Toast 16,140 Posted yesterday at 18:42 So tired of the sniping at the original Band Aid, mostly coming from people who were not around at the time. This guy was, though, and he seems to have completely missed the point. "To say: 'Do they know it’s Christmas?’ is funny, it is insulting," says Dawit Giorgis, who in 1984 was the Ethiopian official responsible for getting the message out about what was happening in his country. His incredulity decades on is obvious in his voice and he remembers how he and his colleagues responded to the song. "It was so untrue and so distorted. Ethiopia was a Christian country before England… we knew Christmas before your ancestors," he tells the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9dl22gz3vlo FFS! It wasn't about whether they were Christians. It was saying that the people were in such dire straits, starving and dying, that they probably wouldn't be aware of it being Christmas (or any other celebration). They had more important things to deal with. .... the chorus of disapproval about the track, its stereotypical representation of an entire continent - describing it as a place "where nothing ever grows; no rain nor rivers flow" - and the way that recipients of the aid have been viewed as emaciated, helpless figures, has become louder over time. It was also specifically about Ethiopia, where the famine was, and not Africa in general. And "emaciated, helpless figures" was what we were seeing on the news. Yes, it says "there won't be snow in Africa" but that's because "Ethiopia" doesn't scan. It's called poetic licence. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prussianblue 1,031 Posted 9 hours ago As a piece of music the new version sounds absolutely horrendous, if this BBC review is to be believed. I might pluck up the courage to listen out of sheer curiosity. I do find it amusing that the 1989 version has been firmly shoved into a memory hole. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
