We Were The World: Compare And Contrast

Updated:

November 13, 2018 5:20 pm

American Songwriter participates in affiliate programs with various companies. Links originating on American Songwriter’s website that lead to purchases or reservations on affiliate sites generate revenue for American Songwriter . This means that American Songwriter may earn a commission if/when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links.

Videos by American Songwriter

On Friday, during the Olympics, the new video for “We Are The World” was unveiled. The song, written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, was first recorded in 1985 in an effort to help fight hunger in Ethiopia. The original featured a who’s who of 80s superstars, from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to Ray Charles and Willie Nelson.

The historic redo doesn’t bring back any of those old has-beens. Instead it features artists like Justin Bieber, Barbra Streisand, Rob Thomas, Pink, Jamie Foxx’s Ray Charles impression, and good ol’ Jeff Bridges (AKA Bad Blake from Crazy Heart.) Also, the ghost of Micheal Jackson.

The song at first hold true to it’s origins, then gets a makeover towards the end, with some auto-tuned vocals and an army of rappers rapping the same thing. T-Pain will truly live in infamy.

A few random observations:

– The singing voices of Janet Jackson and 1985 Michael Jackson sound exactly alike, apparently.

– We have a lot of respect for Wyclef, but is there a reason he has to sing like that? Dude’s been putting vibrato on his voice since The Carnival, but vibrato is like cayenne pepper: too much is way too much.

– So that’s what Justin Bieber sounds like.