[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w5cX_ncZLls[\/youtube]<\/p>\n
Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid<\/strong><\/p>\n We are the world, but they were the world first. Many people are familiar with the multi-musician powerballad that Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie wrote. But they were commissioned by Harry Belafonte. And Harry Belafonte was inspired by this.<\/p>\n Bob Geldof was moved by news reports of the Ethiopian famine and decided to gather a group of musicians together to create this masterpiece. To my knowledge, this is the first time a group of famous musicians came together to create a single specifically for a charity benefit. It was a hit in both Europe and America. After completing Do They Know It’s Christmas, Geldof created a charity concert called Live Aid. This concert inspired Farm Aid and a multitude of other concerts for charity.<\/p>\n One of the most poignant lines in the song is “Well, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you,” which sardonically portrays the attitude of those who go about their lives without knowing or caring about the rest of the world. Perhaps not incidentally, that standout line was given to the lead singer of a then little-known band named U2. We now know that singer as Bono – perhaps the most outspoken musician for charity of our time. Although Bono has always had a good voice and good heart, this may be the experience that inspired him to put the two together and become much more than a musician.<\/p>\n