Talk:We Are the World

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is within the scope of the Michael Jackson WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Michael Jackson and associated groups or individuals. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the Project's quality scale.
High This article has been rated as High-importance on the Project's importance scale.
After rating the article, please provide a short summary on the article's ratings summary page to explain your ratings and/or identify the strengths and weaknesses.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Songs, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to songs on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.


I think that I heard somewhere that Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote this entire song in one day. Does anyone know if that's true? Thyroidpsychic 00:25, 4 October 2006 (UTC) Is there any way of identifying all 45 performers? We can't leave out Dan Aykroyd. --Feitclub 21:52, Oct 30, 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] How is this?

This should be a complete list of everyone on the song. Info came from http://www.inthe80s.com/weworld.shtml Hope this is what you wanted.--PLF4170 21:38, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

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,


See if you can find out which MTV employee made it into the video... MTV mentions it in one of their shows but the name is not in the article.  ALKIVAR™ 23:20, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image request

 It is requested that a photograph or photographs of scan of cover art from the single (or album) be included in this article to improve its quality.
The Free Image Search Tool (FIST) may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites.

Does anyone have an image of the single or album cover that we could add to the article? Or a publicity shot from the studio? -- Scarequotes 01:03, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] copy of song

[edit] Randy Jackson

This definitely confirms that the Randy Jackson referred to should link to the Jackson 5 one, not the American Idol one.

[edit] Lyrics

Are we allowed to just reproduce the lyrics like that ? Isn't it copyright violation ?

How about if we link the lines with who sung what ? -- Beardo 16:42, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

I have linked the artist with the part of the lyric he/she has sung -- Shankat 18:20, 30 March 2007 (India)

Hell no, you can't post the lyrics! That's called a copyright violation! I removed them. Ten Pound Hammer • (((Actions • Words))) 01:53, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Michael Jackson singing a guide

From the Trivia section - does this fact explain why Jackson doesn't appear to be in the room with the others when he sings the first chorus on the video? Yet when he sings the "when you're down and out" line later, he is clearly there with the rest. Bentley Banana 02:57, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] George Michael....?

It states that George Michael was on the song. Are we sure about this? Bentley Banana 16:41, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] This or Do They Know its Christmas

It would be interesting to know which sold and earnt more. --133.62.200.220 09:05, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Partial lyrics

Per the US Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code), Section 107, the fair-use excerpts must not constitute a "performable unit" of the song, so words have been omitted in many places.

The song lyrics are under copyright from 1985; however, some excerpts can be explained in technical analysis, under the 1961 fair-use citation of the US Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code):

"U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use" (legal notes), cites US Copyright Act (title 17, U. S. Code), Section 107, U.S. Copyright Office, webpage: CRgov-f1102. The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples for fair-use excerpts: "quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author's observations."

With Wikipedia expanding information everywhere, it is very tempting for people to want to complete the lyrics, adding the missing words. However, the excerpts must not constitute a "performable unit" so please revert if the full lyrics are added (again). Thanks. -Wikid77 (talk) 07:07, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Comedian Lip-Sync Parody

I would like to reference the fact that comedian Kevin Meaney has done a lip sync parody of the song and video as part of his act in the article, but I don't remember what show I saw him doing it on. It may have been the first stand-up comedy series that MTV aired, or not. In it, he lip syncs the original song in the style of every singer in the video, including taking off an on a pair of sunglasses while alternating between Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. Anyone know what show this aired on? I remember that it showed him doing his act, then went to commercial, and then his WATW parody ended the show.John ISEM (talk) 17:32, 27 January 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Question about Lyrics

In the song, Willie Nelson sings: "As God has shown us by turning stone to bread...". Where does it say that God turned stone to bread? In Matthew, chapter 4, Jesus is in the dessert fasting for 40 days, (like Noah durning the Flood and Moses durning the exodus), when the Devil appears to Jesus and says: "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread". Jesus responds by saying: "It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God". According to the song, Jesus did what Satan ordered Him to do. I am aware a lot of people are not concerned about these lyrics, but, I am sure there are lot of Christians who find the sentence questionable to say the least. I like the song, and I wonder why they put it in, knowing a great many Christians would question it? Why risk offending 2 Billion followers of Jesus by singing Jesus did what the Devil told him to do? The song would have been so much better if it did not have that sentence in it. I also did not like the fact they told John Denver to 'beat it' when he offerred to join the group, according to VH1 pop-up video description of the song.204.80.61.110 (talk) 18:42, 4 June 2008 (UTC)Bennett Turk