Start comes from the the Middle English sterten; akin to Middle High German sterzen to stand up stiffly, move quickly. This meaning evolved by c. 1300 to “awaken suddenly, flinch or recoil in alarm,” and by 1660s to “cause to begin acting or operating.” Meaning “begin to move, leave, depart” (without implication of suddenness) is from 1821. The connection probably is from sporting senses (“to force an animal from its lair,” late 14c.). Transitive sense of “set in motion or action” is from 1670s; specifically as “to set (machinery) in action” from 1841. Meaning “act of beginning to build a house” is from 1946. That of “opportunity at the beginning of a career or course of action” is from 1849. Paired with finish (n.) from at least 1839. False start first attested 1850.
“This Could Be the Start of Something” (generally known as “This Could Be the Start of Something Big”) is a song by Steve Allen, published in 1956. Originally, the song was written as part of the score for the 1954 television musical production of The Bachelor. This score earned Allen a Sylvania Award (awarded “For Outstanding Contribution to Creative Television Technique”). In 1956, “This Could be the Start of Something” replaced the original opening theme to Allen’s NBC talk show, Tonight Starring Steve Allen, until Allen left the show in 1957. It became something of a personal theme song for him, being used as the opening to his other talk/variety shows.
“Start!” is the eleventh UK single release by the band The Jam and their second number-one, following “Going Underground”. Upon its release in August 1980, it debuted at number three, and two weeks later reached number one for one week. Written by Paul Weller and produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and The Jam, “Start!” was the lead single from the band’s fifth album Sound Affects. The single’s B-side is “Liza Radley”.
“Start Me Up” is a song by the Rolling Stones featured on the 1981 album Tattoo You. Released as the album’s lead single, it reached number one on in Australia, number two in Canada, number two on the Billboard, number seven on the Uk singles chart, and the top ten in a handful of European countries north of the Alps.
We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a song written and performed by American musician Billy Joel. The song was released as a single in September 1989, and later released as part of Joel’s album Storm Front in October 1989. A list song, its fast-paced lyrics include brief references to 118 significant political, cultural, scientific, and sporting events between 1949, the year of Joel’s birth, and 1989, in a mainly chronological order. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became Joel’s third single to reach number one in the United States in late 1989. Storm Front became Joel’s third album to reach number one in the United States. “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, particularly in the 21st century, has become the basis of many pop culture parodies, and continues to be repurposed in various television shows, advertisements, and comedic productions.
‘Start a Fire‘ is a song that was co-written and recorded by John Legend for the 2016 musical movie La La Land. The singer also served as one of the executive producers for the film and plays a successful mainstream jazz bandleader called Keith. Ryan Gosling stars as jazz traditionalist Sebastian.
“Don’t Start Now” is a song by Dua Lipa from her second studio album, Future Nostalgia (2020). The song was released for digital download in October 2019 as the lead single from the album. Lyrically, Lipa celebrates her independence and instructs a former lover to forget about their past relationship. The song peaked at number two in both the UK and the USA, surpassing Lipa’s 2017 song “New Rules” to become her highest-charting single on the latter. In the UK, the song registered the sixth longest top 10 stay on the chart, and broke a record for the most weeks spent in the top 10 without reaching number one. “Don’t Start Now” is considered to be the beginning of a revival for disco music in 2020 as downtempo, urban-styled music previously dominated mainstream music.
