"We Didn't Start the Fire", like Billy Joel's original version released in 1989, is a catalog of major events in world history through a certain time period.

Fall Out Boy's version includes references to Woodstock 99, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, Brexit;[1] the Boston Marathon bombing, Bush v. Gore,[2] the assassination of Shinzo Abe;[3] the death of Michael Jackson, the Arab Spring, the Fukushima nuclear accident and MySpace, which Stereogum notes was connected to the band's rise to fame.

In a deviation from the original, Fall Out Boy's updated lyrics abandon chronological ordering, at one point referencing Rodney King next to deepfakes.

[6]The COVID-19 pandemic is notably absent from the song;[1][7] Wentz cites the event's ubiquity and the need for rhyme space for Bush v. Gore in explaining why it was not included.

[7] James Rettig with Stereogum described the song as "abominable"[6] and Owen S. Good with Polygon described it as "tasteless" for rhyming "George Floyd" with "Metroid.