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Original poster

I never look for offense, but "Do They Know its Christmas Tume" lyrics...

427 replies

SecondUsername4me · 23/12/2023 20:41

I mean, it's a bit iffy right?

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time,The greatest gift they'll get this year is life

The whole of Africa?

Where the only water flowing, Is the bitter sting of tears

On the whole continent?

Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you

Err.....

OP posts:
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7
MrsTerryPratchett · 23/12/2023 21:25

I think one of the reasons us ‘old’ people still like it is because it was the first time we saw people suffering thousands of miles away and did something about it. We felt we were part of making the world a better place. OK, we were naive, as were the pop stars involved but it changed how international aid was perceived by the general public.

There is a terrible trend now to think that whining about other people's language choices online is 'activism'.

At least Geldof was doing something.

Theinnocenteyeballsinthesky · 23/12/2023 21:27

I think one of the reasons us ‘old’ people still like it is because it was the first time we saw people suffering thousands of miles away and did something about it. We felt we were part of making the world a better place. OK, we were naive, as were the pop stars involved but it changed how international aid was perceived by the general public.

thats such a good point. As a 14 year old I didn’t know or understand how international aid worked or much about charities. Buying a record was an easy way to try & do something rather than just hand wringing about how terrible it all was

SemperIdem · 23/12/2023 21:29

MrsTerryPratchett · 23/12/2023 21:25

I think one of the reasons us ‘old’ people still like it is because it was the first time we saw people suffering thousands of miles away and did something about it. We felt we were part of making the world a better place. OK, we were naive, as were the pop stars involved but it changed how international aid was perceived by the general public.

There is a terrible trend now to think that whining about other people's language choices online is 'activism'.

At least Geldof was doing something.

There’s something in that, I think. Pre 24 news, social media etc, people were much more deeply affected by what they saw on the news, actively did something to try and help.

Youregoingthewrongway · 23/12/2023 21:29

It’s just a song. Most song lyrics won’t hold up to scrutiny when looking for accuracy and wokeness. I repeat, it’s just a song.
And one that made a lot of money for a good cause.

InnerCityInnerCity · 23/12/2023 21:31

I was 11 in 1984 and can still remember the news reports. I must have watched it on News round before Blue Peter or after Wilo the Wisp at 6pm but before tea. It was less censored than today but we had less repeats and no way of checking back via Google. You saw stuff once.
My parents were old school polite racists, it took a lot to disturb them. The visual images of starving children did really upset them, enough to put their hand in their pockets. It was the most shocking thing they had seen since the footage from WW2.
We had very few records and stuff was expensive. It going to sound bizarre but a lot of us received the 7inch vinyl single as a Christmas present.

I am very anti gap year students going to 'Africa' to 'help' orphans or do other 'worthy' projects. NGOs and foreign Aid is often poorly thought out, but it is helpfully to understand the mood in 1984 and how the reaction in the UK changed ordinary people but also how that brought about a different set of problems.

AppleWax · 23/12/2023 21:31

Cannot stand this song. Didn’t buy it when it first came out, and I continue to switch the radio over or skip that track when it comes up. It didn’t feel right when it came out when I was a teenager and certainly doesn’t feel right today.

I did donate directly to one of the charities working in the famine struck areas instead.

43ontherocksporfavor · 23/12/2023 21:31

We were all so moved for all the RIGHT reasons. My DM sent me out to buy 3 copies!

StarlightLime · 23/12/2023 21:31

AppleWax · 23/12/2023 21:31

Cannot stand this song. Didn’t buy it when it first came out, and I continue to switch the radio over or skip that track when it comes up. It didn’t feel right when it came out when I was a teenager and certainly doesn’t feel right today.

I did donate directly to one of the charities working in the famine struck areas instead.

What exactly "didn't feel right"?

Raspberrymoon49 · 23/12/2023 21:31

Might have raised a shitload of money but none of it helped people who genuinely needed it

43ontherocksporfavor · 23/12/2023 21:33

@Raspberrymoon49 I’ve seen documentary where some of the people that were shown suffering in Ethiopia were followed up and said how much they’d been helped by all the aid that followed from Band Aid and Live Aid.

PinkArt · 23/12/2023 21:33

Tygertiger · 23/12/2023 20:59

“Tonight thank God it’s them instead of you” is deliberately provocative. Bono didn’t want it at first as he thought, WTF? But Midge Ure pushed it back on him and said, when we’re all enjoying a nice time in our homes with family and lots of food and we’re all cosy and safe, and an awful story comes on the news, isn’t there a little dark part of your soul which is just glad that’s not you? You feel sad for five minutes then it’s back to the party? It’s meant to be challenging and uncomfortable.

The lines about snow are awful and cringey. But I think Bono’s line is really powerful when you see the intent.

I thought this was better known than it evidently was.
Yes parts of it are problematic and yes parts of Africa do have snow. However it wasn't written with any thought that people would be dissecting it 40 years and countless charity records later. It was written in days as a groundbreaking plan, to raise as much money as possible as quickly as possible, because those news reports showed people hours from death. I was really young at the time but that news story has always stuck with me because the images were so haunting.
Bono's line especially was designed to make people feel uncomfortable, to make them donate a bit more.

MissyB1 · 23/12/2023 21:33

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

This times a million!! 👍

LakeTiticaca · 23/12/2023 21:34

Well for starters you're about 38 years too late. You should have said summat when ut was released. Pretty sure Sir Nob Geldof would have shelved the whole thing and let the poor starving fuckers die just in case some professional offence takers find it offensive

I'll get my coat

MrsRachelDanvers · 23/12/2023 21:34

EmmaEmerald · 23/12/2023 20:53

I think the song is of its time but I definitely don't hear it played in pubs or at parties! that's bizarre.

The oft quoted "there but for the grace of god go I" is the same, and whenever I say I am puzzled by that, people fall over themselves to explain, but I still just hear "thank god it's not your problem".

@RichardMarxisinnocent "I can accept some poetic licence in the lyrics, "there won't be snow in Ethiopia" doesn't really work with the tune."

I was about to say that 😂

Edited

There but for the grace of God doesn’t mean thank god it’s not your problem. It’s an acknowledgment that due to circumstances/luck/mistakes it could be you in that situation. And therefore to show empathy and comradeship as you hope someone would show to you.

TeacherPlease · 23/12/2023 21:34

This thread has reminded me to make my annual donation to clean water charities in Africa in memory of a relative who cared deeply about the cause, so it is still raising charitable funds nearly 40 years later.

And I am grateful for being born in a first world country with all the privilege that brings. And while I wish they wasn’t anyone starving anywhere, I wouldn’t swap places with them, so by extension I am thankful that it is them instead of me. And I don’t see how anyone cannot be thankful for that, so I’m not really sure why people find that so offensive. It’s uncomfortable to recognise and address, yes… but it is - and should be - true.

Vinrouge4 · 23/12/2023 21:35

43ontherocksporfavor · 23/12/2023 20:53

It was written at the time of famine in Ethiopia so everyone at the time( I was a teen) understood Africa to refer to that famine. ‘ Tonight thank god it’s them’ refers to thank god it’s them that’s getting help . It was a charity song that raised millions to help the Ethiopian people.What is wrong with you???

I agree. People just aren’t happy unless they are offended about something.

Workworkandmoreworknow · 23/12/2023 21:35

BethDuttonsTwin · 23/12/2023 21:13

It raised millions at the time and raised awareness of what was going on in a way that had never been done before.

I find these kinds of judgments of historical relatively harmless social norms, by modern day standards really tiresome I have to say.

Yeah. I guess a lot of people here weren’t around for the footage coming out of Ethiopia at the time. I am not sure we had ever seen anything like it. And whilst Bob Geldof undoubtedly could have put his hand in his pocket and done his bit that way, he tried to do things differently. It raised millions, paved the way for Live Aid and I am sure brought the idea of giving to support those less fortunate to a younger than ever audience. I don’t think you can fault that.

Whether the lyrics stand up to modern scrutiny, whether the money raised was spent wisely, whether the lasting legacy in terms of what happened in Ethiopia to how charity operates at an individual level is a positive one is something we can debate, with hindsight. But it is with hindsight. At that moment it hit the spot and many of us remember it with fondness. And my teens marvelled last week at how I was able to name each and every person in that video!

ughChristmas · 23/12/2023 21:35

I remember as a 12 year old thinking how weird that line was. I think it's probably an awkward way of saying, "Be grateful you're not in that position."

Thankyouthankyoujellybean · 23/12/2023 21:35

I went to a fantastic talk about ten years ago called 'Geldof and Bono Are Cunts' which explored the damage that Band Aid had done to the image of 'Africa' and how although many countries, particularly Nigeria, had fast-growing economies, innovation, etc, big money was generally unwilling to invest because of the terrible image that prevailed in the West. Yes, the song was inspired by a famine that nobody was giving a shit about and raised huge amounts of money at the time, but its legacy is (according to the speaker, whose name I have forgotten I'm afraid) disastrous.

Eyesopenwideawake · 23/12/2023 21:36

Look at the context. Michael Buerk's report of the famine in Ethiopia was so shocking, so distressing. A group of pop stars, led by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof, raised £8m within weeks - all of which went to famine relief.

Sneer all you want at the lyrics but I'd love to see today's star do the same for the starving in Palestine. Soon.

hobbledyhoy · 23/12/2023 21:37

It was written nearly 40 years ago. People are going to be perpetually offended if they are unable to grasp historical context.

Theinnocenteyeballsinthesky · 23/12/2023 21:37

The original Michael Buerk report is still on YouTube

Frabbits · 23/12/2023 21:37

It's a shit song which is both incredibly patronising and reductive, and the whole self-righteous attitude of that twat Geldof is incredibly nauseating.

The way the money was distributed was also highly dubious, with much of it ending up in the hands of highly corrupt governments rather than actually doing any good.

Tacotortoise · 23/12/2023 21:38

What it did was move us from being a country that spectated the Ethiopian famine, to a country that was prepared to stick its hand in its collective pocket and help alleviate some of the hunger. More power to its elbow.