Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Official Video)

I remember being mesmerized by this as a little kid. I still like this song.

Poor Bono.

He still cringes years later about the fact that he sang the worst line in the song:

'Well, tonight thank God it's them instead of you.'

Ouch!

My favorite fact about this is no one was notified ahead of time they would be filmed while recording, which is why most are dressed like they just rolled out of bed.

I guess Jody Watley and Bananarama are the only women they could find? Always baffled me.

R3 How would you know?

R6 - Google it, idiot.

Fuck off, cunt. Who asked you?

r7 No, sweetheart, when one makes a claim such as yours, we include a reference link. You are new here, or quite uneducated. Which is it?

Oh, for fuq sake:

From Rolling Stone Magazine -

The singers had not heard the track in advance, and learned their lines on the spot with the help of a demo tape Ure prepared. This caused a minor incident with Bono, who was not pleased with having to sing the acidic “Tonight, thank God, it’s them instead of you” passage. “I told [Geldof] I didn’t want to sing the line,” Bono recalled in the book U2 by U2. “He said, ‘This is not about what you want, OK? This is about what these people need.’ I was too young to say, ‘This is about what you want.’ But it was his show and I was happy to be in it.” Despite Bono’s misgivings, the line became one of Ure’s favorite parts of the song. “I had originally sung it on the guide vocal an octave lower, and he just decided to let it rip, and it was phenomenal,” he told Songfacts in 2015. “Electric. It was just sensational.”

r10 Interesting, although that doesn't at all, in any way, support the "still cringes years later" comment. No big deal - carry on!

FFS, "that line" is about how privileged First World people psychologically distance themselves from the suffering of humans all over the world. If it made them feel uncomfortable, GOOD. It was supposed to.

Ed Sheeran isn't thrilled that his vocals have been reused on the new version:

[quote]I guess Jody Watley and Bananarama are the only women they could find? Always baffled me.

I expect the lack of women there was when they realised it was a total cockfest and needed a few token females. They could have invited Sade, Kim Wilde, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Alison Moyet, Tracey Ullman, woman from Thompson Twins. Even dirty old lezzer Hazell Dean was coming off the back of two big hits.

I've always found the Stock Aitken Waterman version far more enjoyable - far more uplifting with a proper verse chorus verse chorus structure. You can't beat a song about starving Africans with a disco beat. It's a shame Sonia didn't release her own solo version with a full blown poppers remix. And how lovely to see homosexuals Big Fun with their lispy "sthpread a smile of joy" line. Sad to think Jason whatshisname is the only dead one in the video.

A song that would never be made today

Because we’ve solved famine.

I was in college when this came out. I really miss the 80s, too. I miss how moving I found this song and how impressed I was with Band Aid, thinking that they could really help the people if only they could get enough money to them. I miss being able to be hopeful and being capable of belief in humanity's ability to solve problems.

I also miss those fashions and the whole 80s aesthetic. I'd give anything to go back to that time, even though I was out of my mind with Cold War fear half the time.

This was a really good song and a great effort, despite some really awful lines and its overall cringe-inducing unfamiliarity with Africa.

Who wrote the shitty lyrics?

I loved seeing George Michael, Bono and Simon le Bon. People said the song was a piece of shit, but I liked it and thought it was effective and pretty catchy.

Barenaked Ladies did a really nice version of this song.

It was a better song than We Are the World, which was a steaming pile of shit.

Funny how they all looked like they just rolled out of bed and arrived at the studio by themselves. If this happened today with all the big pop stars, it would be an army of stylists, publicists, etc. Times sure have changed.

My favorite tiny moment is seeing John Taylor cutting up in the background when everyone else is earnestly singing.

There are a few cringy lyrics in the song, but it was the 80s, and the song was written in like 30 minutes.

I do have a lot of nostalgia for the original. It always makes me smile, and heaven knows it was a collection of my wet dream fantasies, particularly Paul Weller and Jon Moss. I would have gnawed off my wrist for 30 minutes with Jon Moss in those days.

[quote] I expect the lack of women there was when they realised it was a total cockfest and needed a few token females. They could have invited Sade, Kim Wilde, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Alison Moyet, Tracey Ullman, woman from Thompson Twins. Even dirty old lezzer Hazell Dean was coming off the back of two big hits.

It is weird that so few women were there, but it seems like it all happened pretty organically, that initially only a handful of people were going to be there and then it snowballed.

It always made me laugh in the longer cut when Boy George hears George Michael and thought it was Alison Moyet. "Was that Alf?" When told it was George Michael....Boy George: "He sounds camp.....but then again, he is!"

Hated it then. Hate it now.

It was a much better song than We Are the World, which was a total POS.

Better song, but WATW had the more iconic lineup. It was truly something back then to get all of those huge acts together in one room. And WATW was radio simulcast/debut all over the world on Good Friday morning.

I loathed every note and every second of We Are The World. I don't care who participated, it was still a steaming turd sandwich.

Why wouldn't Ethiopians know it's Christmas? They were already worshipping Jesus when most Europeans were still praying to pagan deities.

They didn't wan't Madonna for WATW and she really wanted to do it, but they thought she was a flash in the pan who would be over in a year. Of course, Madonna had the last laugh. Crazy For You knocked WATW out of the #1 spot and Madonna went on to be the most successful female artist of all time.

I always laughed at Sting's hair. Also he had to sing the word sting.

Paul Young got the biggest part

Paul Young is OK but I never understood most of the fuss. He must have been good friends with Bob and Midge.

Tonight thank god it’s them instead of you

[quote]Crazy For You knocked WATW out of the #1 spot and Madonna went on to be the most successful female artist of all time.

Yeah, if you never heard of Adele, Beyonce or Taylor Swift

r35 Madonna is the most successful female artist of all time.

Whatever.

Can we get back to talking about the songs?

It’s the only “recent” completely new Christmas song that I think fits in well with the established old chestnuts. I’ve always liked it.

There were only a few women singers and none of them was given a single line to sing. Geldof wrote the lyrics. U2 hadn't made it really big yet, and Bono was clearly nervous. Boy George was drunk but great.

Then and now.

R29 I think it was the time zone difference

Omg, look how young they look. I haven't watched this in years. This was before I had kids and lived on my own. I was doing a lot of cocaine, too, lol. Yes, the 80s were a time of joy for me.

I've always liked this song. I prefer it to the similarly unorthodox John Lennon Christmas track.

Also, I've always thought young Bob Geldof was terribly sexy.

R27

We Are the World was recorded right after the Grammys, IIRC.

Any excuse to post this.

R44 - it was after the American Music Awards

Who is the cutie at 1:52? I was never able to put a name to him.

R:47 - Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet

Gary Kemp today

I would have gladly sipped every drop of Paul Weller's bathwater in this era. Gah, he was so beautiful (see 1:59)

Why should Muslims care if it's Christmas, anyway?

R15 = Gal Gadot

OMG. George Michael.

The Band AID II version made in 1989 is actually decent.

Merry Faux-Xmas to you all!