analyze the lyrics of "Do they know it's Christmas" here

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (69 of them)

Geldof's autobiography is titled Is That It?, actually.
I've observed that there seems to be a certain section of the populace who object, at some fundamental level, to pop stars who attempt to leverage their fame or contacts in the pursuit of the common good. Bono working for debt relief for the Third World? "What an egotistical prick." Geldof mouthing off about famine? "Asshole. Who does he think he is?"
I think they're admirable, actually. Maybe they make you feel guilty about your lassitude or lack of empathy, but an attempt to detract from their good works reflects badly on you, not on them.

― Palomino (Palomino), Thursday, 18 November 2004 00:31 (nineteen years ago) link

sorry I screwed up the title, I threw the book away a long time ago.
I don't disapprove of their empathy, I disapprove of the willfully egotistical way they go about publicizing it. Best way to affect change is to lead by example and address problems directly. There are a number of artist/activists I admire. Geldof is not one of them.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 18 November 2004 00:35 (nineteen years ago) link

and again, whether or not Geldof's work qualifies as "good" is something that is open to debate.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 18 November 2004 00:36 (nineteen years ago) link

But of course. We are fortunate to be citizens of democratic nations, where everything is open to debate.
But I'm sure that most people would agree that Geldof's work for famine relief >>>>>>> than doing fuck-all, like 99.9% of the rest of us.

― Palomino (Palomino), Thursday, 18 November 2004 00:51 (nineteen years ago) link

speak for yourself.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 18 November 2004 00:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Bob doesn't really care, or so say the lyrics of his single solo hit, "the great song of indifference":

I don't mind if you go
I don't mind if you take it slow
I don't mind if you say yes or no
I don't mind at all

I don't care if you live or die
Couldn't care less if you laugh or cry
I don't mind if you crash or fly
I don't mind at all

I don't mind if you come or go
I don't mind if you say no
Couldn't care less baby let it flow
'Cause I don't care at all

Na na na, etc.

I don't care ify ou sink or swim
Lock me out or let me in
Where I'm going or where I've been
I don't mind at all

I don't mind if the government falls
Implements more futile laws
I don't care if the nation stalls
And I don't care at all

I don't care if they tear down trees
I don't feel the hotter breeze
Sink in dust in dying sees
And I don't care at all

Na na na etc.

I don't mind if culture crumbles
I don't mind if religion stumbles
I can't hear the speakers mumble
And I don't mind at all

I don't care if the Third World fries
It's hotter there I'm not surprised
Baby I can watch whole nations die
And I don't care at all

I don't mind I don't mind I don't mind I don't mind
I don't mind I don't mind
I don't mind at all

Na na na etc.

I don't mind about people's fears
Authority no longer hears
Send a social engineer
And I don't mind at all

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Thursday, 18 November 2004 00:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Has there ever been a report or study that showed how much or how little the proceeds raised from the records ("Xmas Shite" and "We Eat the World") and Live Aid actually did/did not do for the Ethiopians? I've never seen one, though I suspect all this made fuck all difference to anyone's life over there. But I really would like to know what the cold hard facts of the matter are.

― dsd, Thursday, 18 November 2004 02:30 (nineteen years ago) link

The Voltaire Medal for Even-Handedness goes to Fact Checking Cuz for his defense of a viewpoint that he doesn't agree with.

i DO try to be even-handed -- i'm a libra -- but i can't accept this award because i have no idea what you're talking about. i defended your assertion that the quality of the song isn't relevant to the cause of helping poor people in africa, because i do in fact agree with that assertion. i disagree with, and did not defend, your assertion that it's therefore morally wrong to even discuss the quality of the song and doing so makes us a bunch of dickheads who are simultaneously too smart ("over-educated") and too dumb ("facile").

one of the nice things about living in a democratic nation is that we're free to pick and choose who and what we agree with, and we even have the right to agree with certain people some of the time and disagree with them some of the time. or at least i think we still are; i haven't checked with my democratically elected leader lately.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 18 November 2004 04:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Is the bitter sting of tears

I loved how they just couldn't resist the close up video shot of Sting during this line.

― Kim (Kim), Thursday, 18 November 2004 05:09 (nineteen years ago) link

eight years pass...

^^Came here to post exactly that--the Sting name-dropping in the middle of this song.

― your damn bass clarinet (Eazy), Friday, 21 December 2012 15:37 (eleven years ago) link

Holiday radio would be a lot more fun if DJs would play the 12" version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnKiT1aaxSQ

I love it when Bowie totally Debbie Downers the whole party.

― Kent Burt, Sunday, 23 December 2012 03:25 (eleven years ago) link

seven years pass...

the snow part gets me because While several mountain ranges in North Africa see snowfall on a regular basis it is very rare for snow to settle at lower altitudes, especially on the savannahs. ... Nonetheless, snow on the plains, anywhere on the African continent, remains incredibly rare.

― xzanfar, Sunday, 13 December 2020 19:27 (three years ago) link

Australia doesn't get a white Christmas too often either but they didn't get a song

― StanM, Sunday, 13 December 2020 19:36 (three years ago) link

Well they didn't have a famine did they

― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Sunday, 13 December 2020 19:57 (three years ago) link

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.