Artist Billy Joel released the iconic and historically influenced song “We Didn’t Start The Fire” in the year year 1989. This song was listened to by millions, and was considered a history lesson within a song. The song itself was nominated for a Grammy for “Song Of The Year”, and was listened to in depth by many people. What was so important about this song? Why don’t we take a quick listen, and watch this fan created music video. In the video, each event stated is prompted with a short primary sourced video. Enjoy!
“We didn’t start the fire. It was always burnin’ since the worlds been tunrin’!”
– Lyrics from Billy Joel in the song We Didn’t Start The Fire
Each of the events that are stated in the song had some impact on the world, and effected either the worlds culture, politics, society, or general being. Billy Joel had the idea to write this song while having a conversation with his 21 year old friend, as he was 40 at the time. His friend had been gong on about how crazy it was to live in his era, thus undermining every other era in human history. Billy had the idea then to write this song, and prove that the world has always been lusciously filled with events that stir up the politics, culture, and mainstream society. The line “We didn’t start the fire” represents the fact that the world always has been, and always will be filled with these time-changing and influential events. Our class looked into this song, and each individual chose one of the points listed to study. I listened through, and searched for something that would catch my interest. When I heard the line about vaccines, my attention was caught, and thus I decided to study this topic. In what way did vaccines help start this metaphorical fire? Every person that was listed in the video had an enormous impact on the world, whether it had been cultural, societal, or political. I was intrigued, and wondered in which way could vaccines have done the same.
It all began with a rampant outbreak of a disease called Polio spreading through North America. The disease, officially named Paralytic poliomyelitis, caused a great deal of fear in in Canada and The United States when it broke out in the 1950’s. Hundreds and thousands of children throughout North America, some who were even deemed extraordinarily healthy and active, became crippled from this terrible illness. The worse factor of this illness was the mystery behind it, as it had no linked causes or treatments. People were abundant with fear, and once it broke out, extreme measures were taken. Quarantined zones were established where people infected with the disease would be herded too like animals. Despite their efforts, the rampant disease could not be maintained, and it continued to spread. Although the economy in Canada and America were doing well in the fifties compared to the past, families still could not afford to treat sick family members. Due to this, an organization called The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was formed. This group organized events such as “The March Of Dimes”. Fundraisers like these helped aid families who had loved ones with the disease.
Group of school children from the 1950’s, learning in quarantine. This children had been crippled by Polio.
This diagram here shows the multiple effects that Polio has on the body. Listed in the diagram are all the different muscles effected by the terrible disease.
American signer Elvis Presley kneels next to a young boy diagnosed with Polio. They both hold a sign together that sates the word “GIVE”, pushing for donations to aid the cause.
No one, not even doctors, had the slightest idea as to where Polio came from. They did not understand why it was crippling children, and did not understand how it spread. Later, it would be learned that Polio was worsened by children being kept in conditions that were too sanitary. This may not make much sense to you, but let me try and explain. Before the 1950’s, sanitary conditions had not been up to the standard at which they are today. During this Polio epidemic, people lived in a time where they were not in contact with open sewers or other unsanitary conditions. Previously, people had lived in conditions where they were exposed to these conditions, and here is where infants would often receive small amounts of the Polio virus. This built up their immune system, and aided in them not being effected strongly by the virus. This was very different from the children in the fifties, as little exposure in their childhood could easily infect them with he disease, and leave them permanently crippled. To make matters even worse, doctors and public officials called for all children to be exposed to as little as they possibly could during the outbreak, in a hopes to slow down the epidemic. This, unfortunately, did the complete opposite. The outbreak worsened as children began receiving little exposure to unsanitary conditions, rendering them defenseless when they did get exposure.
Polio quarantine notice.
In 1952–an epidemic year for polio–there were 58,000 new cases reported in the United States, and more than 3,000 died from the disease. In this same year, a miracle occurred. Dr. Saw went on to a national radio show to announce that he had successfully discovered an tested a vaccination for Polio.
Here is a short news piece ran on the discovery of the vaccine.
This Polio vaccine changed the face of America in the fifties, as children all over the country were being rounded up for the vaccination. The vaccination worked by killing the virus from the core, then implementing antibodies into the body’s to fight the disease if it were ever to come back. New polio cases dropped to under 6,000 in 1957, the first year after the vaccine was widely available. In 1962, an oral vaccine developed by Polish-American researcher Albert Sabin became available, greatly publicizing the distribution of the polio vaccine. This vaccine helped start the metaphorical fire in North America as it brought a sense of trust back to the people. For so long, fear was abundant in the youth and adults, as there was so much unknown about the disease. People trusted medicine after this, and it brought back a sense of hope within peoples hearts. People should care about this vaccine due to its implications on american life. Polio was similar to AIDS in the eighties, as people had no idea where it originated from or how it spread. It differed although in the fact that it was cured, a returned a sense of trust between citizens and medicine.
Bellow is a news paper article that I created that I believe would provide accurate information based on the date it was published. Click on the image to enlarge it, and clearly read it.
Sources:
#AtoZChallenge – We Didn’t Start the Fire from A to Z: Vaccine
http://www.plosin.com/beatbegins/projects/sokol.html
https://genius.com/Billy-joel-we-didnt-start-the-fire-lyrics
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/salk-announces-polio-vaccine