Billy Joel has given his blessing to Fall Out Boy for their cover of ‘We Didn’t Start A Fire’.
Fall Out Boy recently released a modern day update of his 1989 hit – which famously recapped key moments in history over the previous 40 years – as they referenced events and pop culture giants like ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Twilight’, MySpace, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Woodstock ’99.
Appearing on BBC Radio 2’s ‘The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show’, he told the host: “Everybody’s been wanting to know when there’s going to be an updated version of it, because my song started in ’49 and ended in ’89 — it was a 40 year span.
“Everybody said, ‘Well, aren’t you going to do a part two?’ I said, ‘Nah, I’ve already done part one.’
“So, Fall Our Boy, go ahead. Great, take it away.”
FOB singer Patrick Stump might want to take heed if the band start performing their version life after Billy admitted even he struggles with the lyrics sometimes.
He added: “Well sometimes I’m watching people singing along, hoping they’ll guide me. Because you get one word wrong, it’s a train wreck.
“Which happened to me – I was in Toronto and I forgot the words, and then I just stopped the song. ‘Stop the music!’ And the crowd made this noise like, ‘Argh!’
“So, it’s walking on a tightrope with that thing!”
In a statement, the band previously explained their thinking behind putting their own spin on the classic track.
They said: “I thought about this song a lot when I was younger.
“All these important people and events – some that disappeared into the sands of time – others that changed the world forever.
“So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years – we felt like a little system update might be fun. Hope you like our take on it.”
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