The following verse contains events and important figures that made the news headlines from 1957 – 1960.

Pictured behind Billy Joel is the assassination of Nguyễn Văn Lém, a member of the National Liberation Front who was summarily executed in Saigon by General Nguyen Ngoc Loan during the Tet Offensive, 1968 (from the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” music video).

The following verse contains events and important figures that made the news headlines from 1953 – 1956.

Pictured behind Billy Joel is a graphic photo of a black male being lynched (from the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” music video).

The following verse contains events and important figures that made news headlines from the year Joel was born, 1949, through 1952.

Pictured behind Billy Joel is a Studebaker four-door sedan (from the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” music video).

1979

The Soviet Union entered Afghanistan to “protect” Communist interests in the country. Rebels were supported by the United States, and finally after a long, costly war, the Soviets were forced to withdraw from the country. As a result of the conflict, the United States and 65 other countries refused to attend the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

1983

Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. She becomes a role-model for women in the field of science and math. Ride’s quip from space “Better than an E-ticket”, harkens back to the opening of Disneyland with the E-ticket purchase needed for the best rides.

1988

The Syringe Tide is an environmental disaster in which medical waste is found washed up on beaches in New Jersey 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.

1984 – 1991

In 1984 a nineteen-year-old named John McCollum shoots and kills himself while listening to the music of Ozzy Osbourne, including The Blizzard of Ozz. With his headphones on and the music playing, John places a .22-caliber handgun to his head and takes his own life. Although McCollum has a long history of clinical depression, his parents sue Osbourne for their son’s death, claiming the lyrics in the song “Suicide Solution,”

Where to hide, suicide is the only way out. Don’t you know what it’s really about?

…convince McCollum to commit suicide. The courts find Osbourne not guilty.

On December 23, 1985, 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Raymond Belknap, after hours of drinking beer, smoking marijuana and allegedly listening to Judas Priest, go to a playground at a church in Sparks, Nevada with a 12-gauge shotgun to end their lives. Belknap is the first to place the shotgun under his chin, and he dies instantly after pulling the trigger. Vance then shoots himself but survives, suffering severe facial injuries. Following numerous complications Vance, too, passes away in 1988, three years after the suicide pact. In 1990, Judas Priest is named in a civil action, alleging the group is responsible for the self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The case is dismissed.

1960

The first major payola investigation occurs, bringing radio and television personalities to court for participating. The practice of record companies paying DJs to play their products on the radio was commonplace in the 1950s. Legendary pioneers of early rock and roll promotion like Alan Freed are disgraced by the scandal.

To help prevent future payola scandals, the responsibility of choosing which songs to play is supplanted from the hands of the DJ to station programming directors. However, the practice is still alive and well in many different forms.

1960

The Republic of Congo (Leopoldville) gains independence from Belgium on June 30, having been its colony since 1908. Joseph Kasavubu served as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister.

The line is about the so called “Congo Crisis”, a period of conflict from 1960 to 1965, after the Congo became independent from Belgium.
The conflict saw the involvement of the UN, the former colonial powers, the USA, the USSR, and a great number of european mercenaries.

“Belgians in the Congo” probably refers to the battle of Stanleyville, in which Belgian paras, mercenaries and the Congolese Army captured the Simba’s main stronghold. This could also be the Belgians exploiting cheap African labor for rubber.

1960

John F. Kennedy wins the election against Richard Nixon to become the 35th President of the United States on November 8. It was one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century. In the national popular vote Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while in the Electoral College he won 303 votes to Nixon’s 219 (269 were needed to win).

Although his term was marked with milestones, it was cut short by assassination in 1963.