Almost 40 years after it topped the UK Christmas pop chart and made thousands and thousands of kilos for charity, Band Help’s charity anthem has come below contemporary hearth for its lyrics, which critics say perpetuate racist and patronising stereotypes of African individuals.
The track, Do They Know It’s Christmas? was written and recorded by dozens of the UK’s hottest pop artists in response to a devastating famine occurring in Ethiopia on the time. It bought thousands and thousands, and inside a yr had raised £8million ($10.1million) for humanitarian aid.
It additionally famously saved off the highest chart spot Final Christmas by Wham!, a track which lastly reached the highest spot this yr. On the time, that track’s author George Michael donated all its proceeds to the Band Help fund.
However Band Help’s lyrics haven’t aged properly, with critics now lining as much as slam what author Indrajit Samarajiva calls “a horrible, racist track.”
He writes: “It’s not simply that these lyrics haven’t aged properly. They had been by no means good in any respect.
“They take an ignorant and colonial angle, extra about making white individuals really feel good than serving to anybody.”
And he provides that that the track makes sweeping references to Africa, with no particular reference to the struggling in Ethiopia:
“As an illustration, the lyrics: ‘There received’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time. The best reward they’ll get this yr is life.
‘The place nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers movement. Do they realize it’s Christmastime in any respect?”
“I imply, that is all mistaken. It does snow in Africa, though not so much.”
In the meantime, Nigerian Igbo British author Ije Teunissen-Oligboh has shared her discomfort of rising up within the UK on the time of the track’s launch:
“The intention is a superb one and needs to be lauded somewhat than criticised, however the execution was appalling and helped to perpetuate stereotypes and misinformation.
“The discomfort I felt as a toddler watching the one’s music video alongside my predominantly white buddies in class assemblies was pointless and avoidable … I struggled to articulate to friends that the pictures they had been seeing within the video weren’t an correct illustration of a complete continent.”
The track has been re-recorded by completely different artists and launched a number of instances since 1984, with cash raised for various charitable efforts, and with the lyrics tweaked. However the unique stays the usual, and is way performed within the UK all through each festive season.
