[gentle music]
["We Are the World"]
- Hello, I'm Jane Fonda,
and this is A&M Studios in Hollywood, California.
On the evening of January 28th,
along with several other people,
I was fortunate to be here
and to witness an extraordinary event.
45 of the most remarkable singers
in American popular music
had come together to record a special song
and make a special commitment.
For many of us watching that night
part of the thrill was seeing so many diverse artists
working together so compatibly, with serious purpose
but with a sense of humor and spontaneous spirit.
After all, how often have any of us had a chance
to see genuine legends like Ray Charles, Bob Dylan,
Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross,
Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson,
oh, and so many more.
All in the same room, sharing harmonies,
telling jokes and even shedding tears.
Frankly it was a bit like a dream.
The vision of an artist community coming together
declaring that an urgent common concern
was more important to them
than musical differences or individual renown.
It was a dream too good not to share.
And so in the next hour,
we would like to give you a glimpse
of some of the more enduring moments
of that memorable evening.
A few days before the actual historic session,
another musical meeting took place.
This time at Lionshare Studios
with Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson,
Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder all present.
♪ Somewhere soon make a change
♪ We're all a part of God's great big family ♪
♪ A brighter day, so let's start giving ♪
♪ There's a chance we're taking ♪
♪ We're taking our own lives
♪ It's true we'll make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ When you're down and out
♪ There ain't no hope at all
♪ But if you just believe
♪ There's no way we can fall
♪ The day is gonna come
♪ When we stand together as one ♪
- [Jane] By the end of the session it was clear
that the song not only had shape and substance,
but also had enough heart and soul
to inspire the kind of affinity necessary
to bind together so many diverse singers.
In fact, there was a spirit of cooperation,
amiability and exhilaration born at this session
that would eventually carry over
to the entire USA for Africa project.
♪ There's a chance for taking
- Hello?
Hello?
How ya doing Larry?
Man, are you kidding?
[laughs] Well, Stevie, Michael and Lionel are here.
So we're just getting ready to cut the track.
We're gonna cut the bass right now.
[funk bass music]
[cackling laugh]
[drums thudding]
- [Lionel] Wait a minute.
[funk music]
[piano music]
- [Jane] The next night Michael and Lionel
recorded a final rough version of the vocals,
while drummer John Robinson, bassist Lewis Johnson
and pianist Greg Phillinganes
laid down some basic rhythm tracks.
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
- [Jane] Then Quincy and engineer, Humberto Gatica,
did a mix of the song and sent tapes of it
to the other artists who were invited
to lend their voices to the project.
Finally it was the night of Monday, January 28th.
Trucks began arriving here at the A&M lot
shortly after dark.
Over a 150 technicians and crew members began assembling
a complex audio and video network of equipment.
Nobody was receiving payment for their effort or materials.
In fact, even the video tape you're now watching
was contributed, and there was more than
45 hours worth of it used.
[workers chattering]
By 8:30, A&M studies had been transformed
into the temporary capital of American popular music.
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
- [Jane] Michael Jackson bypassed the American Music Awards
to come in by himself and record one final guide vocal
that Quincy could use as a map for the song's chorus parts.
Then, a little after 9:00 p.m.,
the other singers and their guests began arriving.
Many, like Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner and Lionel Richie,
were coming straight from the American Music Awards,
where Tina and Cyndi had performed and Lionel had hosted.
People who had been competitors only a few hours before
were now meeting as partners in deliverance.
Others, like Darryl Hall, John Oates,
Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen,
had flown in that same day.
- I'll be here, I guess this is where
[speaker drowned out by background noise]
[musicians chattering]
- [Quincy] When I saw those faces
coming in the studio that night
after the American Music Awards,
and they just were just checking one by one.
Ray Charles and just on and on.
And I started to feel that everybody was on the case.
And they weren't involved in egos,
and that's one of the key words we had that night
was check your ego at the door.
- This is some powerful magic gonna happen tonight.
I feel it.
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
- Hi.
♪ 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
[musicians chattering]
- [Lionel] You saw artists that have
just met for the evening
hugging each other or comforting each other.
I will tell you though, no one was intimidated.
- [Quincy] To walk into their midst
and to feel an instant sense of camaraderie,
an instant sense of belonging,
an instant sense of oneness,
is a very, very unusual experience.
- Hold it everybody, please.
First, I would like you to meet Bob Geldof,
who is really the inspiration for this whole thing.
[clapping] - Yeah, Bob!
- He just came back from Ethiopia
and he'd like to talk to you.
- Oh, would I?
[chuckling]
Well maybe, to put you in the mood
of the song you're about to sing,
which hopefully will save millions of lives,
I think it's best to remember
that the price for life this year
is a piece of plastic seven inches wide
with a hole in the middle.
That, I think, is an indictment of us.
I think what's happening in Africa
is a crime of historical proportions.
And the crime is that the Western world
has got billions of tons of grain
bursting in its silos
and we're not releasing it
to people who are dying of hunger.
I don't know if we in particular can conceive of nothing.
But nothing is not having a cardboard box
to sleep under in minus 10 degrees.
Nothing is not having any drink to get drunk on.
Not having water.
You walk into one of the corrugated iron huts
and you see meningitis and malaria and typhoid
buzzing around in the air and you see dead bodies
lying side by side with the live ones.
And on a good day you can only see
120 people die slowly in front of you.
In some of the camps, you'll see 15 bags of flour
for 27 and a half thousand people.
And it's that that we're here for.
I don't wanna bring anybody down,
but maybe it's the best way of making
what you really feel and why you're really here tonight
to come out through this song.
So thanks a lot, everybody,
and let's hope it works.
- [Woman] Thank you. [clapping]
- We're gonna start out to,
well, number one I like to just let everybody know
that the names down here are for solos.
We're going to do the ensembles first
and to get all the stacking
and all that carpentry out of the way.
So if it's too high for anybody
they can just rest on this stack
and then we'll come back and put it away, okay?
So we'll make a playback [laughing]
and then start chopping wood, okay?
[musicians chattering]
Can I hear it hum?
♪ 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
- Okay good, let's put it on tape.
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
The highest point was conducting that choir
because there was some moments in that chorus
where I had goosebumps.
That's my truth box and the goosebumps
were up all night long.
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
[clapping]
- That part'll be cool.
[musicians chattering]
- Whichever one feels good to you.
Which one feels better or brighter?
Brighter's the one everybody leaning to, right?
- Maybe a changes.
- No, I think it should be brighter all the way around.
- I feel like everyone was singing brighter.
- This is brighter?
- No better, brighter.
Yeah, it's gonna be brighter now.
- Better has more bite.
- I don't wanna open a can of worms.
Stay with brighter.
- We don't ever sing this?
- Hi, Cyndi.
- No, no better, it's brighter.
It's true we make a brighter day.
- It's true we make a brighter day
just you and me, instead of better.
Everybody say brighter 'cause that's
what we're saying anyway.
Can we hear about four bars without the track?
Acapulco, one, two, three.
- [Jane] When you hear it on the radio,
"We Are the World" sounds like
one seamless, flowing performance.
But working on it in the studio
was like making a jigsaw puzzle part by part.
Including some pieces that finally didn't fit.
Like this experimental chorus by Michael.
♪ We are the world, sha la
♪ We are the children, sha lingay ♪
- [Quincy] Well, as usual, Michael was real pro
and he worked so well with all the other artists.
The chemistry was great, man.
♪ We're giving
- All right?
- Mm-hmm.
♪ We are the world, sha la
♪ We are the children, sha lingay ♪
♪ We are the ones to make a sha la ♪
♪ Let's start giving
♪ 'Cause that's what we're giving ♪
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
♪ Ah
- [Bette] Everybody sings great,
everybody has a wonderful ear.
Everyone caught on real fast.
It's great to watch Quincy.
I've never been in the studio with him
and he's a master, so that was a real thrill.
♪ One world
- [Ray] All the people that are here
are ultra in their own right,
and of course I'm just so happy to get to see them.
♪ So let's start giving
- [Diana] You know, when I close my eyes
and try to listen to the voices behind me,
and I turn around and look at their faces,
I just love it.
♪ Ah
- [Stevie] It's something out of a dream
to see all of that energy together.
It's what I've always wanted to see.
It's a kind of energy that really can change the world.
It's incredible.
♪ One world
♪ So let's start giving
- [Woman] All right! [musicians clapping]
- [Jane] All in all, Quincy and the group
worked for about four hours that night
until nearly 2:00 a.m.,
recording all the necessary parts
to complete the song's tightly-woven chorus.
Just before the chorus broke up,
there was this spontaneous tribute to Harry Belafonte.
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Day da da day da da day day-o ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
[cheering] [clapping]
- The chorus sounded like that in the beginning.
[laughing]
- [Man] Well, we're just gettin' warmed up.
♪ Get down we're workin' all night ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
[laughing]
- [Woman] What a choir!
♪ Stay here 'til we get it right ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Day da da day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Day day day
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ A beautiful bunch of bright banana ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ It's highly deadly black tarantula ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ I said day, da day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Again day, da day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Ri vuh bo pay bo pay oh
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ I'd like to sing and drink a rum ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Day we say day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Day we say day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ If you drink too much I'll have to stay ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ You're gonna have to be driven home by me or Ray ♪
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
[laughing] ♪ Day we say day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
♪ Day we say day-o
♪ Daylight come and we wanna go home ♪
[vibrating air through lips]
[laughing] [clapping]
- [Man] Harry! [whistles]
[clapping]
[shouting]
- Cover, folks.
All right, I will give you five minutes, okay?
Get yourself together--
- [Jane] In addition to the meticulous
recording of the song,
there were some other matters
the artists had to attend to that evening,
including a 2:30 a.m. photo session
for a 12-page article which ran
in the April issue of Life,
detailing the evening's events.
2:30 in the morning may not be
the best hour for many of us,
but there was a sense of fellowship
in the studio that night
that seemed to fuel everybody's spirit and stamina.
[camera clicks]
[musicians chattering loudly]
- [Lionel] Mass hysteria broke out
because everybody wanted everybody else's autograph.
I realized that there was a room
of everybody being fans of everybody else.
- [Kenny] Everyone wanted a memento that we could
all keep ourselves and we had the sheet music
and had all the other artists sign it.
I don't think there was one out there
that didn't get everyone to sign it.
[Ray plays piano]
- [Jane] During the evening, all of the artists
signed 100 USA for Africa posters.
Later, these posters would be sold, with the money
going to the project's Famine Relief Fund.
[musicians chattering loudly]
- And it would be the best line in the tune.
- I'm just gonna move around
'til I get a line I like. [laughing]
[performs vocal exercises]
- [Jane] Then at 3:00 a.m., it was time
to start the rehearsals for the montage
of 21 lead vocals and duet and harmony parts,
that would give the song its unique character and flow.
While Quincy read over the various parts with most singers,
often showing them the precise phrasing he wanted,
others worked their parts out in pairs.
Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles teamed together,
for example, reading their lines with the use
of an electronic Braille machine.
♪ When you're down and out
♪ There seems no hope at all
♪ But if you just believe
♪ There's no way we can fall
♪ But if you just believe
♪ There's no way we can fall
- [Man] Hello! [laughing]
He got it. - Yes!
- Can I go now?
Oh no. [laughing]
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
- Those two lines.
- I can do that, okay.
- You open up the chorus, you know.
- All right, great.
[speech drowned out by background noise]
♪ There comes a time when we heed a certain call ♪
- Me and you together.
♪ When the world must come together as one ♪
- Two, three...
♪ When the world must come together as ♪
♪ When the world must come together as one ♪
- [Jane] The exact order of the vocals and the job
of deciding who would sing solos and who wouldn't,
and how to match up so many dissimilar voices,
had been made a couple of days earlier
by Lionel, Quincy, and Quincy's associate producer
and vocal arranger, Tom Bahler.
♪ As God has shown us
♪ By turning stones to bread
♪ We all must lend a helping hand ♪
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
- [Lionel] We ceased being individuals.
We were a family so strong, so committed to something,
that it was frightening.
♪ A better day just you and me
[cheering]
- By 4:00 in the morning, everybody felt
comfortable with their parts.
In fact, everybody seemed quite invigorated.
But just prior to the recording of the solos,
something happened to remind all of us
of the underlying serious purpose of the event.
Stevie Wonder brought two guests into the studio.
Two Ethiopian women who had seen famine
spreading across their homeland.
As one of these women spoke to the artists,
it was as if the reality of the tragedy in Africa
had just come closer to home in an unforgettable way.
- Yma's from Ethiopia.
- [speaks in foreign language]
In English, on behalf of my country
we thank you for all you have done.
Thank you very much.
[clapping]
- What we'll do is, we have mics in front of us,
but what we'll do is, you lean in on your part.
Then when the other person comes in,
when you duet with someone, whatever the case is,
when your part comes up, lean in.
Don't sing back here.
You sing back here we'll never know your voice.
- Step in or lean.
- No, come on in.
In other words, even though they have your name
back here. - Right.
- [Man] Might be your regular thing.
- You follow?
- [Man] Yeah.
- This is a real recording.
The names are back there, but the mics are up here.
Come to the microphone.
- Testing, one, two.
- One, two, two, two.
- [Man] Let me know when you're ready!
- [Woman] Ready. - Ready.
- Are they ready?
[piano music]
♪ There comes a time when we heed ♪
- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Guys [claps hands] wait a minute!
We've gotta stop making noise during takes, please.
[mumbling]
[giggling]
♪ There comes a time
♪ When we heed a certain call
♪ When the world must come together as one ♪
♪ There are people dying
♪ Oh, and it's time we lend a hand to life ♪
♪ The greatest gift of all
♪ We can't go on pretending day by day ♪
♪ That someone somewhere soon will change ♪
♪ We are all a part of God's great big family ♪
♪ And the truth you know love is all we need ♪
♪ 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
♪ Won't you 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 stones to bread
♪ And so we all must lend a helping hand ♪
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
♪ Whoa, 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
♪ When you're down and out
♪ There seems no hope at all
♪ But if you just believe
♪ There's no way we can fall
♪ Well, well, well, let us realize ♪
♪ Oh, that a change will only come ♪
♪ When we stand together as one ♪
- My fault, I didn't go down.
I'm a big out of tune, I didn't go down.
[musicians chattering quietly]
- [Man] Said that we had a lot of bracelets.
- Oh, is that?
Oh, my earrings!
Oh, sorry.
[laughing]
- I'm gonna do everything I can to sing that in tune,
which I think will be a real nice gesture on my part.
[laughing]
- [Paul] Can I help?
- It's good.
- It's tough, it's far [drowned out by background noise]
Can I help?
Put out a little more energy there?
- I don't know that it's, it wouldn't hurt.
[plays piano]
- [Lionel] Thank you.
- [Man] All right.
- E.
[laughing] E.
Hate E.
- [Man] You hate E.
[musicians chattering]
- Time of the morning where we must be
as accurate as possible.
- [Man] Here we go.
♪ There comes a time
♪ When we heed a certain call
- [Jane] After maybe only a half a dozen takes,
the main sequence of solo vocals was finished.
Now there were only a few fill-in items left.
[clapping]
- Fish burger!
Fish burger! [sings]
[musicians chattering]
- Say we are the world, we are the children.
So let's start giving.
You said there's a choice we're making.
We're saving our own lives.
It's true, you know, we make a better day.
You'll be half singing, half talking.
After your thing, modulates, you know.
- Okay, did somebody else sing it already
on the track so I can hear it?
♪ Choice we're making
♪ We're saving our lives
♪ It's time to make a better world ♪
♪ For you and me
- Me, yeah.
♪ 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
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ For you and me
- Is that sorta it?
Sorta like that? - [Man] Yeah!
- [Lionel] Bob wanted to be a part of this
because there were people dying,
and he made his fame and his fortune on public awareness.
That's what he's known for.
So for him to be in that room was ever so fitting.
I saw the real reason why he is Bob Dylan.
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
- [Lionel] The guy is probably one of the hardest
working cats I've ever met before in my life.
I kept waiting for him to get tired,
and sit down and rest.
He kept saying, "I'm gonna do it again."
♪ We are the world, we are the world ♪
♪ We are the children, we are the children ♪
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving, so let's start giving ♪
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ Yeah, we're saving our own lives ♪
♪ It's true we'll make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
- [Bruce] I didn't get any time.
Somebody asks you to take one night of your time
to keep people from starving to death someplace
it's pretty hard, just can't say no.
♪ So let's start giving
[clapping] [whistling]
- Thank you, thank you.
- [Lionel] Well, that takes care of that.
- I broke a legitimate sweat.
- Your take's good.
- [Man] Take care.
- [Woman] It's not over yet.
- Thank you. [chattering]
- Make believe, are you doing something,
are you going somewhere?
[chattering]
- You killed it.
And we made it through.
- [Quincy] Is is okay?
- Yeah. [laughing]
[chattering]
- [Man] So New York time?
- It's only 20 after eight.
[laughing]
- [Jane] The night session was finished.
Daylight had come and it was time to go home.
The session may have been over,
but the work was hardly done.
In fact, the most crucial part of the task,
the assembling of all the various parts,
sequences, and solos, pulling all of these
complex elements into one cohesive package
that would play seamlessly was still to be done.
That work was begun a few days later
here at Lionshare studio.
Here, engineer Humberto Gatica, and Quincy Jones
spent several long days weaving the various threads
into a final, effective blend.
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
To deepen the song's soulfulness,
Quincy brought a handful of singers
back into the studio, including Ray Charles,
the man who had virtually invented
soul music over 30 years ago.
- [Ray] Are you saying we'll or we?
- It comes out like we.
- It's true we?
- We make a better day.
- Okay, I just wanna make sure [mutters]
It's true we make a better day.
Is that right?
- Yes. - Yeah.
That's it.
- [Ray] Hello!
Howard, I give to you.
And we keep this here in case I have to write
anything else, okay?
So you show me what you want now,
and where you want it,
and then that's all you have to do.
[thumps table] - Okay.
- Let's go, one shoot through.
♪ We are the world
- [Lionel] Every word that you want
to use professional on in the music business,
it's Ray Charles.
I call him the one take genius.
♪ Let's start giving
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ Listen, you and me
♪ Wooh
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We make a better day
♪ Oh yes I'm 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
♪ Hey
[laughing]
♪ I'm glad to say it
♪ We are the children
♪ To make a better day
♪ Did you hear what I said
- All right.
[clapping]
- [Lionel] Ray Charles, when he opens his mouth,
you know it's a standard.
And when he puts his hands on the keyboards,
what else do you want him to do?
[piano blues music]
- [Ray] For me, I think it is a great opportunity.
A wonderful chance to participate
and contribute something to a wonderful cause.
I'm honored just to be asked to be a part of it.
- [Jane] Finally, Quincy brought in James Ingram.
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones that make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
- Spit flying everywhere.
[puffs air]
[chuckles]
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to 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 ♪
♪ For you and me
I messed up.
I messed up, I messed up.
Hey, everybody in the audience,
I messed up. [snapping fingers]
Hey, can you dig it?
There's another word we use
but we don't say that on the radio.
[laughing]
But I messed up.
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
- [Stevie] Maybe it really is that we have to be
kind of the voice for the people through our song.
To really help those people that have lost
their perspectives on what life is about.
♪ So let's make a better day
♪ For you and me
- The recording of "We Are the World" was quite an event.
Not merely a glorious, star-studded evening,
but possibly one of the most idealistic occasions
in pop music history.
In that way, it was also a measurement
of just how much pop music has grown in recent years.
And how many of its best artists
feel responsible to the world around them.
But in many ways, what happened that night
was just a start.
In the weeks following the "We Are the World" sessions
several other groups of artists,
including Canadian, Latin American, gospel,
and African pop stars, recorded similar benefit singles
for the relief of hunger in Africa
and other parts of the world.
Perhaps the most moving response to USA for Africa
took place on the morning of April 5th, Good Friday,
when over 8,000 radio stations around the globe
played "We Are the World" at the same time.
It was an utterly unprecedented event
that reached and affected millions of people
of all races and all beliefs.
But it's important to point out that we aren't
just talking about worldwide popularity
or massive record sales here.
When 8,000 radio stations play this song
at the same hour, it means that the world
is momentarily a neighborhood of concern,
coming together to save some hungry children.
And when you or I buy this record, "We Are the World,"
that concern becomes a concrete action.
The money from the record sales and this program
goes to work effectively and quickly,
addressing not just immediate needs of hunger,
but also the long-term matter of self-sufficiency.
So that the trend of famine in these countries
can be reversed, and brought under control
by those who are the most affected.
This means that we can save real lives,
give real people a chance to find their own strength again
and to live without the awful ever-present
fear of starvation.
The poet John Donne once said,
"Any man's death diminishes me,
"because I am involved in mankind."
Today, in the words of Michael Jackson
and Lionel Richie, a pop song says,
"There's a choice we're making.
"We're saving our own lives."
The message is much the same.
If we're involved in mankind,
we can't look away from what's happening in Africa,
because if we do, we are gradually killing our conscience.
And that might be the most terrible death of all.
- It's so nice to be able to see this caliber of talent
get together for what is really a very tragic reason.
It's a shame it takes something like this
to put this group together,
but it's nice to see and know that
when it's all said and done, these people do respond.
- I think it's a great thing.
I think that artists should definitely
do something positive like this.
That's why I'm here.
- When they called and asked for this,
this was something that I really,
it's very close to me, because I have been following it,
and I was determined to do my little bit.
- I got a feeling that we're creating
a shift in what's going on in the world today.
About helping other people.
It's compassion, it's real new.
And it's wonderful, it's a good feeling.
I was happy they included me, really.
- If this can be almost seen as a symbol
for people to just begin to recognize
and look around them a little bit.
I think we'll all be better off.
- People, usually unless something immediately
touches somebody, people don't react.
I think that when you get all these people
together like this, and just saying,
hold on, don't turn away.
It's hard to not not turn away,
but I think that's what everybody here
is trying to say tonight.
- The money will really get to go
where it's supposed to go.
It's got so much good energy behind it.
- [Man] Amen.
- So many good, talented people lending their names
to the whole idea, that it's just gotta work.
- Once anybody is involved in something like this,
once you've tasted this,
you can be sure that everybody will have
a lifetime commitment to just doing this
for the rest of their lives.
- When something like this comes along,
that allows everyone to participate
and feel that they're making a contribution,
you rush to do it, because otherwise you feel
that you're just a witness to a tragedy.
- I do believe that what we have done
is that we're taking it one at a time.
And out of this experience, we may be able
to save a few thousand lives.
I think that's how we have to focus on it.
One at a time.
Catch a child, catch a woman, catch an old person,
catch a young man, just do it.
- People are basically real good.
I think that a lot of times you gotta show 'em the way.
Somebody, some individual has to take action.
Bob took action, I took action,
Harry Belafonte took action, Lionel took action,
Michael Jackson took action.
We all basically did something.
- I'm appealing to you to get involved.
I don't want anyone to get the hunger program
out of your mind until the hunger stops.
Until babies stop dying, until communities stop dying,
until people stop dying from hunger.
They're gonna need your help.
Anything you can do,
if you have any feeling in your heart at all
about human life, and the celebration of life,
give of yourselves, give what you can.
There are people dying.
[gentle music]
♪ There comes a time
♪ When we heed a certain call
♪ When the world must come together as one ♪
♪ There are people dying
♪ Oh 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 love is all we need ♪
♪ 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 make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ Well 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 ♪
♪ 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 make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ When you're down and out
♪ And there seems no hope at all ♪
♪ But if you just believe
♪ There's no way we can fall
♪ Well, well, well, well let's realize ♪
♪ Oh that a change can only come ♪
♪ When we stand together as one ♪
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to 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
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We saving our own lives
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to 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 you make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
- All right let me hear you!
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to 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 make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
Come on now, let me hear ya!
♪ We are the world, we are the world ♪
♪ We are the children, we are the children ♪
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving, so let's start giving ♪
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ We are the world, we are the world ♪
♪ We are the children, we are the children ♪
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving, so let's start giving ♪
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ Yeah we're saving our own lives ♪
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to 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
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones to make a bright day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day ♪
♪ So let's start giving
All right, did you hear what I said?
♪ There's a choice we're making ♪
♪ We're saving our own lives
♪ It's true we make a better day ♪
♪ Just you and me
All right, I'm gonna say it again!
♪ We are the world
♪ We are the children
["We Are the World"]