I usually post my end-of-year list of top movies on New Year’s Eve/Day to celebrate my blogiversary. (Hard to believe this is my 11th year of blogging!) I’ll still post my usual Top Twelve list for the year, but I had an idea for something a little different this year. One of my personal favorite past posts was my poem for the movie Boyhood, in which I rewrote the lyrics to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” using events from the 2000s when the film was set. I’ve always had a slight obsession with that song and how it conjures a musical montage of history that’s both catchy and nostalgic. (I can’t prove that Fall Out Boy took that idea for their 2023 single that did the same kind of update, but I still like my version better.)

So I decided to do another rewrite of the song, this time as a 2024 retrospective using people, things, and events from the past year. This might be a new tradition for me since I do enjoy year-end recaps and had fun compiling everything. I have an extensive list of other 2024 events that didn’t make the cut, but, while I wish I could have included the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Concord, the Dodgers, Inside Out 2, Rooster Teeth, Teddy Swims, Red Lobster’s bankruptcy, or Peanut the squirrel, I think I have a pretty comprehensive list of what made 2024 a memorable year, for good or bad. So you can just read it or sing along to Billy Joel’s iconic tune, but this is how I’ll enjoy remembering the past year. Here’s hoping for a great 2025 ahead!

_________________________

Oppenheimer, border surge, cicada double broods emerge,
Fani Willis, Joro spiders, Ticketmaster suit,
Hurkle-durkle, Mystic Dan, Caitlin Clark and TikTok ban,
Kadokawa, Epic sagas, elephant in Butte.

Stanley cups, Fallout, Laken Riley, record drought,
Palworld, pagers blow, and the Apple Vision Pro,
Cowboy Carter, Joker panned, much like Willy’s Wonderland,
Boeing breaking, Taiwan quaking, noncompetes are (not) banned.

Such was the year. We made it!
Through the highs and lows and each surprise, we chose
To get through the year. We made it!
So now, sister, brother, let’s all face another!

Dublin Portal, chatbot apps, Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse,
Dune 2 bucket, Cyberstuck it, Quiet on Set,
Wheel host, Brady roast, Bidenomics, Santos,
Brat Summer, so demure, Golden Bachelorette.

“Hawk tuah,” Assad fled, Charles portrait all in red,
Trump on trial, Elden Ring, full eclipse and Neuralink,
Heat dome, Notre Dame, farewell, Toriyama-san,
Poison chess, Bangladesh, Merrily We Roll Along!

Such was the year. We made it!
Through the highs and lows and each surprise, we chose
To get through the year. We made it!
So now, sister, brother, let’s all face another!

Baby Reindeer, pink cocaine, war in Gaza and Ukraine,
Glen Powell, Yoon Suk Yeol, OTC birth control,
Bird flu, Moana 2, now a 15th Doctor Who,
Drake-Kendrick rap war, ending of the Eras Tour.

A.I. art, Deep State, Biden had a bad debate,
Paris Games, CrowdStrike. Hunter pardon? No, psych!
Bluesky, Labour win, Alcaraz and Malinin,
Jimmy Carter, junk fee, President immunity.

Such was the year. We made it!
Through the highs and lows and each surprise, we chose
To get through the year. We made it!
So now, sister, brother, let’s all face another!

Kamala is in the race, astronauts are stuck in space,
Shogun, Raygun, ear assassination,
Shotime raking in the stats; wait, who’s eating dogs and cats?
“Tipsy,” Sheinbaum, Chevron Deference now gone,
Deadpool and Wolverine, Hurricanes Milton and Helene,
RFK, worm in brain – what else do I have to say?

Such was the year. We made it!
Through the highs and lows and each surprise, we chose
To get through the year. We made it!
So now, sister, brother, let’s all face another!

Diddy parties, Pelicot, Luigi shot a CEO,
White Sox, mPox, Walz and Vance, bump stocks, 
Pygmy hippos, workers strike, Tyson vs. Paul fight,
Wicked, Megaflopolis, Selzer poll a major miss,

Eric Adams, Taliban, Chappell Roan and Dan Da Dan,
James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, Gaetz, X, mystery drones,
Decongestants no effect, Elmo tweets a status check,
Donald Trump we reelect. What a year in retrospect!

Such was the year. We made it!
Through the highs and lows and each surprise, we chose
To get through the year. We made it!
So now, sister, brother, let’s all face another!