I'll be Wells for a While...: In 1984/85 Pop Stars taught us the true meaning of Christmas, but who did it better?

The coverage of the ebola outbreak in western Africa, and subsequent release of Band Aid 30's re-recording of Do They Know It's Christmas, got me thinking of the original single's release in 1984, which was soon followed by USA for Africa's We Are the World. And with no particular criteria in mind, let's take a look at them and decide which is better.

But first, a little background ...

In the fall of 1984 Boomtown Rat's lead singer and Irish pop star Bob Geldof, as a result of being deeply affected by the BBC's reporting of famine in Ethiopia, reached out to his friend, UK pop star and lead singer of Ultra Vox, Midge Urge and together they decided to write a charity single, which resulted in Do They Know It's Christmas.

They brought together the top UK and Irish pop stars of the day to record the single, as well as Americans Jody Watley (who was just starting her solo career, having moved to the UK) and... Kool and the Gang? Don't get me wrong, they had a top selling album that year, and were still very much a commercial success. It just seemed like an odd pairing with the UK/Irish stars. But, perhaps that's because...

It wasn't a particularly diverse group. Pretty much a bunch of white guys, with the overall group representing the styles and sensibilities of Top 40 radio in the UK at the time. Yeah, Bananarama was there too, but all of the soloists were guys.

But the song itself? There's a definite foreboding, a sense of urgency. The opening bell chimes, are they a call? The celebration of mass? Perhaps a funeral mass? Those drums, the haunting backing vocals, and there's the opening lyrics:

It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade

You get the sense they're doing it because things are getting grim. Then there's Bono's ubiquitous lyric (did I use ubiquitous correctly?):

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

If that isn't calling the listener out, I don't know what is. It's fairly on the nose, "Hey A-hole, drop to your knees and thank your creator that you and your family aren't watching each other starve to death in a far off place where nobody gives a damn about you."

And the chorus itself? A hopeful, but a very direct, yet simple, call to action:

Feed the world, let them know it's Christmas time

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas

Not to be outdone, Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, and Michael Jackson got together and wrote We Are the World. They gathered a far more diverse group, representing a spectrum of American pop music, as USA for Africa. (Oh, yeah. And Dan Aykroyd. Seriously? Dan freakin' Aykroyd. I officially take back my critique of Kool & The Gang's participation with Band Aid.)

We Are the World, thematically, is the good cop to Do They Know It's Christmas' bad cop. Yeah, the lyrics have a weight to them, but it's a more hopeful appeal to our better angels. The opening lines:

There comes time, when we heed 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

it's easy to look back and dismiss this as a bit of a "cheesy" song, that's very much a product of the 80's. But upon further reflection, it's quite good. It really is a well crafted American pop song. Likely in no small part to the performances and pairings that we wouldn't have heard anywhere else. Tina Turner harmonizing with Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick with Willy Nelson, Springsteen, Loggins, Perry, and Hall on the second chorus, all distinct and inspired.

Then there's the bridge, with Huey Lewis, Cindy Lauper, and Kim Carnes. The passion of Bono's emotional smack in the face with "Tonight thank God it's them, instead of you" is easily matched by Lauper's improvised crescendo of "Ay, yay, yeah, yeah!" Whoa.

Again, you see the diversity. From the genres of music represented, the prominent presence of female vocalists throughout the song, but then they anchor it with Ray Charles. He wasn't exactly chartin' with the kids at the time, but he was absolutely a piece of American recording history. And there's an engine of brightness and joy behind his vocals.

USA for Africa - We Are the World

Both songs went on to sell millions of copies and set chart records, and led to the Live Aid mega-concert in the summer of '85. But I have to give the nod to...

Do They Know It's Christmas

I would have made this the clear cut pick, but when I went back and listened to both, it became more difficult. They're both good. But in the end, I think this song just has greater impact, greater urgency. And it's still played every year during the holidays. It's aged very well. I just like it more.

Follow-up versions of both songs were later recorded. I initially flippantly referred to these as "musical crimes", because I don't think they're very good. But I recognize the intentions were very noble, the causes important and charitable. But they just don't hold up next to the originals.

Band Aid II