Song anaylsis - We Are the World (USA for Africa)

    by 5F Wong Tin Wing         

Name of song: We Are the World (USA for Africa)

Name of songwriter: Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie

Lyrics of song:

 There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
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 all are a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need

[Chorus:]
 
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

Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
 
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's realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]

Description of the theme and ideas:

The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie for the people who suffered from famine in Africa. They wanted to raise money for them by using this song. Therefore, the theme of the song is caring about and helping people in need.

The songwriters try to tell people that they should care about people in need and should give them help. In line 3, ‘there are people dying’ draws people’s attention to the fact that there are people who are suffering. The songwriters then try to persuade the audience to give help in two ways. The first way is to promote the greatness of love and care. For example, in stanza 1, the songwriters describe the love from giving help as ‘the greatest gift of all’ and in stanza 3, they compare people’s help with God’s miracle. The songwriters try to give the audience an impression that love is something great and respectful so that the audience will start considering helping people. The second way to persuade the audience to offer help is to emphasise that a good future for everyone can be built through giving help. In the chorus, the lines ‘we are the ones who make a brighter day’ and ‘so let’s start giving’ tell people that through helping people, a better future with love and care , which will be good to all people, can be created. Therefore, people should start giving.

Special language features:

Different poetic devices are used in the song.

Metaphors are used in the chorus. The songwriters use ‘world’ and ‘children’ to describe us. They may want to imply that our power can be as strong as the ‘world’ so people should not think that their helping hands are insignificant. If every lucky person in the world gives help to the unlucky ones, a miracle like ‘turning stones to bread’ can be done. Also, the songwriters want to deliver the message that everyone is originally innocent and kind-hearted by describing us as ‘children’. They tried to tell us not just to wait for the kind-hearted people to help the poor. We can actually be one of these kind-hearted people if we wish to.

There are also metaphors found in other stanzas. In stanza 1, ‘lend a hand to life’ is used to describe giving help. In stanza 3, ‘turning stones to bread’ is used to describe miracle. The songwriters are in fact looking for a miracle that one day everyone in the world can love each other.

Besides, the songwriters use heart to symbolise love and care in stanza 3. This makes the lyrics more aesthetic. More importantly, they can emphasise  that the help people need is not only money but also true love.

Furthermore, repetition is used in the lines ‘we are the world, we are the children’ and ‘we are the ones who make a brighter day’ in the chorus. Alliteration is used in the line ‘that someone, somewhere will soon make a change’ in stanza 2.These are a mnemonic deuce that helps the audience remember the song more easily.

Personal reflections

I think the song tells us two messages. One of them is that we should never think that our power is insignificant. Never think that nothing will be changed even we try. Actually, if we stand together, many things that seem impossible can be achieved. I quite agree with this idea. Many people think that the poor will not become better because of our little help. Therefore, they do nothing for them. However, if everyone in the world offers such ‘little’ help, the world will be changed a lot.

The second message is that not only the poor receive help while we are helping them. Through giving help to people in need, a world with love and care can be created. This is not only for the poor but for everyone in the world, including you and me.