Can we now finally get rid of 'Do they know it's Christmas'?

[Tokenminority]

This song drives me absolutely up the wall. It's patronising, reductive, and it completely harms efforts towards equality.

I understand the focus on equal opportunities and stopping police brutality, but other narratives, such as the pictures painted in the 'Do they know it's Christmas' song, can be just as harmful.

'Africa' is not a country. You did not go on holiday to 'Africa', similarly to how you wouldn't have sent that you went on holiday to 'Europe' when you in fact went to France.

Of course there are major problems surrounding poverty on the African continent, just as there are in other places, but African countries are not only filled with begging, malnourished children who have never seen a Christmas present.

The picture attached is a photograph of Lagos. If I went on the street and asked random people on which continent that photo was taken, would anyone even consider the possibility that it may have been Africa?

But there is snow all year around in Africa - the tips of the Atlas Mountains

It's a cringefest sure enough.

The way I see it, if you are a starving Ethiopian you are not going to be thinking about Christmas ...even if you know it exists in the sane way you wouldnt care about Christmas if bereaved or suffering.
I think it is meant like that.

I think " there won't be snow" is alluding to the intense heat/ drout.

I like the line " the greatest gift they get this year is love." We could all learn from this instead of focussing on mass consumerism.

Same

Intense heat/ drought of the desert i mean.

So much overthinking here...woke gone mad. The snow bit is a metaphor.

Also a lot of the African countries are Christian so of course they bloody know what Christmas is.

Yes I hate this song as well

The song hasn't dated well.

But for as long as there are children dying from lack of the basics such as water and sanitation in a number of countries, including African ones, then I think reminding us of staggering global inequality, and that 'those with the broadest shoulders should bear the biggest load' is worth it.

I doubt the Chancellor who has just cut the aid budget will hear that song with an easy conscience again

But if it was a charity supporting bereaved kids in the uk you could also ask " do they knownits Christmas?" Not in a patronising way but is anyone going to give a shit about Christmas if they were bereaved/ starving/ suffering/ ill/ destitute/ homeless / mentally ill etc?
Metaphors people.

Isn't it 'Africa' in the song because 'Ethiopia and other affected areas' doesn't scan?

Everyone at the time knew where it refers too. Those new reports were haunting

It doesn’t offend me but it needs to go, just on the strength of it being a terrible song.

ohhh I've just realised 'band aid' is a terrible pun

@meditrina

The song hasn't dated well.

But for as long as there are children dying from lack of the basics such as water and sanitation in a number of countries, including African ones, then I think reminding us of staggering global inequality, and that 'those with the broadest shoulders should bear the biggest load' is worth it.

I doubt the Chancellor who has just cut the aid budget will hear that song with an easy conscience again

Which makes me wonder; How to the PRS payments for radio play work? (Or don’t they?) Is there a royalty income from that song still? Where does it go?

@user1471565182

ohhh I've just realised 'band aid' is a terrible pun

😂😂

It was only a 36 year pause. Style it out 😉

I wasn't born yet in 1985.

What do the older black people that you know remember of Live Aid? It was huge. They will remember it and probably did something to contribute to the famine effort.

Michael Buerk's reports from Ethiopia were so utterly shocking that anyone who saw them at the time remembers them nearly forty years later. Have you seen them? We all watched the same news in those days. It's quite difficult to describe how horrified everybody was - your friends at school, parents, teachers, everyone. And Geldof's urgency, saying 'people are dying NOW', which was true.

I agree that the song was of its time and can now be retired though. Even then I remember thinking 'except for in the mountains' at the 'there won't be snow in Africa' line.

ohhh I've just realised 'band aid' is a terrible pun
Now you say it, me too!

Maybe Ethiopia dismt scan as well as Africa. But for the famine that the song was written in response too, there wasnt a lot being harvested Or hope, or an enjoyment of a major festival . It was written to emphasis that as we enjoyed our Christmas others werent so fortunate.

It was clumsily written. It was of its time before the concept of the great white saviour had emerged. Sensitivity to those living in countries while providing desperately needing food/medical supplies and other support wasn’t considered. It was however a genuine and very human response to immense suffering and the aim of getting emergency supplies where they were most needed as fast as possible. I don’t like the lyrics and as our society grapples with how best to help without making those who need that help feel powerless, inferior or othered, we could maybe be charitable and look at it as being a well meaning attempt to look out for those suffering and not judge too harshly. It made a point albeit clumsily and inaccurately and we have moved on but we are still learning how best to support people in crisis throughout the world and always will be learning as times change. And I agree with the thought that the Chancellor might now feel a stab of guilt on hearing it after cutting foreign aid.

Ugh i agree OP, its yucky, ignorant white saviour stuff

Which makes me wonder; How to the PRS payments for radio play work? (Or don’t they?) Is there a royalty income from that song still? Where does it go?

To the Band Aid Charitable Trust - info here:

register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?subid=0&regid=292199

Also, what is public of Bob's own philanthropy listed here:

www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/bob-geldof

For those saying everyone knows that by Africa they mean Ethiopia - that’s disingenuous.

Imagine a song was written about the Bosnia and Herzegovina crisis at the time and for “poetic” reasons they used “Europe” in the lyrics to peddle massive stereotypes about poverty, hopelessness and violence. And that song remained one of the most popular Christmas classics worldwide year after year.

This song and the nature of subsequent charity appeals have sparked mass misinformation about the African continent which while the continent does have its problems, it is a vast and culturally rich continent, full of life, arts and celebration.

I was born after this song so didn’t know the Ethiopian context and neither did my peers. When I was younger people used to ask me if my family came to the UK because we had no food.

I remember when I was 15 my geography teacher making a comment on Nigeria to the class - saying that in Nigeria at weddings guests bring a bowl of rice and that will have been the only food they’ve had that week. I asked her if she had lost her mind - that Nigerian weddings and the food on offer would put British weddings to shame. And that food is a strong part of our Nigerian culture and many people eat more than just rice daily - we have rich meat stews and huge variety. Imagine if the class didn’t have me to challenge the teachers views - that’s why these songs are problematic.

Yes there’s poverty in Nigeria but there is poverty in the UK too - how would you feel if the world’s view of Britain was based on how the poorest 1% lived? If the view of Britain was school children going hungry during a pandemic?

[quote meditrina]Which makes me wonder; How to the PRS payments for radio play work? (Or don’t they?) Is there a royalty income from that song still? Where does it go?

To the Band Aid Charitable Trust - info here:

register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?subid=0&regid=292199

Also, what is public of Bob's own philanthropy listed here:

www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/bob-geldof[/quote]
Thanks @meditrina

That’s the most important aspect to me.

like the line " the greatest gift they get this year is love." We could all learn from this instead of focussing on mass consumerism.

the line is actually " the greatest gift they'll get this year is LIFE"

i am old enough to remember the news reports-it was just unimaginably horrific and the response was raw and human. The song was written and recorded in 24 hours and did a lot of good.

@malificent7 i think it's "the greatest gift they'll get this year is life"

Love would've been a nice sentiment though, but no, "they" should be grateful for breathing!

OP - it is very of its time but I don't think that means it should be sent to the bin. Lots of songs translate badly but they're still catchy.

Some of you really need to pull your heads out of your arses and step away from political theories.

Throwing around buzzwords doesn’t make you clever or superior to anyone else, 20 years ago it was trendy to be a ‘white saviour’ these days it’s trendy to be ‘woke’ , it’s all the bloody same - well off people trying to assuage their guilt from living a comfortable life when they realise that not everyone has it as easy as them.

Sometimes the world is an utterly shitty place and if people want to help their fellow humans let’s just encourage them to do that without the god awful lectures about the right way in which people must be helped that currently aligns with the latest right on theory.