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Arts·Commotion

How our understanding of the single Do They Know It's Christmas? has evolved

Culture writer Nels Abbey and music journalist Maura Johnston unpack the controversy surrounding the new 40th-anniversary version of the song.

Culture writer Nels Abbey and music journalist Maura Johnston reflect on the song's legacy

CBC Arts ·
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure pictured outside SARM Studios in Notting Hill, London, during the recording of the Band Aid single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', part of the Feed The World campaign, raising money for famine-stricken Ethiopia, on November 25, 1984.
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure pictured outside SARM Studios in Notting Hill, London, during the recording of the Band Aid single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', part of the Feed The World campaign, raising money for famine-stricken Ethiopia, on November 25, 1984. (Larry Ellis/Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Do They Know It's Christmas?, the all-star U.K. benefit single for Ethiopia famine relief that became a defining moment in the intersection between celebrity and charity.

However, despite raising millions of dollars for Ethiopia, the song has come to be seen by many as perpetuating negative stereotypes about Africa.

Today on Commotion, culture writer Nels Abbey and music journalist Maura Johnston reflect on the song's legacy, as well as a whole new controversy surrounding the new 40th anniversary version of the song.

WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube: 

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman.

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