Not only that, but it’s generally a terribly condescending song, also to Ethiopian Christians.
Yeah this was always my reaction. Ethiopia has been celebrating Christmas since British people uncivilized pagan barbarians on the fringes of the Roman empire. running round in the nude painting themselves blue*, they don’t need some British pop stars reminding them when Christmas is.
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- Probably not an assessment a modern historian of late classical Britain would agree with, but just making a point.
This. I have a hunch for what they were going after with “Do they know it’s Christmas?”, but they should have called the song “They eat grass, they eat dirt. They don’t fucking care if it’s Christmas.” instead. And “they” in the title always sounded to me like “those people”.
It is a British song and “Christmas” in the UK is much more a blanket term for the period of winter celebration, happiness, feasting and presents etc. When it talks about “knowing” it is christmas it isn’t suggesting that people are unable to read a calendar. It is suggesting that to those affected by famine it won’t feel anything like the christmas you yourself would know and experience.
It isn’t a religious song, it is very simply saying “you are having fun, others are having a really shitty time, stop and think how lucky you are, how bad they have it and stump up some cash to help them”. It isn’t meant to be taken literally and doesn’t bear any theological scrutiny much past that general sentiment.
Also: “There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime”. I’m pretty sure Ethiopia, being basically equatorial, doesn’t get snow anyway. (South Africa, sure, but the song was about Ethiopia).
The lyrics are dreck and don’t bear thinking about. It was a mindless emotional appeal designed to raise money for famine relief, which it apparently did. (See also: “We Are The World”)
And, to be fair to them, the composers of the song, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, have always made it clear that they both regard it as pretty dreadful, but it served its purpose. They pulled it together in about two days.
That might have been the intent, but thats not what they wrote, so it’s still a fair criticism.
Also more relevant to the OP I don’t believe LiveAid ultimately made that much difference to the people suffering famine in Ethiopia, as the main problem wasn’t lack of food, it was famine being used as a weapon of war by the Mengistu regime, so giving the Mengistu regime a bunch of food and supplies wasn’t going to help things.
I think it is clearly what they wrote and what was meant. Sure, It is possible to interpret it in the most uncharitable way but it is a hell of a stretch and out of character with pretty much any other pop music release.
I mean, AC/DC didn’t really think they were literally being oscillated throughout the hours of darkness, Pete Burns wasn’t really being rotated at 33 rpm with a spindle up his arse.
It is a patronizing song, so you rightly don’t hear it much these days, but it should be judged by its intent and effect which were both laudable, though possibly naïve.
In 1984 Sammy Hagar came out with “I Can’t Drive 55” in protest to the National Speed Limit.
2 1/2 years later Congress raised the limit, and 8 years after that they completely scrapped the highway limit and gave the authority back to the states were it belongs.
Wish he would have came out with that song in 1974.
Yet another great reason to like Sammy. What percentage responsibility would you say he had for the change?
The French singer, Barbara, is credited with significantly advancing French-German relations in the postwar years with a single song, “Göttingen” (1964)
From a BBC article, Goettingen: The song that made history - BBC News:
It captured the hearts of her German audience at the Goettingen theatre. It became a hit.
A street was named after her. The city bestowed its Medal of Honour on her. The citation talks of the song and its “quiet, emphatic plea for understanding”. The song’s popularity, the citation says, “made an important contribution to Franco-German reconciliation”.
In 2002, the Chancellor of Germany used the words of the ballad in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty of reconciliation between France and Germany.
Here’s the song (English lyrics are in the “Show More” under the video if you go to YouTube.
