Only three days to go before the most joyous day of the year is celebrated. Yet, in some parts of the world, Christmas is hardly a day worth celebrating.
In 1984, a great famine struck the land of Ethiopia resulting in the destruction of lives and properties described in one news report as biblical in proportion. The report soon triggered a massive worldwide fund drive meant to help Ethiopia rise from this unimaginable tragedy.
Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof, however, decided to do something a little different. Along with fellow musician Midge Ure, Bob wrote the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Gathering together some of the biggest music names in the United Kingdom, Geldof and Ure formed Band Aid and recorded the song in just a day. What followed is a smashing success unrivalled in UK music history.
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” sold 3 million copies in the UK by December 31 of that year. Beyond British shores, the song reached the top spot in more than 12 different countries, generating an estimated eight million pounds which served to rehabilitate Ethiopia.
This initial success led to other worthwhile endeavours, notably a counterpart song, “We Are The World”, by USA For Africa, a group of prominent American singers, and “Live Aid”, the incredible benefit concert held simultaneously in the US and in the UK, staged seven months after “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was released.
The song became the undisputed Christmas song of 1984, a title it successfully regained through two re-recorded versions made in 1989 and 2004. As with the original 1984 song, the two re-recordings were performed for charity, with the proceeds going directly to various famine-relief programs. A third version in 2014 raised the needed funds to address the Ebola epidemic that struck West Africa that year.
The mission was undoubtedly a phenomenal success, but it remains uncompleted. Up to this day, thousands of people in many parts of the world are dying of hunger every single day. Yet, we don’t need to go to faraway Ethiopia or to some other remote places to see this.
Right in our own community, we can see homeless people and abandoned street children. Just like in Ethiopia of 1984, these are people who may have long forgotten that Christmas is once again upon us. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is one magical song that should be worth singing for them.
Listen to the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, see the video, and share a piece of yourself this Christmas time
AKA Music 