What Do You Think of the “We Are the World” Remake?

home blog What Do You Think of the “We Are the World” Remake?

February 16, 2010
What Do You Think of the “We Are the World” Remake?

25 years after Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Lionel Richie pulled together an enormous group of famous people to record and perform “We Are the World” (for charity, of course), Jones does it again for Haiti. The new group of artists are among the most contemporary and popular today, and they showed up in huge numbers.

“We Are The World 25″ For Haiti (video) – Free videos are just a click away

The earthquake in Haiti left the entire island devastated. According to the Associated Press, over 230,000 people died in the quake, 300,000 were injured, and 1,000,000 were left homeless. On an island where the entire population is only about 9,000,000 people, the destruction is enormous.

So, these musicians have come together to volunteer their time and voices in order to raise money for the victims in Haiti. They thought it would be a great idea (and not a bad gesture, either) to remake the popular, #1 hit, “We Are the World,” with all the proceeds going to efforts toward rebuilding Haiti, and helping those who are wounded and homeless. I think it’s a good idea for a great cause.

I’m not going to lie, I agree with Jay-Z when he said that this new one isn’t as good as the original and that maybe it shouldn’t have been remade. But the point of the song isn’t just to be a remake, it’s to show that the message of the song is still alive today, and that even the smallest of gestures can make a difference. So, naturally, the new version isn’t nearly as good as the original (and honestly, I was extremely offended that there was autotune in it. Lil Wayne can’t sing, so don’t put him in the song; it’s that simple). But, it serves its purpose.

Was it wrong to contemporize the song?

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