A Tiny Bit of Joy in the Creeping Darkness
As we prepare for whatever comes next, I recommend a crazy, hopeful diversion
You’re going to think I’m losing my mind, but please hear me out.
I’ve discovered an honest-to-goodness expression of pure joy, which is a very rare commodity these days, and I want to share it with you.
But you’re going to have to check your ego at the door, and suspend your disbelief, and open up your beginner’s mind. Especially if you’re fifty years-old or older.
This joy will come to you through the internet and it will seem like the kind of thing you should avoid, like another pointless exercise in online escapism.
But take my advice anyway. I think you’ll appreciate it.
Go to YouTube.
Search for “reaction videos, We Are the World.”
I know. I know. But check your ego at the door, suspend your disbelief, open up your beginner’s mind.
You will find dozens of videos of young people (twenty-five years-old and under) watching and listening to “USA for Africa” for the first time…kids around the globe who have never heard the song before, who look directly into their laptop cameras, crinkle their noses, and say things like:
“Friends keep telling me to watch this thing called ‘We Are the World’ by some group I’ve never heard of before. I don’t know what to expect. But here we go.”
After they hit play, keep your eyes on their faces…as they stare in confusion, as their mouths drop open in surprise.
If you were alive and aware in 1985, this song and its video seemed like it would be a permanent feature of your life.
I’m guessing that you still have feelings about it. We all do.
Every singer on the track was a superstar. Some were still cool, but some were extremely uncool by the mid-80s. And some were weird. And a couple sounded a little weird. And some great performers were left out completely.
One way or another, you had a dog in the race—a hero, a goat. (Maybe even a GOAT.)
And you probably had a few resentments, and complaints, and suspicions about the entire production—and still do. We all do.
“The lyrics aren’t very good.” “It’s all so manipulative.” “Who’s getting all the money?”
Consider this. “We Are the World” was recorded two months after Bob Geldof’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”—another charity event-song about hunger. “USA for Africa” wasn’t even breaking new ground.
So there were a lot of reasons to be underwhelmed (or try to be underwhelmed, or appear to be underwhelmed) in 1985, and a lot of bad reviews, and second-guessing, and parody followed in the song’s wake.
And yet, there were also a lot of good reasons why the catchy tune remained in your head for the next eighteen months or more, and sold a zillion copies, and won a crate-and-barrel of awards. And the video was fascinating, no matter how many times you watched it.
And it didn’t hurt that so many making-of stories circulated immediately after the recording session, tall tales told around actual water-coolers—most of them confirmed by the recent Netflix documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop.”
(Cyndi’s jewelry was really noisy! Bruce pulled up in a rental car!)
And who could argue, at least in principle, with the idea of famine relief?
Nevertheless, the mixed feelings remained, and remain. If you were alive and aware at the time, you carried your baggage into every listen—we all did—and most likely you still do.
But the kids in today’s reaction videos carry none of that.
They don’t know Daryl Hall from Steve Perry. They don’t know what Hall and Oats, or Journey, meant to young people in 1985 (hint: neither meant as much as they did in 1982). They only know what they hear, which is that those two dudes can really fucking sing.
And they sit up straight when whatsername with the velvet voice kicks off the second verse. (That would be Dionne Warwick.)
And…wait, is that Kenny Rogers? (Why do all these kids know Kenny Rogers?)
And…oh…oh…oh…that’s Michael!
And the guy who roars! And the one who sings through his nose! And Tina Turner? And who’s the crazy lady with the rainbow hair?
Keep your eyes on the kids’ faces as they play Name That Singer, the way we all did back in ‘85. They seem to enjoy the song even more when they don’t recognize someone, because the thrill of discovery takes over. “No clue who that is, but damn that’s an incredible voice!”
(I saw one young woman absolutely swoon over Kenny Loggins. Kenny Footloose Loggins. Only now, in my 50s, can I admit to liking Kenny Loggins…and only a little.)
And then comes the main event, because the verses are just a prelude to the third chorus, which is sung by the full choir.
When that chorus starts, the video finally cuts to a wide shot, and that’s when the kids realize for the first time that all of these incredible voices were being recorded together, on the same night, in the same room.
And they all gasp…and some cry.
Most cry. Some even pause the video to collect themselves.
Why are they crying?
It’s not nostalgia. Their moms didn’t listen to Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie in an alternating loop, for an entire decade, the way mine did. This isn’t really their past.
But they’re entertainment-savvy and they understand that it’s almost impossible to assemble that many superstars for any reason, let alone for charity.
And they know they’re hearing a wide range of very distinctive, individual voices, representing close to a dozen genres and sub-genres…all singing the same words, in unison, for charity.
And, ultimately, they sense that there’s nothing bad in any of it.
We jaded old-timers may look back and say it was misguided, or schmaltzy, or overblown…more self-congratulatory celebrity bullshit from an extravagant decade.
And perhaps it was. But it wasn’t…bad. These kids actually know what bad looks like and sounds like—these children of the Trump era—and “We Are the World” isn’t it.
In fact, a lot of it is really, really good. Just listen to the purity of Diane Ross’s voice. And then see her ecstatic smile as she holds Stevie Wonder’s hand. And tell me you’re not in love with her.
The producer of the song, Quincy Jones, died a couple of weeks ago. He made a lot of magic in his long life, but “We Are the World” is among his greatest tricks. It may be his greatest trick of all.
He cracked the code: Gather the giants together, make them face each other so they can’t hide, encourage them to sing like themselves, give everyone half a lyric, and wait for the inevitable miracle to happen.
And then let Ray Charles take everyone to church during the finale and fade-out
That’s why the kids cry as they watch the video unfold. Because once you drop your baggage, and your cynicism, there’s really nothing bad about it. It’s just kind of…amazing.
And they all find themselves saying things like, “This is so beautiful. Why can’t we have something like this today?”
So do yourself a favor. Check your ego at the door, suspend your disbelief, open up your beginner’s mind, and watch some kids discover a different world, even for a brief moment.
It’s pure joy.
And if you’re over fifty, ask yourself one last question: “How did we miss the fact that James Ingram was such a badass?!?” I don’t know, but we did.
