What is the meaning of song We Start The Fire by Billy Joel?

Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" is not sung by "Joel," "Jolie," or "Jonley." Joel sings the song by himself (Billy is short for "William," the artist's given name), and the song features no collaborations whatsoever.

Furthermore, while the song certainly does mention several historical names and events from the post-World War II era when Joel became an adult, it never once states it's "not their world we destroyed." Rather, this line appears in R.E.M's It's The End Of The World As We Know It, a later single released six years after We Didn't Start the Fire by the Athens alternative rock band.