] By definition, visible light is the part of the EM spectrum the human eye is the most sensitive to. Visible light (and near-infrared light) is typically absorbed and emitted by electrons in molecules and atoms that move from one energy level to another. This action allows the chemical mechanisms that underlie human vision and plant photosynthesis. The light that excites the human visual system is a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. A rainbow shows the optical (visible) part of the electromagnetic spectrum; infrared (if it could be seen) would be located just beyond the red side of the rainbow with ultraviolet appearing just beyond the violet end.
Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 380 nm and 760 nm (400–790 terahertz) is detected by the human eye and perceived as visible light. Other wavelengths, especially near infrared (longer than 760 nm) and ultraviolet (shorter than 380 nm) are also sometimes referred to as light, especially when the visibility to humans is not relevant. White light is a combination of lights of different wavelengths in the visible spectrum. Passing white light through a prism splits it up into the several colors of light observed in the visible spectrum between 400 nm and 780 nm.
If radiation having a frequency in the visible region of the EM spectrum reflects off an object, say, a bowl of fruit, and then strikes the eyes, this results in visual perception of the scene. The brain's visual system processes the multitude of reflected frequencies into different shades and hues, and through this insufficiently-understood psychophysical phenomenon, most people perceive a bowl of fruit.
At most wavelengths, however, the information carried by electromagnetic radiation is not directly detected by human senses. Natural sources produce EM radiation across the spectrum, and technology can also manipulate a broad range of wavelengths. Optical fiber transmits light that, although not necessarily in the visible part of the spectrum (it is usually infrared), can carry information. The modulation is similar to that used with radio waves.
Ultraviolet radiation
Main article: Ultraviolet
The amount of penetration of UV relative to altitude in Earth's ozone
Next in frequency comes ultraviolet (UV). The wavelength of UV rays is shorter than the violet end of the visible spectrum but longer than the X-ray.
UV in the very shortest wavelength range (next to X-rays) is capable of ionizing atoms (see photoelectric effect), greatly changing their physical behavior.
At the middle range of UV, UV rays cannot ionize but can break chemical bonds, making molecules unusually reactive. Sunburn, for example, is caused by the disruptive effects of middle range UV radiation on skin cells, which is the main cause of skin cancer. UV rays in the middle range can irreparably damage the complex DNA molecules in the cells producing thymine dimers making it a very potent mutagen.
The Sun emits significant UV radiation (about 10% of its total power), including extremely short wavelength UV that could potentially destroy most life on land (ocean water would provide some protection for life there). However, most of the Sun's damaging UV wavelengths are absorbed by the atmosphere before they reach the surface. The higher energy (shortest wavelength) ranges of UV (called "vacuum UV") are absorbed by nitrogen and, at longer wavelengths, by simple diatomic oxygen in the air. Most of the UV in the mid-range of energy is blocked by the ozone layer, which absorbs strongly in the important 200–315 nm range, the lower energy part of which is too long for ordinary dioxygen in air to absorb. This leaves less than 3% of sunlight at sea level in UV, with all of this remainder at the lower energies. The remainder is UV-A, along with some UV-B. The very lowest energy range of UV between 315 nm and visible light (called UV-A) is not blocked well by the atmosphere, but does not cause sunburn and does less biological damage. However, it is not harmless and does create oxygen radicals, mutations and skin damage. See ultraviolet for more information.
X-rays
Main article: X-rays
After UV come X-rays, which, like the upper ranges of UV are also ionizing. However, due to their higher energies, X-rays can also interact with matter by means of the Compton effect. Hard X-rays have shorter wavelengths than soft X-rays and as they can pass through many substances with little absorption, they can be used to 'see through' objects with 'thicknesses' less than that equivalent to a few meters of water. One notable use is diagnostic X-ray imaging in medicine (a process known as radiography). X-rays are useful as probes in high-energy physics. In astronomy, the accretion disks around neutron stars and black holes emit X-rays, enabling studies of these phenomena. X-rays are also emitted by the coronas of stars and are strongly emitted by some types of nebulae. However, X-ray telescopes must be placed outside the Earth's atmosphere to see astronomical X-rays, since the great depth of the atmosphere of Earth is opaque to X-rays (with areal density of 1000 grams per cm2), equivalent to 10 meters thickness of water.[20] This is an amount sufficient to block almost all astronomical X-rays (and also astronomical gamma rays—see below).
Gamma rays
Main article: Gamma rays
After hard X-rays come gamma rays, which were discovered by Paul Villard in 1900. These are the most energetic photons, having no defined lower limit to their wavelength. In astronomy they are valuable for studying high-energy objects or regions, however as with X-rays this can only be done with telescopes outside the Earth's atmosphere. Gamma rays are used experimentally by physicists for their penetrating ability and are produced by a number of radioisotopes. They are used for irradiation of foods and seeds for sterilization, and in medicine they are occasionally used in radiation cancer therapy.[21] More commonly, gamma rays are used for diagnostic imaging in nuclear medicine, an example being PET scans. The wavelength of gamma rays can be measured with high accuracy through the effects of Compton scattering.
See also
Electromagnetism portal
Electronics portal
Telecommunication portal
Bandplan
Cosmic ray
Digital dividend after digital television transition
Electroencephalography
Infrared window
Ionizing radiation
List of international common standards
Optical window
Ozone layer
Radiant energy
Radiation
Radio window
Spectroscopy
V band
W band
Notes and references
^ Jump up to: a b What is Light? Archived December 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. – UC Davis lecture slides
^ Jump up to: a b Elert, Glenn. "The Electromagnetic Spectrum, The Physics Hypertextbook". Hypertextbook.com. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
^ Jump up to: a b "Definition of frequency bands on". Vlf.it. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
Jump up ^ Bakshi, U. A.; Godse, A. P. (2009). Basic Electronics Engineering. Technical Publications. pp. 8–10. ISBN 978-81-8431-580-6.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Mehta, Akul. "Introduction to the Electromagnetic Spectrum and Spectroscopy". Pharmaxchange.info. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
Jump up ^ Haitel, Gary (2014-05-15). Origins and Grand Finale: How the Bible and Science relate to the Origin of Everything, Abuses of Political Authority, and End Times Predictions. iUniverse. ISBN 9781491732571.
Jump up ^ "Herschel Discovers Infrared Light". Cool Cosmos Classroom activities. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 4 March 2013. He directed sunlight through a glass prism to create a spectrum […] and then measured the temperature of each colour. […] He found that the temperatures of the colors increased from the violet to the red part of the spectrum. […] Herschel decided to measure the temperature just beyond the red of the spectrum in a region where no sunlight was visible. To his surprise, he found that this region had the highest temperature of all.
Jump up ^ Davidson, Michael W. "Johann Wilhelm Ritter (1776–1810)". The Florida State University. Retrieved 5 March 2013. Ritter […] hypothesized that there must also be invisible radiation beyond the violet end of the spectrum and commenced experiments to confirm his speculation. He began working with silver chloride, a substance decomposed by light, measuring the speed at which different colors of light broke it down. […] Ritter […] demonstrated that the fastest rate of decomposition occurred with radiation that could not be seen, but that existed in a region beyond the violet. Ritter initially referred to the new type of radiation as chemical rays, but the title of ultraviolet radiation eventually became the preferred term.
Jump up ^ Mohr, Peter J.; Taylor, Barry N.; Newell, David B. (2008). "CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2006". Reviews of Modern Physics. 80 (2): 633–730. Bibcode:2008RvMP...80..633M. arXiv:0801.0028  . doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.80.633. Direct link to value.
Jump up ^ Condon, J. J.; Ransom, S. M. "Essential Radio Astronomy: Pulsar Properties". National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
Jump up ^ Abdo, A. A.; Allen, B.; Berley, D.; Blaufuss, E.; Casanova, S.; Chen, C.; Coyne, D. G.; Delay, R. S.; Dingus, B. L.; Ellsworth, R. W.; Fleysher, L.; Fleysher, R.; Gebauer, I.; Gonzalez, M. M.; Goodman, J. A.; Hays, E.; Hoffman, C. M.; Kolterman, B. E.; Kelley, L. A.; Lansdell, C. P.; Linnemann, J. T.; McEnery, J. E.; Mincer, A. I.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Nemethy, P.; Noyes, D.; Ryan, J. M.; Samuelson, F. W.; Saz Parkinson, P. M.; et al. (2007). "Discovery of TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from the Cygnus Region of the Galaxy". The Astrophysical Journal. 658: L33. Bibcode:2007ApJ...658L..33A. arXiv:astro-ph/0611691  . doi:10.1086/513696.
Jump up ^ Feynman, Richard; Leighton, Robert; Sands, Matthew (1963). The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol.1. USA: Addison-Wesley. pp. 2–5. ISBN 0-201-02116-1.
Jump up ^ L'Annunziata, Michael; Baradei, Mohammad (2003). Handbook of Radioactivity Analysis. Academic Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-12-436603-1.
Jump up ^ Grupen, Claus; Cowan, G.; Eidelman, S. D.; Stroh, T. (2005). Astroparticle Physics. Springer. p. 109. ISBN 3-540-25312-2.
Jump up ^ Corrections to muonic X-rays and a possible proton halo slac-pub-0335 (1967)
Jump up ^ "Gamma-Rays". Hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
Jump up ^ Paithankar, A.S. (2001). "Electromagnetic interference by high power microwaves". INEMIC 2001-2002: 20–22.
Jump up ^ "Advanced weapon systems using lethal Short-pulse terahertz radiation from high-intensity-laser-produced plasmas". India Daily. March 6, 2005. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
Jump up ^ "Reference Solar Spectral Irradiance: Air Mass 1.5". Retrieved 2009-11-12.
Jump up ^ Koontz, Steve (26 June 2012) Designing Spacecraft and Mission Operations Plans to Meet Flight Crew Radiation Dose. NASA/MIT Workshop. See pages I-7 (atmosphere) and I-23 (for water).
Jump up ^ Uses of Electromagnetic Waves | gcse-revision, physics, waves, uses-electromagnetic-waves | Revision World
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Electromagnetic spectrum.
UnwantedEmissions.com (U.S. radio spectrum allocations resource)
Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Allocations Chart (from Australian Communications and Media Authority)
Canadian Table of Frequency Allocations (from Industry Canada)
U.S. Frequency Allocation Chart — Covering the range 3 kHz to 300 GHz (from Department of Commerce)
UK frequency allocation table (from Ofcom, which inherited the Radiocommunications Agency's duties, pdf format)
Flash EM Spectrum Presentation / Tool – Very complete and customizable.
How to render the color spectrum / Code – Only approximately right.
Poster "Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum" (992 kB)
Electromagnetic Spectrum presentation
Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy: A Call to Action U.S. Department of Defense
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text:
We Didn't Start the Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
"We Didn't Start the Fire"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album Storm Front
B-side
"House of Blue Light"
Released
September 27, 1989
Format
7" single
12" single
CD
Cassette Single
Recorded
July 1989
Genre
Pop Rock
Length
4:49 (Album version)
4:29 (Single version)
Label
Columbia
Songwriter(s)
Billy Joel
Producer(s)
Mick Jones
Billy Joel
Billy Joel singles chronology
"Baby Grand"
(1987) "We Didn't Start the Fire"
(1989) "Leningrad"
(1989)
"Baby Grand"
(1987) "We Didn't Start the Fire"
(1989) "Leningrad"
(1989)
Storm Front track listing
"That's Not Her Style"
(1) "We Didn't Start the Fire"
(2) "The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
(3)
Music video
"We Didn't Start the Fire" on YouTube
"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song by American musician Billy Joel. Its lyrics include brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. The song was also a No. 1 hit in the United States.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Music video
3 Historical events referred to in the song
3.1 1940s
3.1.1 1949
3.2 1950s
3.2.1 1950
3.2.2 1951
3.2.3 1952
3.2.4 1953
3.2.5 1954
3.2.6 1955
3.2.7 1956
3.2.8 1957
3.2.9 1958
3.2.10 1959
3.3 1960s
3.3.1 1960
3.3.2 1961
3.3.3 1962
3.3.4 1963
3.3.5 1965
3.3.6 1968
3.3.7 1969
3.4 1970s
3.4.1 1974–75
3.4.2 1976–77
3.4.3 1979
3.5 1980s
3.5.1 1981
3.5.2 1983
3.5.3 1984
3.5.4 1988
3.5.5 1989
4 Derivations
5 Charts
5.1 Weekly charts
5.2 Year-end charts
6 Personnel
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History[edit]
Joel got the idea for the song when he had just turned 40. He was in a recording studio and met a friend of Sean Lennon who had just turned 21 who said "It's a terrible time to be 21!" Joel replied to him, "Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y'know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful." The friend replied, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties". Joel retorted, "Wait a minute, didn't you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?" Joel later said those headlines formed the basic framework for the song.[1][2][3]
Joel has said, "I'm a history nut. I devour books. At one time I wanted to be a history teacher". According to his mother, he was a bookworm by the age of seven.[4] Unlike most of Joel's songs, the lyrics were written before the melody, owing to the somewhat unusual style of the song. The song was a huge commercial success and was Joel's third Billboard No. 1 hit. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.[5]
I had turned forty. It was 1989 and I said "Okay, what's happened in my life?" I wrote down the year 1949. Okay, Harry Truman was president. Popular singer of the day, Doris Day. China went Communist. Another popular singer, Johnnie Ray. Big Broadway show, South Pacific. Journalist, Walter Winchell. Athlete, Joe DiMaggio. Then I went on to 1950 ... It's one of the worst melodies I've ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.[6]
Joel has said, "There's an element of malevolence in the song; it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop."[1] He has mentioned having mixed feelings about the song. "It's a nightmare to perform live, because if I miss one word, it's a train wreck."[7] He has called it a "novelty song" that does not "really define me as well as album songs that probably don't get played",[8] and has also criticized the song on strictly musical grounds. In 1993, when discussing it with documentary filmmaker David Horn, Joel compared its melodic content unfavorably to his song "The Longest Time": "Take a song like 'We Didn't Start the Fire.' It's really not much of a song ... If you take the melody by itself, terrible. Like a dentist drill."[9]
When asked if he could do a follow-up about the next couple of years after the events that transpired in the original song, he commented "No, I wrote one song already and I don't think it was really that good to begin with, melodically."[3]
Music video[edit]
External video
Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire (Official Video), 4:05
A music video for the single was directed by Chris Blum.[10]
Historical events referred to in the song[edit]
"We Didn't Start the Fire" (1989)
"We Didn't Start the Fire" lists historical events in stream of consciousness.
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Though the lyrics are rapid-fire with several people and events mentioned in a single word each, there is widespread agreement on the meaning of the lyrics. Steven Ettinger wrote,
Billy Joel captured the major images, events, and personalities of this half-century in a three-minute song.... It was pure information overload, a song that assumed we knew exactly what he was singing about...What was truly alarming was the realization that we, the listeners, for the most part understood the references.[11]
The following events (with Joel's lyric for each appearing in bold) are listed in the order that they appear in the song, which is almost entirely chronological.[12] The lyric for each individual event is brief and the events are punctuated by the chorus and other lyrical elements. The following list includes longer, more descriptive names for clarity. Events from a variety of contexts — such as popular entertainment, foreign affairs, and sports — are intermingled, giving an impression of the culture of the time as a whole. There are 119 items listed in the song.
1940s[edit]
1949[edit]
Harry Truman was inaugurated as U.S. president after being elected in 1948 to his second and final presidential term; previously he was sworn in following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He authorized the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II, on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.
Doris Day enters the public spotlight with the films My Dream Is Yours and It's a Great Feeling as well as popular songs like "It's Magic".
Red China: The Communist Party of China wins the Chinese Civil War, establishing the People's Republic of China.
Johnnie Ray signs his first recording contract with Okeh Records, although he would not become popular for another two years.
South Pacific, the prize-winning musical, opens on Broadway on April 7.
Walter Winchell is an aggressive radio and newspaper journalist credited with inventing the gossip column.
Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees go to five World Series in the 1940s, winning four of them.
1950s[edit]
1950[edit]
Joe McCarthy, the U.S. Senator, gains national attention and begins his anti-Communism crusade with his Lincoln Day speech.
Richard Nixon is first elected to the United States Senate.
Studebaker, a popular car company, begins its financial downfall.
Television is becoming widespread throughout Europe and North America.
North Korea and South Korea declare war after Northern forces stream south on June 25.
Marilyn Monroe soars in popularity with five new films, including The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve.
1951[edit]
Rosenbergs, married couple Ethel and Julius, convicted on June 19 of espionage.
H-Bomb: The United States is in the middle of developing the hydrogen bomb as a nuclear weapon; it would be first tested in late 1952.
Sugar Ray Robinson, a champion boxer, defeats Jake LaMotta in the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre".
Panmunjom, the border village in Korea, is the location of truce talks between the parties of the Korean War.
Marlon Brando is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire.
The King and I, the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, opens on Broadway on March 29.
The Catcher in the Rye, a controversial novel by J. D. Salinger, is published.
1952[edit]
Dwight D. Eisenhower is first elected as President of the United States, winning by a landslide margin of 442 to 89 electoral votes.
Vaccine for polio is privately tested by Jonas Salk.
England's got a new queen: Queen Elizabeth II succeeds to the throne upon the death of her father, George VI, and is crowned the next year.
Rocky Marciano defeats Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion.
Liberace has a popular 1950s television show for his musical entertainment.
Santayana goodbye: George Santayana, philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist, dies on September 26.
1953[edit]
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, dies on March 5.
Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Stalin for six months following his death. Malenkov had presided over Stalin's purges, but would be spared a similar fate by his successor Nikita Khrushchev.
Gamal Abdel Nasser acts as the true power behind the new Egyptian nation as Muhammad Naguib's minister of the interior.
Sergei Prokofiev, the composer, dies on March 5, the same day as Stalin.
Winthrop Rockefeller and his wife Barbara are involved in a highly publicized divorce, culminating in 1954 with a record-breaking $5.5 million settlement.[13]
Roy Campanella, an Italian-American/ African-American baseball catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, receives the National League's Most Valuable Player award for the second time.
Communist bloc: The uprising of 1953 in East Germany is crushed by the Volkspolizei and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
1954[edit]
Roy Cohn resigns as Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel and enters private practice with the fall of McCarthy.
Juan Perón spends his last full year as President of Argentina before a September 1955 coup.
Arturo Toscanini is at the height of his fame as a conductor, performing regularly with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on national radio.
Dacron is an early artificial fiber made from the same plastic as polyester.
Dien Bien Phu falls. A French/Vietnamese camp falls to Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap, signaling the end of French Indochina and leading to the creation of North Vietnam and South Vietnam as separate states.
"Rock Around the Clock" is a hit single released by Bill Haley & His Comets in May, spurring worldwide interest in rock and roll music.
1955[edit]
Albert Einstein dies on April 18 at the age of 76.
James Dean achieves success with East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, gets nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and dies in a car accident on September 30 at the age of 24.
Brooklyn's got a winning team: The Brooklyn Dodgers win their first and only World Series before their move to Los Angeles.
Davy Crockett is a Disney television miniseries about the legendary frontiersman of the same name. The show was a huge hit with young boys and inspired a short-lived "coonskin cap" craze.
Peter Pan: A year after Walt Disney Animation Studios released an animated adaption of the play by J. M. Barrie, the 1954 stage musical of the same name starring Mary Martin is broadcast on NBC live and in color.
Elvis Presley signs with RCA Records on November 21, beginning his pop career.
Disneyland opens on July 17, 1955 as Walt Disney's first theme park.
1956[edit]
Brigitte Bardot appears in her first mainstream film And God Created Woman and establishes an international reputation as a French "sex kitten".
Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and site of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Alabama is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ultimately led to the removal of the last race laws in the United States. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr figure prominently.
Nikita Khrushchev makes his famous Secret Speech denouncing Stalin's "Cult of personality" on February 25.
Princess Grace Kelly releases her last film, High Society, and marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Peyton Place, the best-selling novel by Grace Metalious, is published. Though mild compared to today's standards, it shocked the reserved values of the 1950s.
Trouble in the Suez: The Suez Crisis boils as Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal on October 29.
1957[edit]
Little Rock, Arkansas is the site of an anti-integration standoff, as Governor Orval Faubus stops the Little Rock Nine from attending Little Rock Central High School and President Eisenhower deploys the 101st Airborne Division to counteract him.
Boris Pasternak, the Russian author, publishes his novel Doctor Zhivago.
Mickey Mantle is in the middle of his career as a famous New York Yankees outfielder and American League All-Star for the sixth year in a row.
Jack Kerouac publishes his first novel in seven years, On the Road.
Sputnik becomes the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, marking the start of the space race.
Zhou En-Lai, Premier of the People's Republic of China, survives an assassination attempt on the charter airliner Kashmir Princess.
The Bridge on the River Kwai, an adaptation of a the 1954 novel, is released and receives seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.[14]
1958[edit]
Lebanon is engulfed in a political and religious crisis that eventually involves U.S. intervention.
Charles de Gaulle is elected first president of the French Fifth Republic following the Algerian Crisis.
California baseball begins as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California and become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, respectively. They are the first teams in Major League Baseball west of Kansas City.
Charles Starkweather Homicide: Starkweather's murder spree, in which he kills eleven people between January 25 and 29 before being caught in a massive manhunt in Douglas, Wyoming, captures the attention of Americans.
Children of Thalidomide: Many pregnant women taking the drug Thalidomide had children born with congenital birth defects.
1959[edit]
Buddy Holly dies in a plane crash on February 3 with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, in a day that had a devastating impact on the country and youth culture. Joel prefaces the lyric with a Holly signature vocal hiccup: "Uh-huh, uh-huh."
Ben-Hur, a film adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ starring Charlton Heston, wins eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Space Monkey: Aboard the flight Jupiter AM-18, Able and Miss Baker become the first two animals to be launched by NASA into space that returned to Earth alive.
Mafia organizations are the center of attention for the FBI and public attention builds to this organized crime society with a historically Italian-American origin.
Hula hoops reach 100 million in sales as the latest toy fad.
Fidel Castro comes to power after a revolution in Cuba and visits the United States later that year on an unofficial twelve-day tour.
Edsel is a no-go: Production of this car marque ends after only three years due to poor sales.
1960s[edit]
1960[edit]
U-2: An American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union, causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
Syngman Rhee was rescued by the CIA after being forced to resign as leader of South Korea for allegedly fixing an election and embezzling more than US $20 million.
Payola, illegal payments for radio broadcasting of songs, was publicized due to Dick Clark's testimony before Congress and Alan Freed's public disgrace.
John F. Kennedy beats Richard Nixon in the November 8 general election.
Chubby Checker popularizes the dance The Twist with his cover of the song of the same name.
Psycho: An Alfred Hitchcock thriller, based on a pulp novel by Robert Bloch and adapted by Joseph Stefano, which becomes a landmark in graphic violence and cinema sensationalism. The screeching violins heard at this point in the song are a trademark of the film's soundtrack.
Belgians in the Congo: The Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville) was declared independent of Belgium on June 30, with Joseph Kasavubu as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister.
1961[edit]
Ernest Hemingway commits suicide on July 2 after a long battle with depression.
Adolf Eichmann, a "most wanted" Nazi war criminal, is traced to Argentina and captured by Mossad agents. He is covertly taken to Israel where he is put on trial for crimes against humanity during World War II, convicted in 1961, and hanged the following year, 1962.
Stranger in a Strange Land, written by Robert A. Heinlein, is a breakthrough best-seller with themes of sexual freedom and liberation.
Bob Dylan is signed to Columbia Records after a New York Times review by critic Robert Shelton.
Berlin's separation into West Berlin and East Berlin is cemented when the Berlin Wall is erected on August 13 to prevent citizens of East Germany escaping to the West.
Bay of Pigs Invasion, an attempt by United States-trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro, fails.
1962[edit]
Lawrence of Arabia: The Academy Award-winning film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence starring Peter O'Toole premieres in the United States on December 16.
British Beatlemania: The Beatles, a British rock group, gain Ringo Starr as drummer and Brian Epstein as manager, and join the EMI's Parlophone label. They soon become the world's most famous rock band, with the word "Beatlemania" adopted by the press for their fans' unprecedented enthusiasm. It also began the British Invasion in the United States.
Ole Miss: A riot was fought between Southern segregationist civilians and federal and state forces as a result of the forced enrollment of black student James Meredith at the University of Mississippi.
John Glenn: Flew the first American manned orbital mission termed "Friendship 7" on February 20.
Liston beats Patterson: Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson fight for the world heavyweight championship on September 25, ending in a first-round knockout. This match marked the first time Patterson had ever been knocked out and one of only eight losses in his 20-year professional career.
1963[edit]
Pope Paul VI: Cardinal Giovanni Montini is elected to the papacy and takes the papal name of Paul VI.
Malcolm X makes his infamous statement "The chickens have come home to roost" about the Kennedy assassination, thus causing the Nation of Islam to censure him; about fifteen months later, he himself is assassinated while preparing to make a speech.
British politician sex: The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, has a relationship with Christine Keeler, a showgirl, and then lies when questioned about it before the House of Commons. When the truth came out, it led to his own resignation and undermined the credibility of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
JFK blown away: President John F. Kennedy is assassinated on November 22 while riding in an open convertible through Dallas.
1965[edit]
Birth control: In the early 1960s, oral contraceptives, popularly known as "the pill", first go on the market and are extremely popular. Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 challenged a Connecticut law prohibiting contraceptives. In 1968, Pope Paul VI released a papal encyclical titled Humanae vitae which reaffirmed Catholic teaching that artificial birth control was a sin.
Ho Chi Minh: A Vietnamese Communist, who served as President of Vietnam from 1954–1969. March 2 Operation Rolling Thunder begins bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply line from North Vietnam to the Vietcong rebels in the south. On March 8, the first U.S. combat troops, 3,500 marines, land in South Vietnam.
1968[edit]
Richard Nixon back again: Former Vice President Nixon is elected President in 1968.
1969[edit]
Moonshot: Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing, successfully lands on the moon.
Woodstock: Famous rock and roll festival of 1969 that came to be the epitome of the counterculture movement.
1970s[edit]
1974–75[edit]
Watergate: Political scandal that began when the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. was broken into. After the break-in, word began to spread that President Richard Nixon may have known about the break-in, and tried to cover it up. The scandal would ultimately result in the resignation of President Nixon; to date, this remains the only time that anyone has ever resigned the United States Presidency.
Punk rock: Blondie and The Ramones form, with the Sex Pistols following in 1975, ushering in the punk era.
1976–77[edit]
(Note: an item from 1976 is put between items from 1977 to make the song scan better.)
Menachem Begin becomes Prime Minister of Israel in 1977 and negotiates the Camp David Accords with Egypt's president in 1978.
Ronald Reagan, former Governor of California, begins his second Presidential campaign in 1976. He eventually wins in the next election in 1980.
Palestine: The ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict escalates as Israelis establish settlements in the West Bank, previously held by Jordan for non-Jewish Palestinians after the 1948 war, beginning shortly after Begin's election.
Terror on the air line: Numerous aircraft hijackings take place, specifically, the Palestinian hijack of Air France Flight 139 and the subsequent Operation Entebbe in Uganda.
1979[edit]
Ayatollah's in Iran: During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the West-backed and secular Shah is overthrown as the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gains power after years in exile and creates an Islamic society
Russians in Afghanistan: Following their move into Afghanistan on December 24, Soviet forces fight a ten-year war up until 1989.
1980s[edit]
1981[edit]
Wheel of Fortune: The hit television game show, on air since 1975, underwent several changes in the early 1980s, including the hiring of Pat Sajak as host in 1981, Vanna White as hostess in 1982, and a move to syndication in 1983, all three of which were still in effect by the time of the song (and remained through the 1990s, 2000s and much of the 2010s as well).
1983[edit]
Sally Ride: On June 18, she became the first American woman in space by flying aboard Challenger on the STS-7 shuttle mission.
Heavy metal suicide: In the 1970s and 1980s, heavy metal bands became popular. Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest in particular were sued for fans' suicides after listening to their songs "Suicide Solution" and "Better By You, Better Than Me", respectively.
Foreign debts: Persistent U.S. trade and budget deficits
Homeless vets: Veterans of the Vietnam War, including many disabled ex-military, are reported to be left homeless and impoverished.
AIDS: A collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is first detected and recognized in the 1980s, and was on its way to becoming a pandemic.
Crack cocaine use surged in the mid-to-late 1980s.
1984[edit]
Bernie Goetz: On December 22, Goetz shot four young men whom he said were threatening him on a New York City subway. Goetz was charged with attempted murder but was acquitted of the charges, though convicted of carrying an unlicensed gun.
1988[edit]
Hypodermics on the shore: Medical waste was found washed up on the beaches of Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut after being illegally dumped at sea. Before this event, waste dumped in the oceans was an "out of sight, out of mind" affair. This has been cited as one of the crucial turning points in popular opinion on environmentalism.
1989[edit]
China's under martial law: On May 20, China declares martial law, resulting in the use of military forces against protesting students to end the Tiananmen Square protests.
Rock-and-roller cola wars: Soft drink giants Coke and Pepsi each run marketing campaigns using rock & roll and popular music stars to reach the teenage and young adult demographic.
Derivations[edit]
Numerous parodies and takeoffs have been based on the song (often expanding to events that have occurred since 1989), including The Simpsons' parody "They'll Never Stop the Simpsons" at the end of the 2002 "Gump Roast" episode,[15] and the San Francisco a cappella group The Richter Scales' 2007 Webby Award-winning[16] parody "Here Comes Another Bubble." The Cayuga's Waiters, a former a cappella group at Cornell University, previously performed a version entitled "We Didn't Go to Harvard" with constantly changing lyrics to reflect the changing Cornell experience but always mentioning various Cornell and Ithaca landmarks. The band Guns 'n' Moses made a parody of the song called "We Love Barney Fife" that was played frequently on the Doctor Demento radio show, which not only paid tribute to The Andy Griffith Show, it also took advantage of the melody of the refrain being a suitable counterpoint for the Andy Griffith Show theme ("The Fishin' Hole"). The song was also parodied on the episode of the U.S. version of The Office where "Ryan the temp" starts a fire in the office building, and Dwight and Michael change the lyrics of the song to "Ryan Started The Fire". On a 2017 episode of The Goldbergs, Barry rehearses the song for his talent show, but manages to mess up the lyrics; eventually, when he performs it at the talent show, he adapts new lyrics to the song referencing his high school experiences, which is very well received.
Another parody was released in 2010 titled "The Wii Didn't Start the Fire" about the history of video games.[17] "We Didn't Start the Fire" was also used in the American comedy series Parks and Recreation in the seventh season episode, "Leslie and Ron" (aired January 20, 2015), in which Leslie attempts to sing the song in order to get Ron to confess about why he left the parks department.
JibJab set their 2007 year in review song to "We Didn't Start the Fire"'s tune. In early 2009, comedy website CollegeHumor created a parody entitled "We Didn't Start the Flame War" which chronicles a long list of common inflammatory (and often explicit) comments left on content over a wide variety of popular websites by internet trolls.[18]
In 1993, Lenny Solomon and Shlock Rock created a parody entitled "We've Got a Strong Desire", which contains over 5000 years of Jewish history told in the tune of the song.[19][20] In the Netherlands the Dutch punk rock band Heideroosjes did a parody on their 20-year anniversary album about things that happened over those twenty years in the Netherlands called "De Wereld Draait Door" (The World Keeps Turning). German comedian Otto Waalkes did a parody called "Wir haben Grund zum Feiern" (English: "We have reason to celebrate"), with a list of alcoholic beverages.
An edition of the BBC Three comedy programme Russell Howard's Good News featured a parody of the song detailing numerous items that the Daily Mail newspaper actually believed caused cancer.[21]
Fans of Homestuck uploaded a version of the song called "You Can't Fight the Homestuck" on YouTube in 2012, chronicling the webcomic's long and convoluted story.[22] YouTuber Daneboe/Dane Boedigheimer, known as creator of the popular comedic Web series Annoying Orange, produced a parody as part of YouTube's Comedy Week in 2013 titled "We Didn't Start the Viral."[23] In a 2013 episode of Family Guy (titled "Bigfat"), after Peter's plane goes down, he asks his friends if there might be a hint on how to start a fire in the song. He proceeds to sing the song but has forgotten almost all of the words and mumbles through it.
Pop band Milo Greene performed a version of the song in June 2013 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.[24] In 2015, Sky Sports released their own version of the song to advertise the upcoming 2015 Ashes series, with backing vocals and percussion provided by Elio Pace and his band. Pace has toured and recorded with Joel's original touring band.[25]
In 2014, Neil Cicierega released a mashup album, Mouth Silence. The 17th song, "Space Monkey Mafia",[26] plays lyrics from "We Didn't Start The Fire" and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" on top of each other, modifying the lyrics of both songs so they sync up, and putting them over an original polka melody.
Charts[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
Chart (1989)
Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[27] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[28] 7
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[29] 69
Canada RPM Top Singles 2
Dutch Top 40[30] 11
German Media Control Charts 4
Irish Singles Chart 3
Japanese Singles Chart[31] 11
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[32] 5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[33] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[34] 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[35] 5
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[36] 6
Year-end charts[edit]
Chart (1989)
Position
Canada RPM Top Singles[37] 77
German Singles Chart[38] 49
UK Singles Chart 72
Chart (1990)
Position
Australian Singles Chart 37
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[39] 50
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[40] 35
Personnel[edit]
Billy Joel – vocals, clavinet, percussion
Liberty DeVitto – drums, percussion
David Brown – lead guitar
Joey Hunting – rhythm guitar
Crystal Taliefero – backing vocals, percussion
Schuyler Deale – bass guitar
John Mahoney – keyboards
Sammy Merendino – electronic percussion
Kevin Jones – keyboard programming
Doug Kleeger – sounds effects and arrangements
See also[edit]
Ronald Reagan in music
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Novak, B. J. (October 11, 2005). "Which Office Stars Have the Write Stuff?". TV Guide. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
Jump up ^ Rolling Stone magazine – "Billy Joel Starts a Fire" by Sheila Rogers. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b Billy Joel Q&A: Tell Us About 'We Didn't Start The Fire?' University of Oxford, May 5, 1994 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx3T8pbDcms
Jump up ^ Bordowitz, Hank (2006). Billy Joel: The Life & Times of an Angry Young Man. Billboard Books. pp. 168, 161, 9. ISBN 978-0-8230-8248-3.
Jump up ^ "Rock On The Net: 32nd Annual Grammy Awards – 1990". rockonthenet.com. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
Jump up ^ DeMain, Bill (2004). In their own words: songwriters talk about the creative process. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-275-98402-1.
Jump up ^ Newman, Melinda (July 26, 1997). "Joel Sees Pop Exit with Greatest Hits 3". Billboard. Cited in Bordowitz (2006), p. 169.
Jump up ^ Nadboy, Arie (March 1996). "I am the Edu-Tainer". Island Ear. Cited by Bordowitz (2006), p. 169.
Jump up ^ Horn, David (Director) (1993). Billy Joel: Shades of Grey (Motion picture). New York: Thirteen/WNET and Maritime Music.
Jump up ^ Garcia, Alex S. Billy Joel – We didn't start the fire. MVDBase – Music Video Database.
Jump up ^ Ettinger, Steven (2003). Torah 24/7: A Timely Guide for the Modern Spirit. Devorah Publishing Company. p. 2. ISBN 1-930143-73-7. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
Jump up ^ Joel, Billy. "Lyrics: We Didn't Start the Fire". www.billyjoel.com. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
Jump up ^ Bernstein, Adam (May 21, 2008). "Obituaries: Barbara Sears Rockefeller, 91; Miss Lithuania, Millionaire Bride". The Washington Post.
Jump up ^ "The 30th Academy Awards – 1958". oscars.org. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
Jump up ^ Seisman, Matt (April 16, 2009). "We Didn't Start the Song Parody". Techland.com. Time.com. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
Jump up ^ "12th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners : Online Film & Video". WebbyAwards.com. 2008. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009.
Jump up ^ Serrels, Mark (December 20, 2010). "The Wii Didn't Start The Fire". Kotaku.
Jump up ^ ""We Didn't Start the Flame War" – CollegeHumor Video". April 14, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Sgt. Shlokers Magical History Tour (1993 Album)".
Jump up ^ Adam Drucker (April 22, 2010). "We've got a strong desire". Retrieved March 6, 2017 – via YouTube.
Jump up ^ "'Russell Howard's Good News' Cancer song".
Jump up ^ "You Can't Fight the Homestuck!".
Jump up ^ Kurp, Josh. "'We Didn't Start The Viral' Is A Musical Recap Of YouTube's Greatest Hits". UPROXX Web Culture. UPROXX.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Milo Greene covers Billy Joel". Retrieved May 25, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Sky Sports Ashes promo 2015 – We Didn't Start The Fire". YouTube. Sky Sports. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
Jump up ^ NeilCicieregaMusic (July 19, 2014), Neil Cicierega – Space Monkey Mafia, retrieved April 17, 2017
Jump up ^ "Australian-charts.com – Billy Joel – We Didn't Star The Fire". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Austriancharts.at – Billy Joel – We Didn't Star The Fire" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=We+Didn%27t+Start+The+Fire&cat=s (Retrieved September 17, 2012)
Jump up ^ Jans, Micha (updated April 23, 2009) Dutch Top 40 1989, MichaJans.nl, Jaarlijsten/1989. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
Jump up ^ Oricon Singles Chart Oricon Singles Chart (Retrieved November 2, 2012)
Jump up ^ "Charts.org.nz – Billy Joel – We Didn't Star The Fire". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Billy Joel: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Billy Joel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Billy Joel Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Billy Joel Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Canada RPM Top Singles of 1989". Retrieved August 9, 2010.
Jump up ^ "INFINITY CHARTS: German Top 20". uni-wuerzburg.de. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1990". Retrieved September 15, 2009.
External links[edit]
"We Didn't Start the Fire" Music Video on YouTube / BillyJoelVEVO channel
Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

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