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What is the "We Didn't Start The Fire" of the Millennial generation?

OP
OP
Gwenpoolshark

Gwenpoolshark

Member
Jan 5, 2018
4,109
The Pool
Jordan117 said:
It's gotta be This Is America, no?



Instant cultural phenomenon. Speaks to anxieties over multiple overlapping cultural traumas (mass shootings, racism, police brutality, social media-driven alienation). And it even debuted around the same time in the life of Gen Z as We Didn't Start the Fire did for the Boomers.
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Oooooh, hot contender for sure. I'd say it's a little less far reaching in its scope than Love it if we made it or We Didn't Start the Fire, but it's got a lot else going for it in the comparison department. I think its cultural status as a big hit also more closely matches the Billy Joel song than the 1975 example.
 
Rodney McKay

Rodney McKay

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,205
Waiting on the World to Change?

Not sure if that's the actual name, I just worked at a movie theater that CONSTANTLY played it so it's burned into my brain.
 
gforguava

gforguava

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,705
www.youtube.com

Jenny Hval "That Battle is Over" (Official Audio)

Jenny Hval "Apocalypse, girl" Out Now Order LP/CD: http://bit.ly/1JSGMA5 Order on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SBR134iTunes Website: http://jennyhval.com/ Face...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com


Jenny Hval - "That Battle Is Over"

What is it to take care of yourself? What are we taking care of?
A million bedrooms with hands softly lulling
our divine cocks and cunts, without telling anyone,
a million ships come alone out on the calmest seas
So are we loving ourselves now? Are we mothering ourselves?

Statistics and newspapers tell me I am unhappy and dying,
that I need man and child to fulfill me
that I'm more likely to get breast cancer
and it's biology, it's my own fault
it's divine punishment of the unruly
it's fearful out here on the calmest seas,
we who grew up singing. Merry christmas!
The war is over. Our mothers softly humming:
We're at the edge of history

But I keep growing older, eight years since 25 now,
and all that ages now is the body, and I wonder why,
I think to myself one of these days everything I write
begins with the question: What's wrong with me?

Yes! You say I'm free now, that battle is over
And feminism's over, and socialism's over. Yeah!
I say I can consume what I want now.

And this is what happens at the edge of history
the great eye turns to us.
We are the only thing that's aging,
but we don't know it yet, we cling onto heaven

Sleep tight forever, sleep tight forever
 
Hybrid Rainbow

Hybrid Rainbow

Banned
Jun 23, 2019
6,446
Jordan117 said:
It's gotta be This Is America, no?



Instant cultural phenomenon. Speaks to anxieties over multiple overlapping cultural traumas (mass shootings, racism, police brutality, social media-driven alienation). And it even debuted around the same time in the life of Gen Z as We Didn't Start the Fire did for the Boomers.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Ooh this is a good choice. I also like:



A song singing about the state of day to day affairs in society and the possibility of a brighter future? I think it fits.
 
Nightbird

Nightbird

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,780
Germany
It's either All Star or This is America.
Altough I gotta say that All Star got that status for all the wrong reasons sadly.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,175
I'm a millennial and I've never heard of 1975 before this thread...
 
Johann Mistletoe

Johann Mistletoe

Member
Jan 2, 2018
1,503
Massachusetts
Jordan117 said:
It's gotta be This Is America, no?



Instant cultural phenomenon. Speaks to anxieties over multiple overlapping cultural traumas (mass shootings, racism, police brutality, social media-driven alienation). And it even debuted around the same time in the life of Gen Z as We Didn't Start the Fire did for the Boomers.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah definitely, only argument against it is how racism and police brutality have been around since forever
 
Doctor_Thomas

Doctor_Thomas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,652


I don't mean to offend
Or add fuel to the fire
We're all stood in silence
While the head count gets higher
There's divided opinion
Every corner you turn
Now Nero stands laughing
While the Empire burns

And there's no use pretending that you don't understand
With your arse in the air and your head in the sand
You don't need me tell you that's the way that it goes
Because deep down inside
Way deep down inside
You already know
 
Heshinsi

Heshinsi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,093
If the "we" referred to in the Billy Joel song is Billy Joel's own generation, then posting songs by artists who aren't millennials makes no sense.
 
345

345

Member
Oct 30, 2017
7,386
more about millennials than from the perspective of one, but surely this:

 
hiredhand

hiredhand

Member
Feb 6, 2019
3,151
Akira86 said:



this, i guess.


"I moved on her like a bitch"
Excited to be indicted
Unrequited house with seven pools
"Thank you Kanye, very cool"
The war has been incited and guess what?
You're all invited
And you're famous
Modernity has failed us"
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Yeah, it's probably this.

But my personal choice would probably be Holy Shit by Father John Misty.
Ancient holy wars
Dead religions, holocausts
New regimes, old ideas
That's now myth, that's now real
Original sin, genetic fate
Revolutions, spinning plates
It's important to stay informed
The commentary to comment on

Oh, and no one ever really knows you, and life is brief
So I've heard, but what's that gotta do with this black hole in me?

Age-old gender roles
Infotainment, capital
Golden bows and mercury
Bohemian nightmare, dust bowl chic
This documentary's lost on me
Satirical news, free energy
Mobile lifestyle, loveless sex
Independence, happiness

Oh, and no one ever knows the real you, and life is brief
So I've heard, but what's that gotta do with this atom bomb in me?

Coliseum families
The golden era of TV
Eunuch sluts, consumer slaves
A rose by any other name
Carbon footprint, incest streams
Fuck the mother in the green
Planet cancer, sweet revenge
Isolation, online friends

Oh, and love is just an institution based on human frailty
What's your paradise gotta do with Adam and Eve?
Maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity
But what I fail to see is what that's gotta do with you and me
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Click to shrink...
 
Emergency & I

Emergency & I

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,634
1975 is clearly it.


For those unaware the song was heavily inspired by Blue Nile. The song Downtown Lights shares a lot of stuff with it.
 
Emergency & I

Emergency & I

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,634
gforguava said:
www.youtube.com

Jenny Hval "That Battle is Over" (Official Audio)

Jenny Hval "Apocalypse, girl" Out Now Order LP/CD: http://bit.ly/1JSGMA5 Order on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SBR134iTunes Website: http://jennyhval.com/ Face...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com


Jenny Hval - "That Battle Is Over"

What is it to take care of yourself? What are we taking care of?
A million bedrooms with hands softly lulling
our divine cocks and cunts, without telling anyone,
a million ships come alone out on the calmest seas
So are we loving ourselves now? Are we mothering ourselves?

Statistics and newspapers tell me I am unhappy and dying,
that I need man and child to fulfill me
that I'm more likely to get breast cancer
and it's biology, it's my own fault
it's divine punishment of the unruly
it's fearful out here on the calmest seas,
we who grew up singing. Merry christmas!
The war is over. Our mothers softly humming:
We're at the edge of history

But I keep growing older, eight years since 25 now,
and all that ages now is the body, and I wonder why,
I think to myself one of these days everything I write
begins with the question: What's wrong with me?

Yes! You say I'm free now, that battle is over
And feminism's over, and socialism's over. Yeah!
I say I can consume what I want now.

And this is what happens at the edge of history
the great eye turns to us.
We are the only thing that's aging,
but we don't know it yet, we cling onto heaven

Sleep tight forever, sleep tight forever
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


While I doubt you'll get much traction with this I just want to say Jenny Hval means a whole heck of a lot to me. She is probably my favorite working artist.
 
blame space

blame space

Resettlement Advisor
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,420


hanging_skeleton-2422.gif
 
hobblygobbly

hobblygobbly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,573
NORDFRIESLAND, DEUTSCHLAND
Last edited:
Yossarian

Yossarian

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,264
Audience's are much more defused than before. Not sure it's as easy to point out a single song that does that given we're all in discreet little digital boxes.

This is America is a strong contender though... if you're American.
 
Rand a. Thor

Rand a. Thor

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
10,213
Greece
I'm gonna go with All Star as well. That's basically the peak millennial song, released right in 1999 to mark the end of the millenia. I would argue Toxicity as well, for something far less tone deaf and actually poignant for the times we live in, but that doesn't quite fit the topic at hand.
Edit: The 1975 song is definitely a gen Z zeitgeist song, y'all crazy if you think that fits for Millennials. If it was in 2009 sure, but anything after that is Z territory.
 
Last edited:
Big Boss

Big Boss

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,468
For me it was :




When is was younger it was :




Why by Jada Kiss was a good mention as well. Forgot about that one.
 
Maolfunction

Maolfunction

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,871
show me your skeleton said:
those guys are almost 50.
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I mean, R.E.M. were all late 20s, early 30s when End of the World came out, and Green Day were early 30s when American Idiot dropped.

I definitely think American Idiot resonates more with Millenials than Gen Xers, the whole album has stayed incredibly relevant to them ever since it released.

And if people are going with All Star in this thread, Steve Harwell is in his 50s at 52.
 
darz1

darz1

Member
Dec 18, 2017
7,093
Yes, all the songs listed in this thread aside from Paper Planes and This Is America are just as bad and annoying as We Didn't Start The Fire.
 
Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
I'll join the choir and say it's All Star. Particularly since there are so many memes of Shrek online and I can guarantee you they're largely by millenials.
 
Aurongel

Aurongel

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
7,065
The 1975 - "Love It if We Made It".

It's the closest direct inspiration to the Billy Joel song. The only other one that jumps to mind is "This is America".
 
TGR Sean

TGR Sean

Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,098
Orlando, Florida
I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but in our current times the Millennial uprising against the Boomers is perfectly offered up in Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There.



Who am I?
Am I not unique?
Maybe I'm not here
At all

Look, the fakers
Blinding us with lies
The breakers of us all

Oh, it's useless
What could it mean that we're here?
Can we make a difference?
If we don't break out of here?

Wake up, get up, get out there
Raise your voice against liars
Feed your anger like fire
Why does nobody want change?

Just imagine you're out there
Swatting lies in the makin'
Can't move fast without breakin'
If you hold on life won't change

The fakers, are all sick at heart
Their faces hiding their fear
They look down on, all the rest of us
Like they're some special breed

Who's the high lord...
Who thinks he's better than us?
Ain't it a crime that, is there a mission for us?

Who is that high lord...
Who'd kill a million of us?
And as the bell tolls...
Is there no remission for us?

Wake up, get up, get out there
There's more to life than their way
If you live you cannot stay
Why does nobody want change?

Let your voices ring out, yeah
Take the mask off and be free
Find yourself in the debris
If you hold on life won't change

Wake up, get up, get out there
Raise your voice against liars
Feed your anger like fire
Why does nobody want change?

Just imagine you're out there
Swatting lies in the makin'
Can't move fast without breakin'
If you hold on life won't change
 
JahIthBer

JahIthBer

Member
Jan 27, 2018
10,382
Jordan117 said:
It's gotta be This Is America, no?



Instant cultural phenomenon. Speaks to anxieties over multiple overlapping cultural traumas (mass shootings, racism, police brutality, social media-driven alienation). And it even debuted around the same time in the life of Gen Y as We Didn't Start the Fire did for the Boomers.

edit: posted le wrong generation letter, fixed
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This one is pretty good yeah, gets my vote.
 
NaturalHigh

NaturalHigh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,352
I think Wake Me Up When September Ends fits well. All Star is too old and I say that as someone that had that CD when it came out when I was roughly 12. Meanwhile a lot of families either lost someone that was a millennial or was directly impacted by going to war for no reason.

This Is America is also a good one as well. And Donald is actually a millennial whereas Billie Joe Armstrong is Gen X? But at the same time Billy Joel was definitely not Gen X.

I am putting too much thought into this. Good job, OP.
 
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