"Tonight thank God it's them instead of you" still -- Band Aid at 30

wfgodot

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Why Adele was right to ignore Bob Geldof and Band Aid (Telegraph)
Bryony Gordon wonders why, when it comes to charity, the rich and famous
donate their precious time while the rest of us must donate our money


I have so many problems with the latest Band Aid single that I don’t really know where to begin[....]
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My real problem is Bob Geldof’s insistence on shaming Adele for not appearing on the track.
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This is as condescending as the song itself – do Africans know it’s Christmas? Given that over 500 million people living there are Christians, we must presume the answer to that is yes – and worse, it is a form of bullying that has sneeringly been dressed up as do-gooding.
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more at links

Band Aid 30 backlash is fair, but damaging (Forbes)

They know it’s Christmas (Washington Post)

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What should a person of good will who wants to help those suffering from Ebola do? Skip the bad music and give directly to DEC, MSF, or another reputable organization. Even better, support local actors who are working in their own communities to help through Africa Responds, which channels resources to pre-vetted community organizations. The Band Aid single will raise a lot of money, and we can hope that the charities selected to benefit from it will use those resources better than they were used the first time around. But this is not the most effective way to help. It isn’t worth the “othering” of Africans – and the very real dangers people of African ancestry living all over the world face as a result of such negative stereotypes.
Band Aid 30 debut new 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' video (NME)

Discuss.
 
Band Aid 30: clumsy, patronising and wrong in so many ways (Guardian)
Bob Geldof is right: Ebola must be stopped. But is the revival of Do They Know It’s
Christmas?, with those lyrics that haunt me year after year, really the best way to help?


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There exists a paternalistic way of thinking about Africa, likely exacerbated by the original (and the second, and the third) Band Aid singles, in which it must be “saved”, and usually from itself. We say “Africa” in a way that we would never say “Europe”, or “Asia”. It’s easy to forget, for example, that the virus made its way to Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country and, for many, a potential Ebola tinderbox – and was stamped out only by the efforts of a brave team of local healthcare workers. The popular narrative always places those of us in the west in the position of benevolent elders, helping out poor Africans, mouths always needy and yawning, on their constantly blighted continent, and leaves out harder to pin down villains: local corruption, yes, but also global economic policies that do little to pull some countries out of the depths of entrenched poverty.
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And much more from Guardian here.

And here:

Band Aid 30 introduces a whole new world of dread and fear
A deconstruction of the new version of the song, whose lyrics now reflect the impact of Ebola in Africa
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2: ‘Well tonight we’re reaching out and touching you’
This replaces Band Aid’s original line, “Well, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you.” Well, admittedly, the original was horrible – do those of us who aren’t dying in a famine really want to thank God that someone other than us is suffering that fate? Not me, thanks very much. But is the new line an improvement? To my mind, it introduces an unsought, transcontinental, creepy and very nearly Gary Glitter-ish vibe. Do west Africans really want to be touched? And if so, how? Has anybody asked them? And might the touching increase the risk of spread of the disease? Frankly, I was never any good at biology, so I don’t know.
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So....whattaya think of the song, the vid, Geldof, etc.? I remember buying the first Band Aid effort 30 years ago -- format: 45 rpm single. $1.29, maybe -- TG&Y store in my hometown. Lousy song, great cause -- but $$ badly handled. Geldof -- pffft. Hated Boomtown Rats. "Sir Bob." Ego larger than the cause -- yet no doubt he did care about it deeply. Polarizing but sincere.
 
If there is one person more annoying than Bono, it is Bob Geldof. I love the Gordon article from the Telegraph even though it contained a picture that included both of those smunts.
 
If there is one person more annoying than Bono, it is Bob Geldof. I love the Gordon article from the Telegraph even though it contained a picture that included both of those smunts.
Yep, you got it -- fingernails on a chalkboard, those two. Eeek!

Telegraph article's got Bobby bang to rights -- the pretense etc. etc., and I also like Stuart Jeffries in Guardian's chuckle-worthy deconstruction of the lyrics; and, same paper, Bim Adewunmi's balanced yet incredulous overview of the whole wank-fest, lol.

Fine cause of course -- check the links in OP, the Post piece "They Know It's Christmas," for other ways to contribute -- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International always good, for example.
 
I must be getting cynical but am hating on celebrity "charidee". Especially Terry Wogan collecting 300,000GBP for presenting Children in Need and all the participating "stars" promoting books, albums etc. Meanwhile the great unwashed are expected to dig deep for charities who spend millions on salaries and company cars, benefits etc
 
[video=youtu;bjQzJAKxTrE]http://youtu.be/bjQzJAKxTrE[/video]
 
I haven't had time to click on any of the links but I am so excited to see the backlash from this song. Back when it was first released, I remember thinking what a stupid song. The "tonight thank God ..." link you quote really grated on me! Lot's wrong with the song but that one line irked me the most. At least "We Are the World" sounded empathetic.
 
Omg, I remember when we all thought this was lovely and you'd hear nothing but praise (except from those few curmudgeons who don't like the Boomtown Rats..) about how the musos all got together to feed the world, etc etc. I actually liked the message of the song....

Okay, I hated the song. But I bought a copy. My Nanna liked it.

BT Rats rock.

(ps, look how YOUNG they all look in that video!!!! they ought to be ashamed. I demand a more elderly, updated version to help us pre-midlifers adjust to the idea that the 80's are, actually, well and truly and forever over... wasn't Boy George just adorable tho? oooh and duran duran, all of em, yummy)
 
I have Do They Know It's Christmas video, with all its "making of" highlights, on BETAMAX!

Did any one of us know the only one who would look hotter than ever 30 years later is that Boy George O'Dowd?
 
I still haven't heard the new song. The old one was horrible but hey, who was going to be more supportive than a 12 year old already into new wave?
 
I have Do They Know It's Christmas video, with all its "making of" highlights, on BETAMAX!

Did any one of us know the only one who would look hotter than ever 30 years later is that Boy George O'Dowd?

I think you win at the 80's, right there.

I think Simon Le Bon has kept pretty well, too.

r-SIMON-LE-BON-large570.jpg


let's just never speak of the outlandish moustachio phase
 
Omg, I remember when we all thought this was lovely and you'd hear nothing but praise (except from those few curmudgeons who don't like the Boomtown Rats..)
Okay, "Mary of the 4th Form" was not too bad. Still occasionally have that pleasantly stuck in my head.
 
Let's see if we can hook others ("the first one's free") but first, for fairness's sake, let me absolutely diss their novelty hit (in all the worst senses of that term) "I Don't Like Mondays": sorry, horrific -- a power ballad with *advertiser censored* "daring" lyrics etc. etc.

[video=youtu;Aiv7hE0s7Xw]http://youtu.be/Aiv7hE0s7Xw[/video]

Well, derivative as hell, but okay FOR THEM, lol.
 
I was *mad* for that song when it came out (IDLM). I still like it, though I'm pretty much over my BTRats fangirl days.

My DD listens to 80's music more than I do and I've had so much fun introducing her to the music I used to love so much, back in the day. Sometimes it just floors me what she ends up liking best - her latest thing is Thomas Dolby, for goodness' sake. And Missing Persons ("It's like Lady Gaga, but without all the lame"). hehe

Occasionally, just to be mean, I'll turn her onto a real stinker... "Omg, how could I forget to tell you about such-and-such??!! Awesome, you'll love it!!!!" And then I sit back and wait for the wailing to begin, "Mum, it's AWFUL and now it's STUCK in my HEAD!!! How COULD you??!!"

Bahahaha. Songs like this:

[video=youtube;ZLqC3zs4r3Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLqC3zs4r3Y[/video]
 
and the classic:

[video=youtube;AjPau5QYtYs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPau5QYtYs[/video]
 
Not to mention:

[video=youtube;iIpfWORQWhU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpfWORQWhU[/video]

I sense a mix tape coming on.
 

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