An AH "We didn't start the fire" !

Axeman

In case you never heard it before :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a2SS0zqmzk

So basically each person comes up with a few for each year until we got a decent song. Feel free to suggest changes and include a small description of what happened. Remember this isn't just about politics, but we need ALOT of pop culture! We will cover 1949 - 1989 just like the original song, feel free to contribute as much or as little as you want.

Ill start :

1949 :
Thomas Dewy- Inaugurated President in 1949.
Carl Huey- Legendary African-American baseball player.
Einstein - Einstein's assassination by a rouge Muslim extremist after hearing that he was considering becoming Israel's first president.
Palestine - End of 1948 Isreali war with surrounding Arab states resulting in establishment of Palestine.
Two Chinas- End of Civil War with Communists in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Sianking while the KMT holds the south.
Minaas- Assumed identity of Adolf Eichmann, Alexander Minaas, caught in Spain and handed over to a German Prison.
 
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Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

I recall someone tried this before. Problem is, it's so complex it's hard for the average joe schmo to do it without an avid interest.

EDIT: Oh, you mean plan it out and then try to do the song. Ok, there's no problem with that.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Sounds interesting, but in the start I'm not seeing the beat. Here's some help with the order:

Thomas Dewy- Inaugurated President in 1949.
Carl Huey- Legendary African-American baseball player.
Einstein - Einstein's assassination by a rouge Muslim extremist after hearing that he was considering becoming Israel's first president.
Two Chinas- End of Civil War with Communists in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Sianking while the KMT holds the south.
Palestine - End of 1948 Isreali war with surrounding Arab states resulting in establishment of Palestine.

Here's more:

Adolf Eichman - caught in Spain and handed over to a German Prison*
Mountain Bike Man - first World Championship Cyclo-Cross competition**
Jackie Robinson - played as the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series 1949

*as per your TL
**one year prior to OTL
 
modelcitizen

modelcitizen

1950

commies prevail in Greece, massive detention camps for political prisoners, refugees flee to Albania of all places


um

Tucker automobiles are a huge success, selling millionth car in 1950
 

wilcoxchar

Bah, you've all got the beat wrong for the beginning. It's ABCBDDE x2 for the first verse.

EDIT: Sorry about the snappy tone.
 

Axeman

For those of us tone deaf like myself perhaps you can help?

John Fredrick Parker said:
Sounds interesting, but in the start I'm not seeing the beat. Here's some help with the order:

Thomas Dewy- Inaugurated President in 1949.
Carl Huey- Legendary African-American baseball player.
Einstein - Einstein's assassination by a rouge Muslim extremist after hearing that he was considering becoming Israel's first president.
Two Chinas- End of Civil War with Communists in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Sianking while the KMT holds the south.
Palestine - End of 1948 Isreali war with surrounding Arab states resulting in establishment of Palestine.

Here's more:

Adolf Eichman - caught in Spain and handed over to a German Prison*
Mountain Bike Man - first World Championship Cyclo-Cross competition**
Jackie Robinson - played as the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series 1949

*as per your TL
**one year prior to OTL
Click to expand...


How about this.
1949:
Thomas Dewy- Inaugurated President in 1949.
Carl Huey- Legendary African-American baseball player.
Einstein - Einstein's assassination by a rouge Muslim extremist after hearing that he was considering becoming Israel's first president.
Palestine - End of 1948 Isreali war with surrounding Arab states resulting in establishment of Palestine.
Two Chinas- End of Civil War with Communists in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Sianking while the KMT holds the south.

*short pause, drum beat*

1950
Eichman - caught in Spain and handed over to a German Prison*
Bike Man - first World Championship Cyclo-Cross competition**
Robinson - played as the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series 1950
Robeson - execution of famous African American author, poet, and actor Paul Robeson for alleged spying for the Soviet Union by the HUAC
 
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wilcoxchar

Sure.

The first stanzas basically follow the format of 8 beats, 8 beats, 13 beats, with some syllables covering two beats in places. So for example, you could have Thomas Dewey and Carl Huey, but they wouldn't be consecutive events. You would instead have to have events in between, such as this:

_ _ _ _, Tho'mas' De'wey'
_ _ _ _, Carl'' Hu'ey'
_ _ _ _, _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _

which each apostrophe and blank being a beat. The double apostrophe on Carl means that it is sung for two beats.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Sorry, I meant that only the bold would actually be part of the song. Here's how it would sound:

Dewey, Huey, Einstein,
Two Chinas, Palestine,
Adolf Eichman, Mountain Bike Man,
Jackie Robinson...

And to compare to the song OTL:

Harry Truman, Doris Day,
Red China, Johnnie Ray,
South Pacific, Walter Winchell,
Joe DiMaggio...
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Actually starting to wonder if there should be two baseball players mentioned this early in the song. How does this sound:

Thomas Dewey, Einstein,
Two Chinas, Palestine,
Adolf Eichman, Mountain Bike Man,
Jackie Robinson...
 

wilcoxchar

Ah, that sounds better.

I guess, 1950:

Frank Morgan, death of Frank Morgan best known for playing the Wizard in Wizard of Oz (dies one year later than OTL)
Red Greece,refers to the Communist victory in Greece
Jorge Borges, the translation of The Library of Babel into English and the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to the author (is this too early to be plausible?)
Malayan Peace, refers to the ceasefire in Malaysia establishing a Communist state in North Borneo
 

Mister Abbadon

I wrote this one earlier about a month ago Its from a WWII stalemate timeline,Great britian survived, And the superpowers are Nazi Germany, EACPS Japan, The united states and the U.S.S.R, the united States supported the Allies but didn't actually fight, the war ended in 1947, not evryone who is still in it is in it for the same reasons, If you have questions, complaints, suggestions, or your own version, feel free to post.
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Imperial Japan, Johnnie Ray, the South Pacific, Walter Winchel, Joe Dimaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Telivision,Northern China, Southern China, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs,H-Bomb, Sugar Ray,Mao Zedong, Brando, The king and I and The Catcher in the Rye
the Eisenhower Vaccine, Englands Got a new King, Marciano, Liberace, Santayana Good-bye
(Chourus)
We Didn't start the Fire, It was always Burning since the world's been turning, We didn't start the fire, well we didn't light it but we tried to fight it
Herman Goering, Himmler, Goebels, Rommel(This parts a little off key)
Rockefeller,plus Campanella and the Fascist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Jaun Peron, Mussoulinni, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu calls, Rock around the clock
Manstien, James Dean, Brooklyn's Got a winning team, Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presly, Disney's Plan
Bardot, Budapest,Alabama, Krushchev, Lossing Grace Peyton place, Friends for the Suez
(Chourus)
Little Rock,Pasternack,Mickey Mantel,Kerouac,Sputnick, Chou En-Lai, Bridge on the River Qwai
Lebanon will not fall, California Baseball, Starkweather, Pesticide Children of Little Pride
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Mokey, Mafia, Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a Go-Go
U-2, The burning Tree, Payola, and Kennedy, Chubby-Checker, Psycho, Spaniards in Morocco
(chorus)
Hemingway,Eichman,Black Window pane, Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs starvation
Lawrence of Arabia,British Beatlemania, Ole miss,John Glenn, Liston Beats Patterson
Pope paul, Malcom X, German Ex-Chancellor Sex, JFK says you'll pay, What else do I have to say?
(Chourus)
Birth Control, Ho Chi-Minh,Daniel Dixon, The lost friends, Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, Punk Rock, Begin, Reagan, Free Palistine, Ayatollahs in Iran, Germans in Turkmenistan, Whell of Fortune, Sally Ride, Heavy Metal Suicide, Foriegn Debts, Homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz,
Hypodermics on the shore, Korea's under Marshal law, Rock and Roller Cola Wars, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!
(Chourus)
We didn't start the Fire, it Was Always burning since th world's been Turning,We didn't start the fire, But Once we are gone, it will still burn on and on and on.....​
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Building on wilcoxchar

Thomas Dewey, Einstein,
Two Chinas, Palestine,
Adolf Eichman, Mountain Bike Man,
Jackie Robinson

Frank Morgan, Red Greece,
Jorge Borges, Malayan Peace,
War on the Peninsula*,
and Oscar's got a gun**

*North Korea attempts to invade South Korea 1950; within a year, the peninsula is united under the Seoul government

**1950 assasination attempt by two Puerto Rican nationalists, managed to shoot their way into the White House before being subdued
 

wilcoxchar

Actually, I think it would be best for the second line of the second verse to just be Borges, Malayan Peace. Saying it in my head the meter doesn't seem right with the full Jorge Borges.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
OK, let's keep this going:

Thomas Dewey, Einstein,
Two Chinas, Palestine,
Adolf Eichman, Mountain Bike Man,
Jackie Robinson

Frank Morgan, Red Greece,
Borges, Malayan Peace,
War on the Peninsula,
and Oscar's got a gun

[drumbeat]

H-Bomb, Tony Blunt,
Joe McCarthy pulls a stunt,
Brando, Guiness, and Bogart,
LaMotta loses it all...

And going through that last verse

H-Bomb -- tested 1951 (year earlier than OTL)

Tony Blunt -- Anthony Blunt called "Tony" by the American press, as he's shot attempting to escape Britain; Guy Burgess is arrested

Joe McCarthy pulls a stunt -- and falls out of favor pretty quickly

Brando, Guiness, and Bogart -- The Lavender Hill Mob is released earlier in the US, meaning he competes with Brando and Bogart for the 1951 Best Actor Academy Award; after Bogart wins for The African Queen, he dies in 1953 (3-4 years earlier than OTL) making it his last award

LaMotta loses it all -- Jake LaMotta is infuriated by calls for a KO by Sugar Ray Robinson, and punches the referee; he not only loses the middleweight championship, but goes to prison for assault soon afterword
 

Penelope

Banned
1952:

Dewey's Dead - President Dewey is assassinated, and his Vice President, Earl Warren, becomes President.
Royal Outbreak - An illness spreads through the British Royal Family, killing George VI and nearly killing Elizabeth II
Jonas has a Vaccine - As OTL, the polio Vaccine.
Italy's in Anarchy - Socialist protests in Italy.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
1952:

Dewey's Dead - President Dewey is assassinated, and his Vice President, Earl Warren, becomes President.
Royal Outbreak - An illness spreads through the British Royal Family, killing George VI and nearly killing Elizabeth II
Jonas has a Vaccine - As OTL, the polio Vaccine.
Italy's in Anarchy - Socialist protests in Italy.
Click to expand...

Tough to make this work in the song, but let's see:

Thomas Dewey, Einstein,
Two Chinas, Palestine,
Adolf Eichman, Mountain Bike Man,
Jackie Robinson

Frank Morgan, Red Greece,
Borges, Malayan Peace,
War on the Peninsula,
and Oscar's got a gun

H-Bomb, Tony Blunt,
Joe McCarthy pulls a stunt,
Brando, Guiness, and Bogart,
LaMotta loses his head

Jonas has a vaccine,
England's got a new queen,
Italy in anarchy,
and Thomas Dewey's dead

We didn't start the fire,
it was always burning,
since the world's been turning!
We didn't start the fire,
no we didn't ignite it,
but we're trying to fight it...
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
One last change:

Thomas Dewey, Einstein,
Two Chinas, Palestine,
Adolf Eichman, Mountain Bike Man,
Jackie Robinson

Frank Morgan, Red Greece,
Borges, Malayan Peace,
War on the Peninsula,
and Oscar's got a gun

H-Bomb, Tony Blunt,
Joe McCarthy pulls a stunt,
Brando, Guiness, and Bogart,
Jake LaMotta's lost his head

Jonas has a vaccine,
England's got a new queen,
Italy in anarchy,
and Thomas Dewey's dead

We didn't start the fire,
it was always burning,
since the world's been turning!
We didn't start the fire,
no we didn't ignite it,
but we're trying to fight it...
 
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