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This was a charity single organized by Bob Geldof, who was the lead singer of The Boomtown Rats. He got the idea after watching a BBC documentary on famine in Ethiopia. Geldof wrote the lyrics and Midge Ure from the band Ultravox wrote the music and produced the track, which was no easy task since so many voices were involved.
In England, and much of the Northern Hemisphere, snow and numerous displays leave no doubt that Christmas is near. In most of Africa, however, it's quite warm on December 25th, since it's summer there. This song asks us to think of those who are living in poverty and hunger in Africa during the Christmas season, reminding us that they might not even know it's Christmas. While the sentiment and melody are full of good tidings, the lyrics are quite bleak: "The Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom."
The single raised $14 million for famine relief in Africa. Geldof is Irish, so he cannot be knighted, but he did receive a KBE, which is equivalent and is popularly known as Sir or Saint Bob. (thanks, Flo - London, England)
In the UK, this became the best-selling single ever. Elton John's "
Candle In The Wind '97" currently holds that record.
Not everyone in the UK was a fan, however. Morrissey told
Time Out in 1985 that the project was "diabolical," adding: "It was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music."
The performers who sang verses were, in order: Paul Young, Boy George, George Michael, Simon Le Bon, and Bono. The chorus included David Bowie, Phil Collins, Paul McCartney, Geldof, Ure and many other artists who weren't given a verse but sang the "Feed The World" part and lent their images to the effort by appearing in the promotional photo. Check out the
Band Aid photo with list of performers.
The artists were not all friends, but they set aside their differences and were at least cordial to each other during the recording - with one exception. In the book
I Want My MTV, George Michael said: "The only person who didn't succumb to the charitable nature of the day was Paul Weller, who decided to have a go at me in front of everybody. I said, 'Don't be a wanker all your life. Have a day off.'"
Trevor Horn, who was a member of the Buggles and Yes, donated the use of his studio to record the song. He also pieced together the B-side of the single, which is an instrumental version with the artists delivering messages over the music. It is called "Feed The World" on the single.
This was the first of the big group charity efforts among musicians. A year later, US artists released "
We Are The World," and Geldof helped organize Live Aid. Other charity singles that followed include "Sun City" and "That's What Friends Are For."
Two versions of the single were released. The 7", which is what radio stations usually play, runs 3:55. The 12" runs 6:18 and features spoken messages from some of the performers. The 7" single was re-released the next year, raising more money for famine relief in Africa.
The video was directed by Nigel Dick, who had done some videos for The Boomtown Rats. He got the request to make the video on short notice, and had no idea what the song was going to be. He didn't have a budget either, so he simply set up two cameras - one outside and one inside - to capture the action. As the artists trickled in to record their parts, Dick filmed them entering the building and then recording. This footage was used not just for the music video, but also for a 30-minute behind-the-scenes piece documenting the making of the single. This video was also sold, with proceeds going to the relief effort.
Adam Clayton from U2 played bass, Phil Collins played drums.
The cover of the single was designed by Peter Blake, who is famous for shooting the cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Bob Geldof explained in the book I Want My MTV: "To me, the '80s were characterized by overwhelming generosity and kindness. Prior to Live Aid, People had been participating in this phenomenon for months. 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' was sold in butcher shops all during Christmas. For whatever reason, this song - not a particularly good song - tapped into a groundswell of compassion. We never said we'd eliminate world hunger, but we could draw attention to a monstrous human crime, a moral and intellectual absurdity. It worked."
George Michael released "Last Christmas" around the same time. He gave all proceeds from the song to Geldof's relief effort.
In 1989, a group of artists including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, and Bros (Featuring Luke Goss on drums) re-recorded this as Band Aid II. The only artists left over from the original Band Aid were Bananarama.
In 2004, a new version recorded by a group of artists including Bono, Paul McCartney, Chris Martin and Dido was released as a single in the UK, with proceeds going to help victims of political and humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Bono is the only artist to appear on both versions.
The Deftones recorded a cover of this song that became popular when it circulated on The Internet. (thanks, mary - pittsburgh, PA)
Downloading didn't exist in 1984, so obtaining the rights needed to sell downloads of this song have so far proven impossible, meaning you won't find it on iTunes or Amazon.
Bob "Humbug" Geldof told Australia's
The Daily Telegraph in a 2010 interview: "I am responsible for two of the worst songs in history. One is 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', the other one is 'We Are The World'. Any day soon, I will go to the supermarket, head to the meat counter and it will be playing. Every f---ing Christmas." Geldof added that he gets irritated when carol singers perform the charity hit in front of his home during the holidays. "They think 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' is as old as '
Silent Night.' Sometimes I think that's wild because I wrote it. Or else I am thinking how much I want them to stop because they are doing it really "badly."
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Then why should "thank God it's them" who suffer "instead of you?" Can we not just pray and ask God for mercy on these people?
This song only made it looked good with its music and nothing else but hypocrisy.
It's Ramadantime,
there's no need to be afraid
At Ramadantime,
we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty
we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
at Ramadantime
But say a prayer,
pray for the other ones
At Eid Al-Fitr time it's hard,
but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window,
and it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Eid Al-Fitr bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank Allah it's them
instead of you
And there won't be feasts in Europe/America this Ramadantime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life (Oooh)
Where no employment ever grows
No mortgages or dignity flow
Do they know it's Ramadantime at all?
Here's to you raise a glass for little Joe
Here's to them underneath that freezing snow
Do they know it's Ramadantime at all?
Feed the world
Feed the world
Feed the world
Let them know it's Eid Al-Fitr time again
Feed the world
Let them know it's Eid Al-Fitr time again
I agree some of the characterizations of Africa are somewhat simplistic and inaccurate (the "nothing every grows" part) and I wonder why Geldof wrote it that way, but the bottom line is that it calls attention to suffering at a time of year when people are most thankful for the fact that they are NOT suffering. And it's got Bono following George Michael in consecutive verses, which doesn't suck either.
I recall being in the UK and watching the documentary on TV in absolute horror, what Band Aid and Live Aid did was fantastic, it was just a shame the food aid and medical aid could not be distributed properly, but this was down to the infrastructure of where the aid was destined to go. Put simply there wasn't any roads to transport the aid.
He had a really good point, feeding them doesnt end their debt that has to be paid off.
Answers please
IN A devastating piece in England's Spectator, Daniel Wolf reports on what happened after the music stopped. In the '80s, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu, the despot who overthrew (and later executed) Haile Selassie as ruler of Ethiopia in 1974, was more than willing to exploit Geldof and the millions of dollars Live Aid raised.
And the BBC documentary which inspired Geldof made little mention of how Mengistu exploited famine as a political weapon. His goal was to depopulate rebel-held areas by forcibly relocating hundreds of thousands of villagers from northern Ethiopia to areas in the south. Instead, the BBC's Michael Buerk merely described Ethiopia's situation as "biblical famine."
Buerk knew what he was doing. As he later told Wolf, "You've got . . . to make the decision, is this side story of any real significance? And also, at the back of your mind, is: if I overemphasize a negative angle to this, I am going to be responsible for . . . inhibiting people from coughing up their money." Why let facts complicate a good story?
Between the BBC documentary, other news stories, and the Live Aid concerts, nearly a billion dollars flowed into Ethiopia during the '80s. Most of it came from various foreign governments; Geldof's efforts represented nearly a quarter of total.
Along with the cash, thousands of western workers and journalists began to enter Ethiopia. Mengistu knew agood thing when he saw it and used the combined tidal wave
of money and sympathy to prop up his regime. He required that relief workers convert their western tender to the local currency at a rate favorable to his junta, which tripled its foreign currency reserves, allowing it to buy arms and materiel. Mengistu's troops also commandeered aid vehicles and fed themselves on the incoming foodstuffs. As Wolf notes, "it became clear that a significant proportion of the relief food in Tigray--the epicenter of the famine--was consigned to the militia. The militias were known locally as 'wheat militias'."
The money allowed Mengistu to string out his war efforts for six more years. Between starvation and outright murder, the war cost more than 100,000 Ethiopian lives.
DURING THE SHOW, The Who performed their '70s anthem, "We Won't Get Fooled Again." The Boomer and MTV generations frequently forget how often they get fooled again.
While Live Aid was spectacular television, it was just another in a series of Big Events from people who believed that throwing money at a problem eventually solves it.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Bob Geldolf is aware that there is no snow in Africa at 'Christmastime'.
Africa's plight can't be explained by a pop song
Mark Curtis
Guardian Weekly
Christmas pop songs aren't famous for their insightful lyrics, but the words of Do They Know It's Christmas?, Band Aid 20's remake but sadly not rewrite of the 1984 single, matter too much to be excused.
Here's how the song goes: "There's a world outside your window, and it's a world of dread and fear, where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears". Africa, it informs us, is a land "underneath a burning sun", "where nothing ever grows" and "no rain nor river flows".
Let's leave aside the nonsense that nothing grows in Africa or that no river flows. More important is that the song perpetuates the myth that Africa's poverty can be blamed on natural causes. It reinforces the stereotype of a continent inhabited entirely by starving children.
Hang on a minute, some might say, this is only a pop song. But this is not just another pop song: it sold 72,000 copies on its first day of release, making it the fastest-selling single of 2004. It is meant to signify the British public's commitment to the poor in Africa. Yet a recent study of the Live Aid legacy by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), found that "the very power of the Live Aid image fuels a belief that the developing world and its people are helpless victims".
The chief executive of VSO, Mark Goldring, said that "the Live Aid images that were once such a force for good have left a legacy that hangs like a cloud over our relationship with the developing world".
It has taken a long time for organisations such as the World Development Movement (WDM) to get across the message that poverty is caused by economic and political factors. African poverty is not due to an unfortunate accident of geography and climate: much responsibility lies with western governments forcing policies on Africa that increase poverty such as pushing free trade, which undermines African economies by exposing them to global market forces, refusing to cancel unpayable debts, and forcing the privatisation of basic services.
The problem in Ethiopia is not that nothing will grow, but that their coffee is worthless thanks to falls in market prices caused by the mismanagement of the global economy.
Nor are Africans the passive victims of circumstance, dependent on handouts. Africans give to us as much as we give to them. In 2002 Africa paid $21.9bn in debt repayments while it received aid worth $22.2bn. Across the continent there are dozens of cases of protest demanding trade justice, debt cancellation and the regulation of multinational companies. The "helpless victims" image deflects attention away from these struggles.
At worst the patronising and dated image of Africa conveyed in the Band Aid song could reinforce old prejudices and even discourage people from taking action. The real issues are not hard for "ordinary people" to understand. The lesson of the Jubilee 2000 debt campaign was that the public are perfectly capable of understanding the abusive nature of the relationship between rich and poor. Approaching 2005 when the British government hosts the G8 summit meeting of leading industrialised nations Africa will be higher up the political agenda than ever. It is vital that the British government is pressed to change its policies and that we challenge the absurd posturing by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that they are the saviours of Africa.
WDM doesn't want to discourage anyone from buying the single. But is it too much to ask for lyrics that inspire people to take action and explain the real reasons why Africa remains poor?
Changing perceptions and campaigning for political change is a better use of multi-millionaire pop stars' energy than urging ordinary people to dip into their pockets for small change and perpetuating false images of Africa.
Mark Curtis is director of the World Development Movement
www.wdm.org.uk
Not only did this song raise millions it was also the inspiration behind We Are The World released the following year AND one of the biggest charity concerts of all time.
1)The lyrics are outdated and even offensive. "Do they know it's Christmastime at all?"
I can't see how mentioning "Christmastime" is that offensive. The lyrics aren't "Feed the world, as long as they're Christian"
And it is a Christmas song.
2) You mustn't have checked recently, or, more likely, at all, but a large proportion of Africans are Christian.
Even if we're going on your strange view of the world, I'd rather have my "traditional indigenous culture" , as you patronisingly put it, disrespected than starve to death.
3) "Don't these UK stars realize that the whole world doesn't celebrate Christmas"
Again, you miss the point beautifully. This is for famine relief. I'm sure those that don't celebrate Christmas will nevertheless agree with the song's purpose.
4)Oh, I'm so glad it's them who are suffering and not me--better them than me
That's the point of this line, and why Bono really didn't want to sing it. It's a shocker delivered to us. We couldn't survive in a famine. It's supposed to state how lucky we are.
5)How about "And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time"? Duh! It's a little too close to the equator for snow, Sir Bob
I'm not sure if you know where Africa is or its size, but it's not all on the Equator. It doesn't just have one type of weather. Get a map. Have a look. Then comment.
And yes, Sting was on this song. He isn't on the new one though, which is probably why it isn't as good.
here's to them, underneath that burning sun" you not think this was raise a glass for respect?? Obviously not.
"And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom"--whoa, that's heavy! Don't these UK stars realize that the whole world doesn't celebrate Christmas? And about the line "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you", so passionately delivered the first time around by the epitome of bleeding-heart celebrities with big egos (Bono)--what is that? Is that compassion? "Oh, I'm so glad it's them who are suffering and not me--better them than me."
How about "And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time"? Duh! It's a little too close to the equator for snow, Sir Bob!
Finally, "Here's to you, raise a glass for everyone; here's to them, underneath that burning sun." Oh yes, cheers, pip pip cheerio, let's drink a toast to all the poor starving children in Africa, shall we? That will really do them a lot of good.