“Witnessing Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones create USA For Africa’s ‘We Are The World’.”
One of the best memories of my musical career is witnessing the making of USA For Africa’s “We Are The World” project. This project was (and still is) the largest collection of stars ever to come together to make a recording for a charitable cause. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie (better known as Nicole Richie’s father to you youngsters 🙂 and Quincy Jones produced it.
You may be wondering, why am I referencing a song that was made in the ’80s? Well my whole purpose is to share some of the insights I have witnessed because many of these concepts and techniques will never be seen again. It’s a different time now and people write songs and make music differently today.
One thing that always stands the test of time is a well-crafted song with a strong melody and great lyrics. A hit song and a hit record are two very different things.
What separates “The Best of the Best” is that they NEVER settle for being “good enough”. The reason they achieve massive success is that they do more than the average person. To get extraordinary results, you have to make an EXTRAORDINARY effort.
One of the most educational things for me was hearing Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie (with Quincy Jones supervising it all) express their thought process on lyrics. Hearing exactly WHY certain words and phrases would change was very enlightening. Below are the lyrics and I’ll paraphrase some of the things I remember about HOW AND WHY they were changed to make them more effective.
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(First verse) There comes a time when we hear a certain call (Lionel Richie) When the world must come together as one (Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder) There are people dying (Stevie Wonder)
or (originally, it said “there are children dying” because they were starving in Africa and that was the whole reason for doing this.
o The amazing thing was hearing them discuss why they should change that sentence to “there are PEOPLE dying” because the song is called “WE are the world” and even though you would see images of starving children on TV every day, that is a shocking sight to see , and people can get numb after a while. But if you say PEOPLE, then INCLUDE EVERYONE, so it will be more poignant. Just shiny.)
Oh, and it’s time to lend a helping hand to life (Paul Simon) The greatest gift of all (Paul Simon/Kenny Rogers) (2nd Verse) We can’t keep pretending from day to day (Kenny Rogers) That someone, somehow , will soon make a change (James Ingram) We are all part of God’s great big family (Tina Turner) And the truth (Billy Joel) You know love is all we need (Tina Turner/Billy Joel)
(CHORUS) We are the world, we are the children We are the ones making a brighter day so let’s start giving (Michael Jackson) There’s a choice we’re making: we’re saving our own lives (Diana Ross)
or (originally, I think it said “WE ARE TAKING AN OPPORTUNITY – We are saving ALL THEIR LIVES” and they discussed changing it. They didn’t want people to think they were “taking a risk” to help, so they changed it to “There is a CHOICE WE ARE MAKING : we are SAVING OUR OWN LIVES.”
o These changes were made to ENGAGE the listener as the quote, “There, but by the grace of God, I go” – It could easily be you or me. Instead of being mere observers of the problem, we will all be part of the solution. Again, this is an absolutely brilliant thought because what is the title of this song? —>”WE Are the World”. They never forget that fact.) or
It’s True We’ll Make A Better Day Just You And Me (Michael Jackson/Diana Ross) (There was a discussion about the effective use of the words “brighter day” and “better day”)
(3rd verse) Well send them your heart so they know someone cares (Dionne Warwick) And their lives will be stronger and freer (Dionne Warwick/Willie Nelson) As God has shown us by turning stone into bread (Willie Nelson ) And that is why we should all lend a helping hand (Al Jarreau)
(CHORUS REPEAT) We are the world, we are the children (Bruce Springsteen) We are the ones making a brighter day so let’s start giving (Kenny Loggins) There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives (Steve Perry) It’s true that we will make a better day just you and me (Daryl Hall)
(BRIDGE) When you’re down and out there seems to be no hope (Michael Jackson) But if you just think there’s no way we can fall (Huey Lewis) Well, well, well, let’s understand that change can only come (Cyndi Lauper) ) When we (Kim Carnes) are together as one (Kim Carnes/Cyndi Lauper/Huey Lewis)
(REPEAT CHORUS & FADE) (additional impromptu vocals by Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, James Ingram) (The selection of each voice for each line was the best vocal choreography – Quincy was amazing to listen to – seems like forever knows how to handle everything.) ( END )
o While there are no guaranteed formulas for a successful record, there ARE formulas that will help you create better songs. You can literally MAKE people do whatever you want with well-crafted words.
Lyric CRAFTING is becoming a dying art. I urge all songwriters, singers, and musicians reading this article to use this knowledge in their own songs. YOUR well-crafted lyrics and melodies really can last forever.
Copyright 2006 Khaliq Glover aka Khaliq-O-Vision