Do they know it’s Christmas…?

No doubt you will have to suffer through this classic song by band aid again this Christmas. 

 

While in sufferance, you may as well do the following –  

1. Try to find at least four misreprentations of ‘Africa’ in the song.

 2. Think about whether you agree with Chumbawamba’s reasons behind releasing  ‘Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records’ 1986 – (see picture right)

31897Chumbawamba argued that the orginal band aid record was primarily a cosmetic spectacle designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger – causes such as the developing world charging excessively high interest on loans made to African countries as well as subsidising their own agriculture within the European Union, thus making exports into the Union relatively more expensive.

3. Read this New Internationalist article which considers the extent to which Bob Geldoff has gained financially from the whole Band Aid – Live 8 business.

Finally, and most crudely, you might like to consider whether you agree with Morrissey,  talking about the first Do They Know It’s Christmas?: ‘I’m not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical. Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I’ll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it’s another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn’t done shyly it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.’

Finally, a song worth listening to by Chumbawamba – How to get your band on Television – lyrics here

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