If we did not start the fire then who did?...............

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning...

Joel said that the ultimate purpose of the song was to neither provide a complete account nor pass blame; what he really wanted to do was help young people realize that there are lessons in the past that might help us work through the present. That may be why he somewhat curiously included George Santayana in the song. The Harvard professor stated, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Joel phrased it a bit less poetically; “No matter how much you try,” he said, “the world is going to be a mess. All you can do is the best you can and maybe make the world immediately around you a better place.” Huh, and here we were living life as if only the good died young.