dissecting a christmas "classic"

The year was 1984.

I was 9 and in 4th grade.

There was major famine in Ethiopia.  (Coincidentally, I had just been part of a "school Olympics" team and we had picked the country of Ethiopia out of a hat to represent.  I never made the connection.  My blond hair, blue eyes and extremely pale skin did not really represent Ethiopia well.)

A couple of people had the idea to get a huge group of celebrities together and do a song to help raise money for famine relief. 

The group was called Band Aid, and the song - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"




A wonderful cause to get behind.  All of those famous people. (Um, did anyone tell Bananarama that they were filming a video? Way to dress for the occasion.)  Wow! 

But let's take a moment and look at those lyrics, shall we?

"We let in light and we banish shade."
Isn't the light and the lack of shade one of the problems?  They needed shade...clouds...RAIN!  Don't banish the one thing that might help them.

"Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time."
This was 1984...the Reagan era.  I think we had plenty of arms around the world...year-round.

Then we get melodramatic:
"...And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom."
Clanging chimes of doom?  When doom comes, is it accompanied by chimes?  Is there a constant clanging going on in the plains of Africa?  I get it - it's supposed to be poetic, but it's a stretch.  Personally, I'd rather have the Doom Song sung by Gir...



Then enter awesome Bono solo.  Everybody sing along....
"Well tonight thank God it's them instead of youuuuuuuu!"

"And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime."
Well no shit, Sherlock.  First-off,  Ethiopia itself lies between latitudes 3° and 15°N.  (Okay, I had to look up those actual numbers) This means it's just north of the equator.  Its altitudes aren't extremely high, so this means no snow.  Secondly, the rest of Africa, which is now being lumped as a whole in the song, is quite large and though they might get some snow in Morocco waaaayyyy up in the mountains around Christmas,  the countries south of the equator are just beginning summer in December.  If they get snow in South Africa - it will be in August.  Didn't you pay attention in school?

"Do they know it's Christmastime at all?"
Actually, they celebrate Christmas in January.  And it's not called Christmas, it's called Ganna.  And it's not about gift-giving.  You can read more about it here.

Ah well, it still raised a whole-lotta money for a good cause.  I still listen to it every year...and chuckle...and sing along with Bono.