It was a very good song.
I'm about to post a new set of lyrics, 'We Didn't Stop The Knightmare', on the Main Forum. It's a reworking of this song:
www.billyjoel.com/discography/WeDidntStartTheFire.html. But I'm going to use this thread to display a kind of 'making of', showing how the new lyrics closely reflect the original lyrics in several cases. Bear in mind that I may yet have to tweak the lyrics.
Scaramonger, Bumptious, Red Dragons, Igneous
Mistress Goody, Mellisandre, Catacombite
Lillith Motley, Talisman, Stiletta and Miremen
Block And Tackle, Antechamber, Play Your Cards Right
Vale Of Worms, HStorm, Brother Strange, Linghorm
Knapsack, Samurai, Emii with a double-i
[Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"]Automatum, Sidriss, 'Home in time for Christmas'
Helm Of Justice, 'Shuddup Festus', Series 8 then goodbye
[Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye]CHORUS
We didn't stop the Knightmare
Hope was always burning
And the times are turning
We didn't stop the Knightmare
No we didn't fight it
But we will ignite it
[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 light it
But we tried to fight it]Dungeonmaster, Password, 'Goblin Fodder', Talking bird
'Enter stranger', Crazed Heifer, Dooreen Ah Wok
Lissard, Skeletron, Ariadne, 'Game on'
Trial By Spikes and Three Life Force Clocks
[Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu and "Rock Around the Clock"]Eye Shield, Grimaldine, trophies for a winning team
Dunkley Wood, Sly Hands, Cedric Marta, Quicksand
[Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, "Peter Pan", Elvis Presley, Disneyland]Bomb Room, Oracle, Barry's hammer, Floating skull
Brother Mace, Wellways, trouble on the Causeways
[Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez]CHORUS
Mills of Doom, Snapper Jack, moving minecart, Malefact
[Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac]Broadswords, and McGrew, 'Bold Sir Hugh to rescue you'
Scorpion, fireballs, Winteria portals
[Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball]Stormgeists, spell scrolls, maps from Mrs. Grimwold
Olaf Folly, Mogdred, spellcasting, Marblehead
[Buddy Holly, "Ben-Hur", space monkey, Mafia]Humbug jars, Frightknights, catacombs of Cavernwights
Clue Room, Rothberry, bar of gold and 'Ooh nasty'
Challenge TV, Greenshades, and the Corridor Of Blades
[U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo]CHORUS
David Rowe, Boatman, Questions from the Brollochan
Pickle, Merlin, Place Of Choice, Illusion
[Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs Invasion]Pookas Velda Combat chess, D-I-S-M-I-S-S
Olgarth, Dungarth, Raptor Malice Elfpath
Treguard, Brangwen She, Owen Fidjit Chromakey
BVA, Friday, what else do I have to say
[JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say]CHORUS
'Sidestep left', Assassin, Vale of Vanburn, Gwendoline
Mildread, Gumboil, Wolfenden, Gargoyle
[Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock]Pixel, Skarkill, Pendulum, starting out on Level One
Lord Fear's at his viewing pool, Morghanna is being cruel
[Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan]Wheel of Fortune, Granitas, bar of silver, spyglass
Spindizzy, Heggatty, Cup, Crown, Level Three
Descendors and trapdoors, never saw Count Brinkatore
Rocks of Bruin Nemanor, we love Knightmare give us more
[Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller Cola Wars, I can't take it anymore]CHORUS
We didn't stop the Knightmare
But when we are gone
Will it run on, and on, and on, and on...
[But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...]
