When we are gone, it'll still go on

During the drive home last night, Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" came on the iPod. If you don't know (or don't remember) the song, he mentions important events from the years when he was growing up. For each year from '49 to '63, he lists six or seven things that happened that year, followed by a couple of verses that sum up '64 to '89.

It reminded me of this project I did in high school — I actually think FF was on my team — in which we each deconstructed a verse and reported on that year's events. (Who was Princess Grace? What's Thalidomide? etc.) Actually, it ended up being a really interesting way of learning about the last 50 years.

So as I'm driving home, I start thinking about what the song would be like if it were rewritten today. A lot of stuff has happened since the song was released in 1989! I figured if his version just kind of mushed words into the beat, then I could do that too. ;)

(1990) Hubble launch, Kervorkian, Germany is one again,
Mandela, Norplant, Mayor Berry caught on crack.
(1991) Anita Hill, Rodney King, Magic Johnson’s HIV,
USSR is no more, Jeffrey Dahmer, Desert Storm.
(1992) Clinton’s in, Nicoderm, Gotti’s got a prison term.
World Wide Web, L.A. riots, Johnny Carson calls it quits.
(1993) NAFTA, Hubble, Czechs split, Lorena and John Bobbitt,
Waco, Cheers ends, combat time for women.
(chorus)

(1994) Tonya Harding, Jackie O., O.J. Simpson’s Bronco,
Whitewater, Aristide, Chunnel, no World Series.
(1995) Rwanda, Scott O’Grady, bomb in Oklahoma City,
Million Man March, Ebola, Quebec stays part of Canada.
(1996) Flight 800, Richard Jewell, Ebonics are taught in school,
Port Arthur shooting spree, Unabomber Kaczynski.
(1997) Di’s dead, Tim McVeigh, Pathfinder, JonBenet,
Heaven’s Gate, Dolly clone, China takes back Hong Kong.
(chorus)

(1998) El Nino, Lewinsky, Mark McGwire is homerun king,
Impeachment, Newt resigns, John Glenn takes another ride.
(1999) Y2K, Elian, Woodstock concerts once again,
Europe has new currency, Columbine tragedy.
(2000) Milosevic, Mad Cow Disease, fighting in the Middle East
Election recount, Korean peace, Dot-com bubble’s history.
(2001) Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, race riots, Taliban,
Robert Hanssen, anthrax, World Trade Center is attacked.
(chorus)

(2002) Middle East policy, sniper shoots up D.C.
Korean nukes, Ken Lay, Bali nightclub blown away.
(2003) Charles Taylor, Valerie Plame, White House dodges blame,
IAEA in Iran, Saddam Hussein is taken down
(2004) George Bush, John Kerry, Abu Ghraib, gays marry
Hostages in Chechnya, tsunami wipes out Asia
(2005) Oil for food, hurricanes, Deep Throat speaks up again,
Gas wars, Medicare, Michael Jackson in the clear
(chorus)

So ... what important events did I leave out and how would you squeeze it in? Most info is from here.