We Are the One - Charity Single - Essay Example

We Are the One” Charity Single “We Are the One” Charity Single Songs mirror the society and population they are composed for and thus, they are written for deeper meanings besides the common goal of entertainment. In this paper, I would discuss charity songs. A charity song is an artistic release meant for a charitable cause. The song purposes to raise hope and financial support to a population in need. An example of a charity song is “We Are the One”. There are different versions of the song; the original versions was recorded in 1985 by an all-star group of artists such as Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie among others. The campaign meant to raise donations for charity purposes in Africa, the second version-“We Are the World 25 for Haiti” was record in 2010 to support the survivors of the Haiti catastrophe and the television version. Just like “We Are the One”, charity songs should have great influence in changing the world by feeding the hungry population, raising hope and funds for humanitarian purposes. “We Are the One” charity single has different versions which has been rerecorded for different humanitarian purpose. The original versions of the single “We Are the One” was recorded in 1985 by an all-star group of artists such as Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie among others. The campaign meant to raise donations for charity purposes in Africa; especially Ethiopia which was highly affected by starvation due to the 1983-1985 famine. The proceeds were to be donated through Unites Support of Artists for Africa (USA for Africa) organization. A quarter decade later in February 2010, there was a remake of the single, following the wreckage in Haiti caused by an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 Mw. This version of the song was named “We Are the World 25 for Haiti”. The donation collected for the campaign was used to support the survivors of the Haiti catastrophe. This version has several editions such as the YouTube and Spanish editions. The last version is the television version which is recorded for mainstream media as opposed to live performances in concerts. Charity songs have great influence in changing the world due to their humanitarian actions. They help in feeding the hungry population. In 1985, $245 million was raised in a Live Aid concert to help the Ethiopian population against famine. “We Are the One” charity single was recorded with a thematic connection to purpose. The gentle rendition of the song is very effective in underscoring the gravity of the famine in Ethiopia. The performance of the song brings out the strongest emotions out of the audience who are inspired to save lives through their donations. The single reminds the audience about the suffering of people in famine areas as well as reminding them that they have the key to changing such a situation through their little contribution. Even the smallest of contribution will go a long way to help a starving person survive. This is done through a vivid illustration of the problem and the call for the public to take an action. The fame of the artists performing in the “We Are the One” single was a great motivation for the generous contribution to feed the Ethiopian population. 1 Charity songs raise hope for the affected population. For example, after the Haiti catastrophe, artists organized the ‘Hope for Haiti global Telethon Relief Concert’ that was meant to donate and raise hope for the country. The proceeds raised amounted to $58 million. Haiti is one of the poorest countries with the harshest conditions in the world. Several world rankings have given the Haiti very poor scores in virtually all standards of living metrics such as provision of social amenities, security, reducing the high mortality rates as well as defending human rights as well as which has impacts largely on the populations in urban centers. As such, most academics have termed Haiti as a fragile country. It is thus imperative to imagine the destruction caused by the earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 Mw. The hope concert organized by celebrities in order to give hope for the population which had lost more than 200,000 people. This was an effective way of relieving them from despair.2 Charity singles are effective in raising funds for humanitarian purposes of helping the poor. The “We Are the One” single has raised substantial amounts of money in different concerts to help the poor in Africa and in the USA. When celebrities come together for a humanitarian cause, they get a feeling that they are using their talents and special skills for a good cause. This makes the donor to give abundantly as they identify with the celebrities and what they stand for. They may not get like 100 of the greatest philanthropists to contribute the whole amount, but they have the ability to pool people together which generates even a bigger pool than a collection of philanthropists. Concerts are the best platform as it units people especially when organized at the right venue with many people. Concerts are the easiest and best way to raise money for philanthropic purposes. This is because after recording the single, celebrities need not do a lot of work to get the amount of work which they solicit per concert. This is a type of catalytic philanthropy which requires the artist involved in the performance of a charity single to inspire millions of people attending the concerts to give. The best thing is that donation of money is continued even after the end of the concert. “We Are the One” single was able to raise millions of dollars from donations and sale of copies of the single. The money was used to help poor people in the USA and across Africa. The success of a charity single is influenced by the fame and prestige of the artist involved. The involvement and choice of celebrities determines how charity singles will mediate between the givers and the victims who need relief. The celebrities involved should not turn the compassion of the people into a charitainment, a term used to mean over entertainment during a charitable event. Instead, they should be companionate enough to elicit emotional responses in the audience by setting an example. “We Are the One” is a very emotional charity single. It has no upbeat rendition which is likely to overshadow the aim of the event by entertaining people. Involving celebrities who are strong vocally and have the ability to deliver the best of emotions to the audience thereby eliciting the feeling of giving and helping the poor. The celebrities in this single were able to not only persuade people to give, but also to join in the action as volunteers and help or set up their own philanthropic actions by following in the footsteps of the charity event. With respect to “We Are the One” single, its effectiveness to offer hope, relief from famine and earthquake destruction can be analyzed in the following perspectives involving the artists and the versions of the single. Exclusivity The exclusivity of a celebrity is very influential in determining the success of a charity event. The celebrities involved should be exclusive and possess glamour both in person and also in their performance. “We Are the One” single was recorded by the ‘top artists’ who are most reputable, glamorous and exclusive artists of all times. Michael Jackson had already done numerous songs which had a charity theme by himself. Having him as one of the song writers, signer and performance in this song was instrumental in pushing the charity agenda throughout the globe. Furthermore, other artists were exclusive both in how they conduct themselves and in their performance on stage in different concert. Even the 2010 version was recorded by the most influential and top artists who are effective in soliciting giving. They were all passionate about the event and their emotions was effective in sending the exact philanthropic message to the audience as they result in eliciting humanitarian forms, sympathy and sentiment responses. 3 Relevance Most people are reluctant to give inn charity events due to lack of relevance as they do not identify with the seriousness of the issue. For example, people in the United States, Asia or the UK may not understand how serious the famine or earthquake destruction is because it is something they have never seen and can only image it. Celebrities serve a bridge between the distance of the people suffering and in need of aid and the people in different parts of the globe. Charity events bring out the relevance by becoming domesticated in with the local audience. 4As such, involvement of the famous celebrities in the project with a substantial involvement with the local relevance has been pivotal in bridging the distance and adding relevance through increased compassion which elicits responses of offering relief to the victims. For instance, portrayal of celebrities with the suffering people of Ethiopia who were fully starved was an effective way of assuring people that people were suffering and were in dire need of relief. Also, there was nothing like a direct sense of connection between people in Asia and Europe with Haiti and this could curtail their giving. However, involvement of celebrities in “We Are the One” single constructed a way in which a direct connection was established due to representation by celebrities. Motivational Charity singles allow artists to serve as motivation for other people to step into the shoes of the celebrities to follow into their footsteps and do something for the people. In this case, artists need to be ordinary people who are sensitive to the needs of the poor, suffering and the starved and are motivated to do something to help. “We Are the One” single was very effective in motivating people not only to contribute but also to step out and do something for the people. Due to their fame and prestige in the public eyes, celebrities have used different versions of “We Are the One” single and their efforts to elicit action. For instance, the single led to emergence of many volunteers to help the famine stricken Ethiopia and helping the victims of Haiti. Furthermore there were different actions established in Haiti to offer relief to those affected. For instance, students would skip lunch and save the money to help the victims of the catastrophic earthquake. 5 Bibliography Balaji M (2011) Racializing pity: The Haiti earthquake and the plight of “Others”. Critical Studies in Media Communication 28(1): 50-67. Chouliaraki L (2006) The spectatorship of suffering. London: Sage. Cottle S (2009) Journalism and globalization. In: Wahl-Jorgensen K and Hanitzsch T (eds) The handbook of journalism studies. New York: Routledge, 341-356. Cottle S and Nolan D (2007) Global humanitarianism and the changing aid-media field. Journalism Studies 8(6): 862-878. Littler J (2008) ‘I feel your pain’: cosmopolitan charity and the public fashioning of the celebrity soul. Social Semiotics 18(2): 237-251. Read More