We Are The World - Lyrics

There comes a 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

We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth you know and
Love is all we need

chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true, we'll make a better day, just you and me

Send them your heart so they know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand

-chorus repeat

When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one

We Are The World

Harry Belafonte originally wanted to put together a benefit concert featuring black musicians to raise money for Africa. Ken Kragen (who became president of the originization United Support of

Artists for Afica) thought an American version of "Band Aid" would be a better idea. Ken Kragen is an owner of a personal management and television production company. One of his clients was Lionel Ritchie, so he called him with the idea. Lionel's wife talked to Steve Wonder's wife and arranged to line him up for the song.

Quicy Jones was lined up as the producer, and Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie were the song writers. The recording took place on the night of the American Music Awards, January 28th, 1985. This was the perfect way to assure that most of the artists would all be free on a single date.

The instrumental tracks were recorded ahead of time and sent out to the interested musicians. With each tape, he sent a letter that stated they should "check their ego at the door." When they arrived in the studio, there was a piece of tape on the floor for each person to stand on, arranged around six microphones in a semi-circle.

800,000 copies arrived in stores on Tuesday, March 7th 1985. There were sold out by the first weekend. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on March 23rd, at number 21. At the time it was the highest debuting single since John Lennon's "Imagine" and was number one in three weeks, which at the time was the fastest rising chart-topper since Elton John's "Island Girl" in 1975. It was the eighth consecutive year the Lionel Ritchie had written a number one song. It won Grammys in 1985 for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

Dan Aykroyd also sings on We Are the World. You can see him in the top row in the video. Dan Aykroyd was in the Blues Brothers was a band before it was a SNL sketch (and then a movie), hence he was a musician. VH-1's "Pop-Up Video" states he's there to represent the American film industry,

* Dan Aykroyd
* Harry Belafonte
* Lindsey Buckingham
* Kim Carnes
* Ray Charles
* Bob Dylan
* Sheila E.
* Bob Geldof
* Hall and Oates
* James Ingram
* Jackie Jackson
* LaToya Jackson
* Marlon Jackson
* Michael Jackson
* Randy Jackson
* Tito Jackson
* Al Jarreau
* Waylon Jennings
"Pop-Up Video" stated that he left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics.
* Billy Joel
* Cyndi Lauper
* Huey Lewis and the News
* Kenny Logins
* Bette Midler
* Willie Nelson
* Jeffery Osborne
* Steve Perry
* The Pointer Sisters
* Lionel Richie
* Smokey Robinson
* Kenny Rogers
* Diana Ross
* Paul Simon
* Bruce Springsteen
* Tina Turner
* Dionne Warwick
* Stevie Wonder
* Michael Boddicker - Synthesizers, Programming
* Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
* Louis Johnson - Bass
* Quincy Jones - Producer
* Michael Omartian - Keyboards, Producer
* Greg Phillinganes - Keyboards
* John Robinson - Drums
by Chris Sammond