A music video for the single was directed by
Chris Blum.
Billy Joel acts as an unseen but omnipresent observer. During each chorus, Joel wearing sunglasses (similar to Roy Orbison's) rhythmically beats on a black table; in the background, famous photographs (of Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination and Nguyen Van Lém's execution, among others) are consumed by fire, a metaphor of the song's theme and title.
—Peter-Patrick76 (peter-patrick@mail.com)