defend the indefensible: "we are the world"

Googling the lyrics, it's all I can do not to throw up just reading them:

There comes a time, when we hear a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying, and it's time to lend a hand.
To life the greatest gift of all
We can't go on, pretending day by day
That someone somewhere will soon make a change
We are all part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know that love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day so let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true, we'll make a better day just you and me.
Send them your heart, so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us, by turning stones to bread.
So that we all must lend a helping hand.
We are the world......
When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let's realise
That a change can only come
When we stand together as one
We are the world......

But, seriously, a couple of the performers are really good (Charles, Cyndi, Daryl Hall, Kim Carnes) and the way the video's edited – the face-off between overemoting Broose and smoove Stevie – always gave me chills.

http://www.concertshots.com/September%2003/cs-KennyRogers10-Atlanta91303.JPG

(xxxpost)

And that's it.

(Prince not participating was in retrospect a truly genius move, especially since it prompted the separate release of "4 the Tears In Your Eyes," an utterly wonderful song.)

Michael Jackson......PRETENTIOUS, PRIMA DONNA ASSHOLE!

Most cringe-worthy moment: Cyndi Lauper's unsolicited "aye-yai-yee-yai-yah!" melismatic vocal fart after her slavishly oversung verse.

OTOH, the lyrics to "Do They Know It's Christmas" always creeped me out:

Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom

... that's some seriously bone-chilling stuff. "Clanging chimes of doom"? On a charity record?

The video is yes, a nice period piece.

"These NYCians are crazy!"

A menhir....yesterday.

http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~janl/ts/obelix.gif

However, Dylan sucks!

xpost

that would take one precise sphincter!

And it shows.

I'm not sure how anyone could write a song intended for these singers and about feeding the hungry that wouldn't come out like "We Are the World."

There's not much arguing in the British Band Aid docu footage, but i suppose you can argue that they hadn't been up all night*, as it was recorded on a Sunday morning.

*except Status Quo obvs.

xpost It's kind of a cart before the horse situation, because yeah, writing a good song for 50 famous singers is an insurmountable challenge. Of course, other tribute songs that had more time and just as many voices didn't necessarily fair better, as we have discussed on ILX. That Spirit of the Forest song, Sun City, the all Canadian one ...

simply wrangling said cats shouldn't be the lasting achievement

I guess the song did raise a significant amount of money, right? Anyway it’s obv not the greatest song, but I don’t think the doc was insisting that it is… it’s just fascinating to see the cats being wrangled, I took that as the main point.

It made a lot of money for sure, though it's hard to get a good accounting for exactly how much was made and how it was spent.

It is some kind of achievement to devise a canvas for all these people at once, most of whom would probably have come up with a better song on their own but none of whom likely could have come up with something like "We Are the World" (for better or for worse) with 50 collaborators in so short a span.

Right, it’s a “functional” song, I don’t think anyone put it on just to enjoy it… the goal was something they could all sing and that would sound “good” and serve its purpose.

Springsteen said something very similar in the doc, sorta gently equivocating about how the "aesthetic" of the song is almost beside the point

It could be like Voices That Care, gooey faux-Gospel pro war bullshit

Still kinda agitated that some aging punks didn't release their own response "Voices That Don't Give a Shit"

We are the World vs Dear Mr Jesus

Some non-aging punks in the form of FNM did come up with "We Care a Lot" as a response though!

And I love them forever for it

It could be like Voices That Care, gooey faux-Gospel pro war bullshit

Except better

I love how Mystery Train jokingly refers to "Voices That Care" as "We Are The War."

(And surprised that Meryl Streep and Sissy Spacek were in the chorus.)

Really liked the doc, but can anyone tell me why Dan Aykroyd was there to begin with? Was Blues Brothers that big to warrant his presence with the rest of these legends? And wtf, how have I been misspelling this dude's name for 30 years

This was less than a year after Ghostbusters (at the time the-highest-grossing comedy ever) so that would explain it.

Here’s what he said in 2009 (it doesn’t make much sense):

Speaking of iconic images, you were in the ensemble for the Live Aid, "We Are the World video." How did you snag that gig?

Totally by accident. My father and I were interviewing business managers in LA and we walked into this office of a talent manager, and realized we were in the wrong place. I was looking for a money manager, not a talent manager. I had managed myself at that time and always have. But he said, so long as you are here, would you like to come and join this "We are the World" thing.

I thought how do I fit in here? Well, we did sell a few million records with the Blues Brothers and in my other persona I am a musician, so I showed up and was a part of it but it was totally by accident.

I bet he (and a few others there) fit in more than a few lines.

Snarf.

The person who was there who I was looking for in the doc but didn't immediately see, and was kinda wondering if they would get as a talking head but didn't? Garry Trudeau. Really. Remember seeing news about it at the time (and he coordinated a comics-related effort later in the year), and per this thread, a run of strips resulted some time after the session:

1. Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau was allowed to witness the "We Are the World" recording sessions that produced the 1985 megahit to aid famine relief in Africa. Producer Quincy Jones corralled 45 pop stars into the studio, insisting everyone check their egos at the door.

— Mark Stryker (@Mark_Stryker) June 13, 2021

And in case you're wondering if this is some weird urban legend, nope -- from a Chicago Tribune story in March 1985.

Although most of the musicians` guests watched the proceedings via a live video feed to A&M`s Chaplin Stage next door, there was one nonmusician in the recording studio. ”Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau spent the night in the studio watching and sketching, with the result being two weeks of USA for Africa-related ”Doonesbury” cartoons.

we still need a 10-episode expose into this thing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3TmvzoVYM

The Milli Vanilli guy was clearly lip-syncing.

That one had a Chumbawumba parody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRG2s9GC_E

I realize these clips were available for years, and also were only shown in a truncated form in the latest documentary, but ever since watching it I can't get Bob Dylan's goofy rendition of "it's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lies, it's true we'll make a better day, just you and me".

it just sounds Randy Newman singing it and getting punched while he farted

*lives

lol that was my generation's introduction to Bob Dylan

woulda been for me if my dad didn't routinely walk around the house singing "Like a Rolling Stone" and overemphasizing the "DIDN'T YEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW".

As bad as it was, Dylan would hit lower lows as the decade wore on. I can't imagine anyone turning into a Dylan fan back then based on his "new" work.

*raises hand* a friend who heard "Tight Connection to My Heart" was moved to hear the back catalog

that "Let it Be" upthread is like a cluster bomb of wtf

xp That's not a bad track - had they dropped a couple of the worst songs and reinstated "New Danville Girl," that would've been a pretty good album IMHO. Also forgot the Traveling Wilburys, that's a fun album. But Knocked Out Loaded, the Hearts of Fire movie, nearly all of Down in the Groove and the live stuff with the Grateful Dead are pretty awful.

(Yes, "Brownsville Girl" is a different version of "New Danville Girl," and "Maybe Someday" is kind of catchy, but I still wouldn't play Knocked Out Loaded again.)

A new all-star charity single based on Mark Knopfler's theme to Bill Forsyth's great film Local Hero, and naturally, it's all about guitarists, not singing:

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

Benefits Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America.

The full list of contributors is: Joan Armatrading, Jeff Beck, Richard Bennett, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Brown, James Burton, Jonathan Cain, Paul Carrack, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Jim Cox, Steve Cropper, Sheryl Crow, Danny Cummings, Roger Daltrey, Duane Eddy, Sam Fender, Guy Fletcher, Peter Frampton, Audley Freed, Vince Gill, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Keiji Haino, Tony Iommi, Joan Jett, John Jorgenson, Mark Knopfler, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Greg Leisz, Alex Lifeson, Steve Lukather, Phil Manzanera, Dave Mason, Hank Marvin, Brian May, Robbie McIntosh, John McLaughlin, Tom Morello, Rick Nielsen, Orianthi, Brad Paisley, Nile Rodgers, Mike Rutherford, Joe Satriani, John Sebastian, Connor Selby, Slash, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey (both on drums, of course), Sting (on bass), Andy Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ian Thomas, Pete Townshend, Keith Urban, Steve Vai, Waddy Wachtel.

The sleeve has been designed by pop art icon and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band designer Peter Blake, whose collage shows all the contributors in front of Hank’s guitar store in London’s Denmark Street.

Might be the last thing Jeff Beck ever recorded - he opens the record.