Rock History

1985 – More than 40 artists gather at A&M’s Hollywood studios to record “We Are the World” under the collective name “USA for Africa.” Proceeds from the single go toward worldwide hunger prevention.

The recording took place for ‘We Are The World’ the US equivalent of Band Aid. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof.

There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can’t go on
Pretneding day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God’s great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they’ll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me

When you’re down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There’s no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me

Selected vocalists

Solos (in order of appearance)

* 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
* Ray Charles

Extras

* Dan Aykroyd
* Harry Belafonte
* Lindsey Buckingham
* Sheila E.
* Bob Geldof
* Jackie Jackson
* LaToya Jackson
* Marlon Jackson

* Randy Jackson
* Tito Jackson
* Waylon Jennings
* Bette Midler
* John Oates
* Jeffrey Osborne
* The Pointer Sisters
* Smokey Robinson

Lyrical format

During the performance, the solo portions, sung by the lead singers, allowed their distinctive, famous voices to be heard individually, or in pairs, for a short phrase, before the entire group sang the third repetition of the chorus verses. Later into the song they intensify the climax of the song with a key change from E to F.

The arrangement created a dramatic effect by having the entire group sing together only after many of the celebrity singers are revealed in solo parts through two repetitions of the chorus and the bridge is sung by Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, Kim Carnes, and Cyndi Lauper.

Recording session details

The recording session in January 1985 was held during and after the American Music Awards. Michael Jackson skipped the American Music Awards ceremony that night to record the chorus of the song as a guide to the other artists. The artists who performed on “We Are the World” arrived in-studio from limousines (as most of them had participated in the American Music Awards) – except Bruce Springsteen, who arrived driving a pickup truck. John Denver, who had been actively campaigning against world hunger in the 1980s, had offered to participate in the recording, but was turned down. According to Ken Kragen, (who helped to produce the song), the reason John Denver was turned down, was due to the fact several people felt his image would hurt the credibility of the song. [2] Linda Ronstadt missed the session due to a bout of the flu and Pat Benatar was not available due to her pregnancy, since there was concern the bright lights and number of people in the studio would not have made it feasible for her to be present in the studio. Although Michael Jackson and most of his brothers were at the recording, sister Janet, who would have her first hit album a year later, and Rebbie were not. The middle Jackson sister, LaToya, did participate. Also, brother Jermaine was the only Jackson brother who did not attend the recording. Cyndi Lauper’s jewelry clicking required a retake of the bridge section and during a break in the session, the group broke out into an impromptu version of Harry Belafonte’s 1950s hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-O)” which led to a suggestion, “This should be the B-Side.” Stevie Wonder came back after the session to “touch up” his vocals.

Disagreement about the lyrics

The lyric “there’s a choice we’re making / we’re saving our own lives” was originally written as “there’s a chance we’re taking / we’re taking our own lives” but was rewritten when it was feared the original phrasing’s first part might look like the artists are patting themselves on the back while the last part might suggest suicide.[3] Also, the artists discussed whether they should sing “we are the ones who make a brighter day” instead of the original “better day”. They eventually ended up singing “brighter day.” VH-1’s Pop-Up Video stated that Waylon Jennings left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics. The dispute started when Stevie Wonder announced that he would like to substitute a line in Swahili. After a few rehearsals, a full-fledged creative conflict broke out. Geldof pointed out that Ethiopians do not speak Swahili. Michael Jackson then proposed to keep his original line “Sha-lim sha-lingay” but after a few rehearsals, it too ran into opposition, because it does not have a meaning. Eventually Al Jarreau cried, “We can make a meaning” and came up with “One World, our word” which was changed one last time in “One world, our children.”

USA for Africa

The group name “U.S.A. for Africa” actually stands for “United Support of Artists for Africa” (not “United States of America”). Most of the singers on the record are American, with the exception of Bob Geldof (who is Irish) and Dan Aykroyd (who is Canadian).

Contributions

Prince telephoned Quincy Jones in mid-session and offered to contribute a guitar part, but Jones said it did not fit into what they were doing, but did say he would accept a solo track for the album, which Prince did contribute. Patti LaBelle and Prince participated in the 1985 television broadcast performance of “We Are the World” from the Apollo Theatre, and many of the above names participated in the performance of “We Are the World” at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in July of 1985. Luciano Pavarotti performed the song at one of his annual charity concerts in 1999 with the likes of Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey. Billy Joel used the meeting with Ray Charles to get him to contribute a vocal on a song that Joel later recorded called “Baby Grand”.[citation needed]

Disagreements between the performers

It was claimed in an issue of Q Magazine that the recording sessions threatened to fall apart due to the rock stars present being unhappy with the amount of “uncool” pop stars also recording the track and threatening to walk out. The mutiny was averted by Bruce Springsteen, who stated, “I don’t care who is here to record this track, I’m here to help save lives.”

Chart performance

When released as a single, “We Are The World” rose up the charts rapidly in the U.S., reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 17, 1985 and remaining there for four weeks. It was also ranked as Billboard’s #1 song of 1985, meaning it was the best-selling single of the year. It also reached #1 in the UK, and made the Top 10 in countries throughout the world. In the UK, it was the 33rd best-selling single of 1985.
Country     Peak
position
Australia     1
Austria     2
Belgium     1
Brazil     4
Canada     1
Denmark     1
France     1
Ireland     1
Italy     1
Japan     2
The Netherlands     1[4]
New Zealand     1
Norway     1
Sweden     1
Swiss     1
United Kingdom     1
United States     1
US Country     76

Tags: world
1980s, Agents & Lawyers, Anniversaries, tributes, & celebrations, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Industry, lyrics, Off the Hook, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers
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