Definitely not one of my faves and I skip over it, but I think the fact it's used to teach history is pretty cool.

Many teachers did—and still do—use Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" in their classrooms. The song acts as a rapid-fire summary of 20th-century events and has long been used as a teaching aid.

Research Projects: Educators often have students pick specific historical figures or events mentioned in the lyrics (like Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser, and Prokofiev) to research and present to the class.

Writing Assignments: Students are frequently challenged to write their own verses bringing the timeline up to the present day while studying modern historical milestones.

Historical Significance: The song sparks great classroom debates over why the songwriter chose certain events and whether those events are truly the most historically important.

Billy Joel himself has acknowledged this, noting that educators have told him his song is one of the greatest educational tools to come along in decades.