New Band-Aid song

[M-A_19]

Is it just us Brits who have this inflicted upon us, or has the infection spread?

I can't believe how bad it is, when I first heard it I thought it was all the DJs on our local radio station doing a karaoke.

and it [b]never[b/] bloody ends either!

Sorry, Sir Bob, I don't care if it's for charity. I'm not buying it.

[HawkLord]

It isn't supposed to be good! Its really just for people to buy but never listen to and go home feeling smug because they've helped a charity. I think actually its more to appease the conscience of popstars. Of course, it will be a number one theres no doubting that!
And I would rather give the money straight to charity than buy that single!

[DeeCrowSeer]

First off, I agree. I am happy to (and certainly will) give the equivalent amount of money direct to Oxfam, but I would never buy the single. I didn't like the original, and I certainly don't like it anymore now that The Darkness are on it! What I find especially annoying about the whole thing is the guilt trip, where DJs suggest that if you don't buy this single you're spitting in the face of the starving millions. Buying the BandAid single is not the only way to contribute, and it might not even be the best way... it all depends which causes you personally wish to support. There are so many worthy causes out there, and we all do what we can, but it's a shame that so much resentment has to be brewed up by this terrible, terrible song.

[zakt]

Is anyone really surprised that it's crap? A bunch of egos, overwhelmingly devoid of talent, stuck in a studio for a few hours, recording a superannuated pop carol is not going to solve 3rd world debt and starvation.

But it gives Chris Moyles something to fart on about and fill up the hours he has to lower our children's IQ levels even further. Fucking hell - why did they take Peely and leave that guy behind????

[manmiles]

Well, I like the old...probably since I've been hearing it since I was three. I think the new one is terrible, but hopefully it'll bring in the money.

[DeeCrowSeer]

At least they were smart enough to put both versions on the CD. Obviously I don't begrudge them the money, and even if they employed Justin "Darkness" Hawkins to give a running total every day in the form of an irritating guitar solo, I would still wish them all well... I just don't want to have to listen to the song, or have it taking up space on my shelves.

[Mikey_C]

Didn't Saint Bob quite recently vow that he'd never do another "Band-Aid"?

Will Chumbawumba be doing a special crap remix of "Pictures Of Starving Children Sell Records?"

It's all a sure sign that the world hasn't moved on in twenty years. Quite the reverse, I'm afraid. :(

[sphinxgod]

Think zakt pretty much summed it all up with his post
I have an idea :roll: ...next year why don't they round up all the "Busteds" of the universe...lure them to a recording studio somewhere...and lock the door and throw away the key...then take all their "hard earned" cash...and "FEED THE WORLD"
Kill two birds with one stone that would :D

Seriously though...why did they not just release the original again? - so much better that this dreadful effort.

[Mikey_C]

Campaigners condemn negative Africa stereotypes in Band Aid lyrics

International development campaigners the World Development Movement (WDM) today condemned the lyrics of the Band Aid single "Do They Know Its Christmas?" as promoting a "negative and inaccurate picture of Africa and its problems."

The organisation, which has been campaigning on issues effecting Africa for over 30 years and was one of the founders of both the fair trade movement and Jubilee 2000, drew attention to several lines in the song which it described as "patronising, false and out of date":

"There's a world outside your window, And it's a world of dread and fear, Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears"…"Where nothing ever grows"…"No rain nor river flows"…"(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun"

Director of WDM, Mark Curtis today said: "The song perpetuates the myth that Africa's problems can somehow be blamed on lack of rainfall and failed harvests. It conjures up an image of a continent inhabited entirely by starving children with flies on their faces sitting in the sunbaked bed of a dried up stream.

"African poverty is not an unfortunate accident of geography and climate. It is largely the result of damaging policies such as free trade forced on Africa by rich countries.

"This is not just any other pop song. The lyrics are important and will be heard in every home and shop in Britain over the next couple of months. They paint a misleading picture of Africa's problems and the reality of African lives.

"The problem in Ethiopia today is not that nothing will grow, the problem is that the coffee that they are growing is worthless because of the mismanagement of the global economy by countries like ours.

"We would not wish to discourage anyone from buying the single but we are very disappointed that it wasn't rewritten to provide a more accurate reflection of Africa and its problems."

WDM appealed to journalists and broadcasters to represent the diversity, breadth and complexity of African life and not to reach for the standard disempowering image of famine and drought.

"Africans are not passive victims of circumstance, dependent on our handouts. In fact Africa gives us as much money in debt repayments as it receives in aid [1]. Across the continent angry Africans are demanding trade justice, debt cancellation and the regulation of multinational companies [2].

"The lesson of Jubilee 2000 was that the public are perfectly capable of understanding the abusive nature of the relationship between the rich and poor world. Once they understand the role of rich countries in keeping Africa poor their anger forces governments to listen and act. There is a danger that Band Aid could undo the valuable work that campaigners have done over the past two decades to transform public perceptions of Africa," said Curtis.

He continued, "This record will not help solve the problems of Africa, though it may provide a lifeline for a few. Only massive public pressure demanding a radical change in Government policy will ensure that in twenty years time we are not back again for Band Aid 40."

Notes:

[1] According to the Pan African News Agency in 2002 alone, Africa paid $21.9 billion in external debt while official development assistance (ODA) to the region was $22.2 billion

[2] States of Unrest III: Resistance to IMF and World Bank policies in Poor Countries in 2003 (WDM, 2003) documents 111 episodes of protest of civil unrest in 25 developing countries (including eight African countries) directed against the policies that keep Africa poor. The previous year's report documented protests in 23 countries almost half of which were African.

* Write your own Band Aid lyricshttp://www.wdm.org.uk/lyrics/index.htm#lyrics

Contact:

Dave Timms (WDM Press Officer) on +44 (0)7711 875 345 or +44 (0)20 7274 7630, or email.

A suitable challenge for the MWM poetry team? Looks like we don't have to feel duty-bound to buy the god-awful crud; we can support WDM's campaigns instead. Sorry, Sir Bob - you're a has-been! :twisted:

[Kitsune]

I kinda like the old lyrics "I'm stuck on band-aids, 'cause band-aids stuck on me" :lol:

Seriously though, I heard somewhere that most famine is caused by distrabution and political issues rather than production issues.