We Are The World Lyrics Pdf

[Keri Gamrath]

We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the eighth-best-selling physical single of all time.

Soon after the British group Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984, musician and activist Harry Belafonte decided to create an American benefit single for African famine relief. With fundraiser Ken Kragen, he enlisted several musicians. Jackson and Richie completed the writing the night before the first recording session, on January 21, 1985. The event brought together some of the era's best-known musicians.

One musician deliberately omitted was John Denver who had asked to participate but was rejected, despite his previous commitment to charity work. Ken Kragen claimed it was due to some people feeling that Denver's image would affect the credibility of the song as a pop-rock anthem. "I didn't agree with this assessment," Kragen said, but reluctantly turned Denver down.[1] Denver recalled the rejection in his 1994 autobiography "Take Me Home", stating that "It broke my heart not to be included" [2]

"We Are the World" was released on March 7, 1985, as the first single from the album by Columbia Records. It topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history. "We Are the World" was certified quadruple platinum, becoming the first single to be certified multi-platinum. Its awards include four Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, and a People's Choice Award.

"We Are the World" was promoted with a music video, a VHS, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters, and shirts. The promotion and merchandise helped "We Are the World" raise more than $80 million ($222 million today) for humanitarian aid in Africa and the United States.[3] Another cast of singers recorded a new version, "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", to raise relief following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Belafonte contacted the entertainment manager and fundraiser Ken Kragen, who enlisted his clients Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers. In turn, they enlisted Stevie Wonder, to add more "name value".[4] Quincy Jones was drafted to co-produce, taking time out from his work on the film The Color Purple.[4][8] Jones also telephoned Michael Jackson, who had just concluded a tour with his brothers.[4]

Jackson told Richie that he wanted to help write the song.[4][9] The songwriting team originally included Wonder, but his time was constrained by his song-writing for the film The Woman in Red. Jackson and Richie wrote "We Are the World"[9] at Hayvenhurst, the Jackson family home in Encino, California. They sought to write a song that would be easy to sing, memorable and anthemic. For a week, they spent every night working on lyrics and melodies in Jackson's bedroom. Jackson's older sister La Toya recounted the process: "I'd go into the room while they were writing and it would be very quiet, which is odd, since Michael's usually very cheery when he works. It was very emotional for them."[9] She said later that Jackson had written most of the lyrics.[8]

Richie recorded two melodies for "We Are the World", to which Jackson added music on the same day. Jackson said, "I love working quickly. I went ahead without even Lionel knowing. I couldn't wait. I went in and came out the same night with the song completed: drums, piano, strings, and words to the chorus."[10] Jackson presented his demo to Richie and Jones, who were both shocked; they did not expect him to complete the structure of the song so quickly. The next meetings between Jackson and Richie were unfruitful; they produced no additional vocals and got no work done. On the night of January 21, 1985, the night before the first recording session, Richie and Jackson completed the lyrics and melody.[10]

The first night of recording, January 22, 1985, had tight security on hand, as Richie, Jackson, Wonder, and Jones started work on "We Are the World" at Kenny Rogers' Lion Share Recording Studio. The studio, on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, was filled with session musicians, technicians, video crews, retinue, assistants, and organizers as the celebrity musicians entered. Jones hired session musicians to lay down the backing tracks: John "JR" Robinson on drums, Louis Johnson on bass, and pianist Greg Phillinganes. (These three first played together on "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" produced by Jones for Jackson.) Richie sat down at the piano to teach everyone the song. When it was time to roll tape, Robinson cleared the room of non-musicians, and the backing tracks were recorded.[11] After this, a vocal guide of "We Are the World" was recorded by Richie and Jackson, mixed with the instrumental tracks, and duplicated on tape for each of the invited performers. The guide was recorded on the sixth take, as Jones felt that there was too much "thought" in the previous versions.[12]

Following their work on the vocal guide, Jackson and Jones began thinking of alternatives for the line "There's a chance we're taking, we're taking our own lives". The pair was concerned that line would be considered a reference to suicide. As the group listened to a playback of the chorus, Richie declared that the last part of the line should be changed to "We're 'saving' our own lives". Jones also suggested altering the former part of the line. "One thing we don't want to do, especially with this group, is look like we're patting ourselves on the back. So it's really: 'There's a choice we're making.'"[13] Around 1:30 am, the four musicians ended the night by finishing a chorus of melodic vocalizations, including the sound "sha-lum sha-lin-gay".[13] Jones told the group that they were not to add anything else to the tape, and said: "If we get too good, someone's gonna start playing it on the radio."[13]

On January 24, 1985, after a day of rest, Jones shipped Richie and Jackson's vocal guide to all the artists who would be involved the recording. Enclosed in the package was a letter from Jones imploring the artists not to share the tape or make copies. He wrote: "In the years to come, when your children ask, 'What did mommy and daddy do for the war against world famine?', you can say proudly, ''this'' was your contribution."[13]

Ken Kragen chaired a production meeting at a bungalow off Sunset Boulevard on January 25, 1985. There, his team discussed where the recording sessions should take place. Kragen was concerned that a leak of the location would trigger a paparazzi frenzy and drive the celebrities away.[13] Jones was concerned about assigning performers to sing solos, saying that so much talent on hand made the task like "putting a watermelon in a Coke bottle".[13] The following evening, Richie held a choreography session at his home, where it was decided who would stand where.[13]

The final night of recording was held on January 28, 1985, at A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood.[14][13] Jackson arrived at 8 p.m., earlier than the others, to record his solo section and record a vocal chorus alone.[13] He was joined by the remaining USA for Africa artists, who included Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner, and Jackson's siblings Jackie, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Tito.[15] Many of the participants came straight from an American Music Awards ceremony that had been held that night.[8]

Prince, who would have had a part in which he and Michael Jackson sang to each other, did not attend.[16] One newspaper said that Prince did not want to record with other acts;[17] another report, from the time of "We Are the World"'s recording, suggested that he did not want to partake because the organizer, Bob Geldof, called him a "creep".[18] During the session, Richie spoke with Prince on the phone, and declined Prince's offer to play a guitar solo in a separate room.[19] Instead, Prince donated an exclusive track, "4 the Tears in Your Eyes", to the We Are the World album.[17] Wonder asked Eddie Murphy to participate, but Murphy declined because he was busy recording his single "Party All the Time". Murphy later said after he "realized what it was, [he] felt like an idiot".[20] More than 45 of America's top musicians participated,[16][21] and another 50 had to be turned away.[8] A sign taped to the studio door read: "Check your ego at the door."[22] Wonder greeted the musicians as they entered, and said that if the recording was not completed in one take, he and Ray Charles, two blind men, would drive everybody home.[23]

I think what's happening in Africa is a crime of historic proportions ... You walk into one of the corrugated iron huts and you see meningitis and malaria and typhoid buzzing around in the air. And you see dead bodies lying side by side with the live ones ... In some of the camps you see 15 bags of flour for 27,500 people. And it's that that we're here for.

Each performer took their position at around 10:30 p.m. and began to sing. Several hours passed before Wonder announced that he would like to substitute a line in Swahili for the "sha-lum sha-lin-gay" sound,[24][25] causing Waylon Jennings to leave.[24][25] A heated debate ensued, in which several artists also rejected the suggestion. The "sha-lum sha-lin-gay" sound ran into opposition as well and was removed. Jennings returned and participated in the recording. The participants eventually decided to sing something meaningful in English. They chose to sing the new line "one world, our children", which most of the participants enjoyed.[24]

In the early hours of the morning, two Ethiopian women, guests of Wonder, were brought in.[25][26] They thanked the singers on behalf of their country, bringing several artists to tears.[25][26] Wonder attempted to lighten the mood, by joking that the recording session gave him a chance to "see" Charles, saying, "We just sort of bumped into each other!"[23] Under the circumstances, the solo parts presented a variety of challenges, but were all successfully recorded that night.[27][26] The final version was completed at 8 a.m.[26][28]

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