We Didn’t Start the Fire Poster
Directions for the FRONT of your poster:
1. Create an engaging visual poster describing your lyrics.
a. Your poster must have an image (drawn or printed from the Internet) for each “lyric”.
b. Underneath each image you must have a written, or typed, description of the “lyric”. Your description
should include who or what the “lyric” is, when the “lyric” happened, and why or how this “lyric” changed
the world. ** Should be at least 2 sentences in length, but may need to be more depending on the lyric.**
Directions for the BACK of your poster:
1. Create a new set of lyrics (may be typed or handwritten) to include historical and social events from your lifetime.
**See an example on my website**
Your lyrics should be at least one stanza (4 lines long – with 3-4 events per line) See me for further explanation
2. Rewrite (or type) the chorus of the song. Underneath the chorus, write a minimum 2 sentence explanation of what
the chorus means.
Project Requirements:
1. White computer paper (11x17) ** this will be provided to you **
2. Your poster needs to be colorful, neat, and historically accurate.
3. Your lyrics should be creative and include both historical and social events from your lifetime.
Grade: Your project will be graded as an assessment on the 4-point scale.
Scale:
4
- In addition to a 3,
student analyzed
the significance of
the lyrics and
explained how the
events from the
song contributed
to the present day
world.
3
- Student clearly described
each lyric and included a
picture of the lyric.
- Description of lyric is
historically accurate.
- Poster is neat and colorful.
- Student included lyrics to
represent historical and
social events from their
lifetime
- Student explained the
chorus and its meaning.
2
- Student described most of
the lyrics and most lyrics have
a picture.
- Description of lyrics are
historically accurate.
- Poster may be lacking
neatness and color.
- Student included lyrics to
represent their lifetime but may
not have historical or social
connections.
- Student explained the chorus
and its meaning, though
analysis may not be fully
accurate.
1
- Student described
less than half their
lyrics and not all
lyrics have a
picture.
- Description of
lyrics are not
historically
accurate.
- Poster is lacking
neatness and
contains no color.
- Student did not
include lyrics for
their own lifetime.
- Explanation of the
chorus is missing.
Due Date: Projects are due Monday May 1st.
0
- No
attempt
made at
project.
WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE
By: Billy Joel
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenberg’s, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"
Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
CHORUS
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Zhou Enlai, Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California Baseball,
Starkweather homicide, Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
CHORUS
Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange
Land,
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say
CHORUS
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back
again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie
Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial
law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been
turning.
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on...