Thursday, December 18, 2008

Let Them Know...

Sadly, this song is still relevant twenty-four years later.

2 comments:

Kelvin Warkentin said...

Wow. It's hard to hear the lyrics and not get distracted by their youth, their hair and their clothes. Question is: how many of those singers still have a singing career?

Bigger question still: how much lasting difference did that effort have? Is there any way to know for sure?

Brad Saunders said...

Just like any marketing effort, and this is at its core, a marketing effort, it's hard to know what kind of lasting impact this song/video had. I like to think though, as with any marketing campaign, repeated "hits" of the same message eventually will embed itself in the listeners/viewers consciousness. I know it did for me. This song, and the Live Aid concert that followed in the summer of '85 are at least one part of what got me on the road to caring about global poverty issues.

According to that trusted source Wikipedia, "it is estimated that around £150m has been raised for famine relief as a direct result of the concerts." That's a lot of money, but in the bigger picture, it's really only a drop in the bucket so your question is a valid one.