WE are the world
welcome to history class
Welcome to your first history class. It’s probably not your first history class EVER, but it’s your first history class with me as your teacher, and I’m really cool so it’s probably different than your other history classes. To commemorate the start of school, I wanted to educate on a topic no 21 year old has ever devoted so much time to before: the song “We Are the World” by USA for Africa. If you’re under the age of like 50, you probably don’t know, or don’t care, about this song. I’m here to change your mind.
“We Are the World” is a charity album from 1985 to raise money for, you guessed it, Africa. The “Africa” in question was actually Ethiopia, and USA for Africa was attempting to raise money to aid citizens during a devastating famine. The song doesn’t mention that, you’d just have to know. People raised money by purchasing records of the song, shirts, or books. I have all three, in case you were wondering. The efforts of USA for Africa did have some affect, they raised over 63 million dollars (equivalent of 237 million in 2024) to assist anti-poverty measure both in Ethiopia and the United States. If you’re old enough to know Hands Across America, that only raised about 25 million dollars in comparison.
Now onto the song, which would absolutely not exist without the work of Harry Belafonte, Lionel Richie, Quincey Jones, and Michael Jackson. Belafonte is the one who came up with the whole idea. In a complicated string of events, Richie, Jones, an Jackson get involved. Jackson and Richie come up with a preliminary draft of the song. The lyrics get changed a bit in production, but the melody is a hit. A song is born!
A tape is recorded and sent out to potential artists for the group. So many things about this project are hard, but nothing seems harder than getting a group of famous people with big egos to be at the same place at the same time. Luckily for Richie, the American Music Awards (AMA), featuring hundreds of 1985’s biggest musical acts as guests, are fast approaching. Everyone will be in Los Angeles on January 28, 1985. Just like that the date is set. The choices were not random. My favorite is that Cyndi Lauper was chosen over Madonna, an arguably more popular artist. The details are a big fuzzy, but if I remember correctly Lauper was chosen at the insistence of Ken Kragen, manager of several artists, who simply did not like Madonna or her voice (I don’t blame him). Sheila E. was invited also, but only so they could try getting Prince. Prince of course did not participate, and Sheila E. feels she was used and robbed out of a solo, though anyone can see that the soloists all deserved their spots. The soloist are as follows: Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, and Ray Charles. Sorry Sheila E.!
After the AMAs conclude it’s already late, and yet bunches of stars descend to the A & M Studio complex to start production. There’s a guest room for non-recording artists, like Richie's wife Brenda and Jane Fonda. Willie Nelson’s harmonica player and Billy Joel’s at the time fiancee Christie Brinkley also make appearances. There’s also a sign on the door frame that states “CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR”. Everyone does. What’s more interesting though is how starstruck everyone is, and these are all famous people. Diana Ross is so excited about Bob Dylan she sits in his lap. She then touches Stevie Wonder’s braids. At some point, Ray Charles asks where the bathroom is and Stevie Wonder says he’ll take him, and does. A different artist jokes how it’s the blind leading the blind. It literally is.
When it’s finally time to record, Bob Geldof, the guy behind “Do They Know it’s Christmas” gives a speech about the horrors of poverty in Africa. Everyone listens and it’s a serious moment. After almost 5 hours of attempting to record the chorus, Wonder thinks they should add a line in Swahili. Geldof tells him Ethiopians do not speak Swahili. The next option is to add in a vaguely ethnic sounding blurb alternating between “sha-la” and “sha-lingay” each line of the chorus. Luckily for everyone, that gets squashed too. The chorus is finished at 2 AM.
The soloists don’t start recording until 4 AM, after the cover photo is shot. Of course, everyone gets so made up you can barely tell it’s 3 in the morning. Al Jarreau has had a bit too much to drink. He keeps messing up his line: “and so we all must lend a helping hand”. Since the video is shot in one take, if he messes up it means Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, and Willie Nelson will all have to go again. It’s annoying, especially when everyone has been up and working for hours. A weird sound keeps muffling Cyndi Lauper’s voice during her part. No one can figure out what it is for a few minutes. Finally it dawns on someone that her 5 tons of jewelry keep muddling up the mic. With her jewelry safely put on the floor next to her, her part is completed without a hitch. Hall of the famous duo Hall and Oates is visibly pissed it’s taking so long. Maybe they should have replaced his solo with someone who isn’t a terrible person (I know about the restraining order). The song is finish at 7 AM. It’s been over 12 hours since recording started.
For all its faults, and there are several, “We Are the World” holds up. Some people, like my roommate’s dad, would say that it was a crappy song and was so fake it meant nothing to the cause. These complaints aren’t untrue. The song isn’t amazing. The lyrics are cheesy, and it goes on a tad too long. The question of realness is also a fair criticism. None of the artists were donating their money to help ease Ethiopian famine, and I agree that they should have. That all being said, “We Are the World” can kind of be summed up as nice. It’s nice that all these artists got together to do something good, even if their intentions weren’t always in line. At least one person had to be doing it just to say they did something good (my money’s on Hall, but not Oates who was in the chorus). It’s nice they could check their egos at the door. It’s a nice song. Everything is nice. They also objectively raised significant money for a cause, which is physically helpful and better than just being nice.
In 2010 a new “We Are the World” was made in order to fund relief efforts following a catastrophic earthquake. That version is considered a musical failure and should not be associated with the original. The only good part is Celine Dion singing as Cyndi Lauper, she’s amazing. Don’t even get me started on the rap they decided to add in. My love for “We Are the World” does not include “We Are the World 25 for Haiti”.
To conclude, my love “We Are the World” goes past the song. It’s the camaraderie between the artists, it’s the attempt to do something nice, it’s using power for good, it’s even the song itself a little bit. I’m not trying to get you to love “We Are the World” like I do, I’m just sharing the story and that’s history class for today.
“Hello” by Lionel Richie
“Do They Know it’s Christmas” by Band Aid
“Human Nature” by Michael Jackson
“Material Girl” by Madonna
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” by Stevie Wonder
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” by Bob Dylan
“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper
“Maneater” by Hall and Oates
“We Are the World” by USA for Africa
“We Are the World" 25 for Haiti” by Artists for Haiti