Band Aid - Do They Know It's Xmas

[Avondklok]

Everyone loves to hate this now, but it's not so far off 40 years old!!!! And everyone meant well. I was a teenager back then and to see everyone join together in a way never seen before at that point was just marvellous. Ditto Bandaid that followed. I hate that it gets so slagged off these days, though I do understand the arguments.

@UrAWizHarry I agree that nothing should be immune from criticism. If someone wants to start a thread to discuss how and why money went to Mengistu, then I’m all ears (eyes).

What I think doesn’t really deserve much more than a, “well what did you do?” response is the people - and there are many on this thread - who just post, “it’s offensive”. Why?

Don’t just say something is offensive, explain why you think that, like you have done yourself.

That’s where I think the term “woke” is valid. People jumping on a bandwagon to declare it offensive without actually knowing why, thinking they’ve got the magic argument to end all arguments because they know the Coptic Christmas date, people who clearly - offensive or not - simply don’t understand the lyrics.

There is much that is problematic with the song - and what it represents in the way “Africa” was viewed then and today. So talk about that... don’t just come on a thread like this and say, “oh it’s so offensive” - then close the thread feeling smug.

@Shaniac

Wow people here really really love band aid

Yes it was very of its time. So why is it still played repeatedly and re-record by new artists now with the same lyrics?

Its very patronising. And yes it reeks of white saviourism. As for asking what me and other people do for africa, well a lot of us support charities on an ongoing basis not as a one off fucking event in 1984.

We Are the World is a lot worse!

That's the nature of discussion boards though. You'll get 95% of people stating a single-line opinion and 5% of people who go into more detail. It doesn't mean those 95% of people are wrong or they need to provide detailed accounts of their charitable givings.

I find the term "woke" incredibly irritating, as in the vast majority of cases people do as you say, just chuck it around as a magical way of shutting discussion down.

It makes me cringe now. It was probably the start of the whole celebrity charity thing too (well it definitely existed before then, but they made it more in the public eye). But it did raise a lot of money and raise people's awareness, so for that it was a good thing.

I was a teen when 'Do they know it's Christmas' came out. It highlighted to me the heart-breaking situation in Ethiopia at the time, it was powerful in that regard.

Tune was good, lyrics were not the best but ok, wasn't my favourite song but I'll hum along if I hear it. I doubt we'll be hearing it for much longer though, as it appears to offend.

I cannot imagine how long it would take to write today, months probably, as every single utterance, inflection and meaning has to be micro examined lest offense be caused to someone somewhere.

Wonder which of my childhood memories is next to be picked apart and crushed by the Ministry of Woke? It was Only Fools and Horses the other day.

Pfft. That's all I have to say

I am so sick of this woke bullshit.

And fear for coming generations who won't learn anything from history because they want to cancel anything that happened more than five years ago.

There was an excellent article in the Times today about how morality changes: what was good at one time is seen as immoral later. This is a good example of something which was positive in its time: a real force for change, but now seen as distasteful.

@UrAWizHarry I suppose it irritates me on this particular issue, because it’s one that I feel the 95% of one-liner people has a particularly high number of bandwagon jumpers who don’t actually know why. Which is subjective of course!

I’m actually at the reading comprehension skills of an earlier poster who thinks that the song intends to call people stupid, for not knowing when Xmas is. I really don’t know how anyone could take from a charity single for starving people, the notion that it criticises their stupidity!

It irritates me that people decide something is offensive simply because it’s fashionable to do so. People who would read your post and not have the slightest interest in understanding your point about Mengistu. Yes, it’s what forums are like - but doesn’t mean I have to like that!

Yeah, that's fair enough. You are right that there will be bandwagon jumpers on both sides of the argument.

Honestly when it comes to the song I think the much bigger issue to highlight is whether the money it raised did actually do more good than harm, and how, even with the very best of intentions if these things aren't managed properly they can go south.

The main issue I have with the lyrics is that they generalise about an incredibly diverse and varied continent, but I understand it was written in about 30 seconds flat and was necessarily emotive to get people to cough up for the single.

@UrAWizHarry I think you’re absolutely right about they key point being the money management. Band Aid, Live Aid and the song together have made £300m and that’s still rising. I saw an interview with Geldof and Ure last year where they estimated the royalties from the song in the tens of millions.

Were mistakes made with the money initially? Yes.
Have the trustees of the money now learned from those mistakes? That’s more important than keyboard warriors smugly saying, “but you don’t get snow in Africa”. Which is ironic, because it’s a diverse continent - and you do.

The objections to this song - particularly the lumping together of all African countries - are all valid, but as I said earlier on the thread, back in 1984, there simply wasn't the wealth of easily-accessible information that we have today, to educate ourselves. As a 10 year old child, I had only the vaguest idea of 'Africa'. The news footage of the Ethiopian famine shocked everyone and there was a real desire to help - but again, in those days, you couldn't just go online and find a charity to donate to.

We were very reliant on the media, in all forms, to publicise ways to give money, which in those days, before direct debits and debit cards, would have involved sending off a cheque or if you were a child, going to the post office to get a postal order to send off - unless you happened to come across someone with a tin to put money into.

Buying a record was an accessible way to give money, that anyone could do just by popping into Boots or Woollies or WHSmith. Judging by the number of copies that ended up in charity shops in the following years, I don't think the song itself was wildly liked - people bought it primarily to help the cause.

Love it, always have. Never listened to the lyrics until about ten years ago and, yes, they are ... not great. But the song is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Tonight thank god it's them instead of you is a paraphrasing of there but for the grace of god go I. It could have been any of us is the point of that lyric. Famine happened to this particular group of people but it could have happened to me. I just got lucky.

I think that's the best lyric in it. I think it's the very opposite of othering.

@LindaEllen

I don't like this song for a really, really pathetic reason. And I do know it's pathetic.

"The greatest gift they'll get this year is life."

That's the greatest gift ANY of us get each year. The rest is just consumerist crap - and not something the rest of the world should aspire to!

I don't know, if someone bought me some nice slippers i'd be pretty chuffed

I remember arriving home from work and seeing the news report on the evening news. I was shellshocked by what we saw. Even my dh, never one to wear his heart on his sleeve, was tearful at it. The song is not the best, but it captured a feeling and enabled a lot of people to raise a lot of money we hoped would do some good. We didn't have access to the internet, or 24hour news back then. If you wanted to give to charity, unless you popped a few coins in a collection box, it wasn't as easy and immediate as it is now. The song was a way to enable anyone to give a small amount of money easily. You could go to a bank and donate, but that was when banks opened 9;30 - 3:30 weekdays only, so you'd have to spend your lunchtime queueing up to pay in your donation.
I know that these days there seems to be a need to find offense with things we did in the past and often that is justified. But I don't think this is one of those cases.

I didn't love the song then but I do love it now. It's one of my favourite Xmas songs with some of my favourite artists.
When I hear it I feel a bit emoosh

Band Aid, Live Aid and the song together have made £300m and that’s still rising.

It was made very quickly to call out us in society that have so very much (even now with covid lots of us have so very much) and to get us to feel guilty and give money to people who were starving.

Obviously people who sit around criticizing others have missed the point really.

So a staving individual more concerned with having food or what the words are to a song played in another country is.

It's hard to imagine now but when this came out there were only about six Christmas songs on the rotation. This, Slade, Wizzard, Gary Glitter, Stop the Cavalry and John Lennon. Thirty years later and we're sinking in them.

Although I cannot stand Bob Geldoff and question his agenda..... the popstars in 1984 came together to make this record, not only to raise money but more importantly awareness of what was happening in certain parts of Africa.
We didn't have Internet then, so seeing the images of starving people on the news encouraged people to donate and support.

@contrmary

It's hard to imagine now but when this came out there were only about six Christmas songs on the rotation. This, Slade, Wizzard, Gary Glitter, Stop the Cavalry and John Lennon. Thirty years later and we're sinking in them.

You've missed a few

Lonely this Christmas (Mud, not Elvis!)
We wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas
Gaudete
In Dulce Jubilo
Jingle Bell Rock
Mary's Boy Child
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
A Spaceman Came Travelling
A Winters Tale
When a Child is Born
Wonderful Christmastide
I believe in Father Christmas

And I sure there was one by Showaddywaddy, something by the Smurfs plus Shakin Stevens was around then too

Feeling all nostalgic now!

So people who are criticising this, what would you rather:

1. People did something that raised awareness and money for what was a severe crisis
2. People worried about offending others and kept their head down.

Because I can see people being reluctant to come forward and try and do things when they think that 30 years later they may be slated.

I say to my dc sometimes that things they think as being totally the polite and correct way to do/say something may be something their dc tell them off for being offensive. Things change.

There was Nat King Cole who did a couple of Christmas tunes. He did one called "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot"- it's bloody sad and it's never explained why the poor boy is forgotten. Be warned of you go look for it
There was Brenda Lee, Eartha Kitt, Tom Jones did Baby It's Cold Outside more recently. Now you've got all the John Lewis ones as well.

@Witchend

So people who are criticising this, what would you rather:

1. People did something that raised awareness and money for what was a severe crisis
2. People worried about offending others and kept their head down.

Because I can see people being reluctant to come forward and try and do things when they think that 30 years later they may be slated.

I say to my dc sometimes that things they think as being totally the polite and correct way to do/say something may be something their dc tell them off for being offensive. Things change.

Nice strawman.

It's possible to do things to raise awareness and money whilst being sensitive to any potential cultural issues and ensuring said money doesn't end up buying guns for oppressive regimes. Shocking, I know.

Christ people are sensitive to a shit patronising song. No one here said it needs banning. Just that its shit and patronising. And 1984 is not ancient history nor is 2019 re recording the same shit.

And fear for coming generations who won't learn anything from history because they want to cancel anything that happened more than five years ago.

You are not wrong there - it's pathetic.

Also pathetic are the people who can't seen to actually understand the meaning behind the lyrics. When I had English lessons at school we were encouraged to try to understand what poetry, song lyrics etc, actually meant - what on earth do they learn these days?