We Are the World

A Parody for Peace and Justice

Earth, National Aeronautics Space Administration, Public Domain

“We Are the World” by U.S.A. for Africa

Forty years ago this month (March 7, 1985) a group of singers got together to record “We Are the World” to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte had come up with the idea for the song, which was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. Forty-five of the best-selling recording artists of the day gathered to record it. They included Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick. The song was released as a single, which sold 800,000 copies in 3 days, and became the first ever single to be certified multi-platinum. It won four Grammy Awards and raised more than $60 million for African famine relief. The song is credited to United Support of Artists for Africa, the humanitarian organization created to distribute the funds. U.S.A. for Africa has continued to raise funds to help alleviate poverty in Africa and in the United States.

A Zoom Dialogue between Noel and Jeanne

N: Did you see the parody video of “We Are the World” I just sent you? Artificial Intelligence has “borrowed” the images and actual voices of the foreign leaders—in some instances English not being their first language—to emulate their participation in the classic rendering of the song.

J: Yeah, it’s startling, a bit creepy, and ludicrous, but the “what-if message” is pretty clear.

N: Some might find the piece offensive, but I LOVE this AI hack ... presenting the emotional riddle of a “come together” song being performed by those who would “pull us apart.” My takeaway is that the laughter it elicits in the beginning opens the heart and the mind to viewing the dichotomy as something that SHOULD be healed and COULD lead to world peace.

J: It’s not a typical parody or satire that is lampooning a person or critiquing an artistic work. It seems more like hope for a vision of a better world brought about by better leadership. Still, I have questions. As social critique, is it addressed to world leaders or to us? And if to us, what can we do to persuade power-hungry leaders to work for peace and justice?

N: Those are great questions. The fact that the video is a technological contrivance and that they're not actually singing together becomes a double-edged sword: on one hand the lyric of the song abstractly presents the call and hope for a unified world while at the same time the artificiality is a sobering reminder of an absence of good will between nations. Still, as unsettling as it might be to some, I found it totally disarming and thought-provoking.

J: And then there are ethical questions about the use of AI. It’s an easy tool to use to spread false information, to discount human creativity, and to devalue human effort.

N: So many people decry AI, and yes, there is a potential abusive quality to it insofar as people may lose jobs because LLMs (Large Language Modules) are able to coherently present concepts by reviewing massive amounts of information. But there may be a long range hidden benefit. Oh, you mean that was AI? Oh, gee, it seems so real. Oh, you mean that was AI?

Ironically, I think those reflections are leading to a general mistrust of artificially created media altogether and renewing a thirst for the reawakening of person-to-person communication in small groups and informal settings. Perhaps coffee houses will come back because the glamour and glitter of massive events become less meaningful. I think as we thirst for human connection in communal settings, friendships, and families, we will seek out deeper relationships as a result of being disappointed in the artificial ones.

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Connections

View the original video. U.S.A. For Africa - “We Are the World.”

Vibrations

View the AI generated parody “We Are World.” The AI parody is anonymous as far as we can tell. The NPS title and photo indicate only that the video being accessed from Noel's Vimeo account to avoid the interruptive ads that appear on YouTube videos.

View the AI generated parody “We Are the World.”

The word “parody” comes from the Greek paroidia, “a song sung alongside another.” A parody is an imitation of some aspect a work of art --a song, a novel, a play, a poem, a painting. Its purpose can be admiration, critique, or ridicule of the original. It may be simply comic entertainment or social and political commentary. The humor in parodies often relies on incongruity.

The parody of “We Are the World” uses the same words and lyrics as the original but posts—in the opening credits—the signatures of the AI-generated world leaders instead of those of the celebrity singers, further highlighting the incongruity between the “heads of state” and the ideal of the world “standing together as one.”

In “Impeachable” Noel changes the lyrics of “Unforgettable” but keeps the melody and emotional tone. The incongruity is between the lyrics and the emotional tone of the original song.

Resonance

We share this parody knowing that readers will respond in different ways. How does it strike you? Why? Even if you seriously doubt that even one world leader would be directly influenced by this video, what other value might it have?