Joel Alludes to More Than 100 Headline Events
Throughout the song, Joel refers to more than 100 headline events that occurred during 1949, the year he was born, to 1989, the year he released this song. There are a lot of references to the cold war between Russia and US along with other important events like the Chinese Civil War.
Source: nydailynews.com
He wanted to acquit his generation of the ill-formed blame for many of the problems they inherited, like the cold war. Even though the rapid lyrics style isn’t something Billy Joel came up with, he is pretty much regarded as the person who used it to a significant effect.