NAMES IN THE NEWS : Hit Confuses Younger Fans: Joel

Billy Joel says it’s fun to sing the rapid-fire words to his latest hit, the historical “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” but there’s always the possibility of confusing the lyrics.

“If I remember the first word, I’m OK,” Joel told The Washington Post. “Otherwise, I’m dead. I do get the feeling people are out there watching me like the Indy 500--in the back of their heads they’re wondering if they’re going to see a crash.” The song chronicles 40 years of U.S. history but a lot of it seems to go over the heads of some of Joel’s younger listeners. “I sing ‘U-2’ and a lot of people say, ‘I didn’t know that band was out in 1960,’ ” Joel says. “I have to tell them it was the spy plane that wrecked the peace conference between Khrushchev and Eisenhower.”