On Friday, another moment was chiseled in time on this Mount Rushmore. We were all lucky enough to be given the We Are the World: 25 for Haiti remake (song begins at 1:06). As I watched it for the first time, I immediately understood the significance of the event. It was all just too good to be true. The subsequent twenty or so views have left me with some thoughts.
* I find the entire effort from everyone involved with the We Are the World: 25 for Haiti project genuine and completely respectable. Please do not take my comments to be in any way against the cause and the resulting proceeds for the relief effort. It was truly a treat to have so many great artists come together for an important cause.
The original performance was a seminal moment in pop culture, aid work and society as a whole. The ensemble cast was breathtaking. The production of the video was spine-tingling. The actual performances were terrific. Sadly, 25 years passed by and the new version lost its way somehow.
1.) The Lineup
The original busted through your stereo or TV with the following artists before the first chorus: Lionel Richie followed by Stevie Wonder followed by Paul Simon followed by Kenny Rogers followed by James Ingram followed by Tina Turner followed by Billy Joel.
Our wonderful remake edition counters with: Justin Bieber followed by Jennifer Hudson followed by Nicole Scherzinger followed by Jennifer Nettles followed by Josh Groban followed by Tony Bennett followed by Mary J. Blige
On one hand we have Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer, on the other we have YouTube stars and washed up "legends". I apologize to Ms. Hudson and Ms. Blige for being involved in this travesty (honorable mention to Pink for putting in a good effort).
You can continue down the line comparing the list of artists and the same results are found. While I am sure much of the choice of artists depended upon scheduling and other factors, it is a shame to see such a drop off in talent between the two versions. I would only ask that if the top artists were not available, why not either postpone or not go through with the remake?
What may be more an indication of the failure of the lineup was who was missing, as Chris Richards from the Washington Post details:
But despite the maxed-out guest list, quite a few future legends were absent. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Rihanna and Mariah Carey were some of the biggest names not at the recording session.
A quote from Randy Phillips gives us a better idea of the surrounding circumstances (taken from the Wikipedia article):
[They felt] that what happened 25 years ago was iconic and they did everything they could for Africa at that time, and they didn't feel re-cutting the song really made any sense. Basically, Lionel didn't really want to do it, and we kind of let it die by not issuing the publishing license, because Lionel owns the copyright along with Michael Jackson's estate. That was in November/December [2009]. They had gotten Visa on board as an underwriter of that effort, and I think they were going to try and premier it at the World Cup.
So what happened? The Haiti earthquake, the Hope for Haiti telethon event and the Grammy's brought people together and the idea was reborn.
Again, great cause, wonderful support from the artists, failed follow-through (reminds me of another classic 1980's gem which was remade recently).
2.) The Performances
This is where we see a major drop off. Watching the video reminded me more of the Jimmy Kimmel Live spoof "I'm F##king Ben Affleck" (Check it out, it is kind of scary. They even have some of the same artists). What made it seem more like a spoof than a remake was the overacting and oversinging. Examples: Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Celine Dion, Jamie Foxx, Fergie and Enrique Iglesias doing his best Enrique Igelsias impression.
This pains me to say, but Wyclef Jean's added Haitian elements were painful. Wyclef has been a great ambassador during this time of crisis in his home country, but his parts in the songs were grating on the ears.
And then there was the last third of the song which included such great moments as Lil Wayne trying his hand at a Bob Dylan's vocal solo, autotune'd performances and a new rap portion. First things first, who let Lil Wayne sing? Fire this person. Second, tell me T-Pain's portion of the song did not sound like it was pulled from his "I'm On a Boat" SNL skit. Third, don't touch the make-up of the song if you are going to remake it. will.i.am wrote some inspired lyrics, I'll give him that. But when the beat breaks down and turns into a "Live Your Life" copy cat as sang by a group of drunks at the local karaoke bar, the entire song is tainted. Then there is the Kanye West/will.i.am rap exchange. By themselves, each portion was decent, but mashing them up sounds amateurish.
Jay-Z sums it up best, as a spokesman for both his generation and for hip-hop, he explains to MTV why he was not involved:
“I know the plight and everything that's going on in Haiti. I applaud the efforts. Like 1 out of 2 Americans donated through text to Haiti. That's amazing. So I appreciate the efforts and everything, but “We are the World” is untouchable like “Thriller” is untouchable. Some things are just untouchable. It was a valiant effort, but for me, it's gonna be untouchable.”
3.) The Video
One of the most endearing things about the original was the low key video. All it showed was the world's biggest stars in the same room putting their own bits in. You could even see them reading their lines off pages. There was something special about seeing Michael Jackson fade back from the mike while Bruce Springsteen came into the picture (Sidebar: How funny is the Boss' face during his performance? Vintage Bruce). The entire time these stars were in the same room. For our remake, we did get the chorus scene together, but the individual performances came individually. It made it seem like each artist knew the camera was on them and they let you know it. There was too much pandering to the camera.
For some other reason, the director/producer decided to splice scenes from Haiti into the montage. The original focused on the artists and the performance, why did we need stock footage from the earthquake? It would be one thing if the song was recorded on Haitian soil and we saw the artists working with to aid the efforts, but we do not need to be reminded of the tragedy of which the song was inspired for a greater effect.
From the New York Times, Jon Pareles, makes many of my same points (be it in a much better, elegant way) in his piece, here.
4.) Janet Jackson
As I understand it, the Jackson family wanted a duet between Janet and Micheal. Micheal's portion of the song continues as the best performance even in the remake. The addition of Janet sorely hurts the video. Janet being green-screened into the performance made her look like one of the analysts from the "I Love the 80's" shows on VH1. I do not know the circumstances of her involvement, but it would seem like we could do better than the eerie superimposing image we ended up with.
*To make sure this piece has at least a tiny bit of support from those who liked the new edition, here is Maura Johnston, from MTV.com, and her take (read here and here)
Best Performance: Jennifer Hudson
Worst Performance: Enrique Iglesias
Most Hilarious Performance: Lil Wayne, Barbara Streisand (tied)
Strangest Inclusion: Vince Vaughn
