About The Song
“We Are the World” is a charity single recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million physical copies, it is the eighth-best-selling single of all time.
Soon after the British group Band Aid released “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in December 1984, musician and activist Harry Belafonte decided to create an American benefit single for African famine relief. With fundraiser Ken Kragen, he enlisted several musicians. Jackson and Richie completed the writing the night before the first recording session, on January 21, 1985. The event brought together some of the era’s best-known musicians.
One musician deliberately omitted was John Denver who had asked to participate but was rejected, despite his previous commitment to charity work. Ken Kragen claimed it was due to some people feeling that Denver’s image would affect the credibility of the song as a pop-rock anthem. “I didn’t agree with this assessment,” Kragen said, but reluctantly turned Denver down. Denver recalled the rejection in his 1994 autobiography “Take Me Home”, stating that “It broke my heart not to be included.”
“We Are the World” was released on March 7, 1985, as the first single from the album by Columbia Records. It topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history. “We Are the World” was certified quadruple platinum, becoming the first single to be certified multi-platinum. Its awards include four Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, and a People’s Choice Award.
“We Are the World” was promoted with a music video, a VHS, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters, and shirts. The promotion and merchandise helped “We Are the World” raise more than $80 million (equivalent to $222 million in 2023) for humanitarian aid in Africa and the United States. Another cast of singers recorded a new version, “We Are the World 25 for Haiti”, to raise relief following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Video
Lyrics
There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, 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 soon make a change
We’re all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need
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
Oh, send them your heart
So they know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
Oh, 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
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, well let us realize
Oh, that a change can only come
When we stand together as one, yeah, yeah, yeah
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
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 mee
We are the world (are the world)
We are the children (are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day
So let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There is a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
Oh, let me hear you!
We are the world (we are the world)
We are the children (said we are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day
So let start giving (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 brighter day
Just you and me, come on now, let me hear you
We are the world (we are the world)
We are the children (we are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day
So let’s start giving (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, yeah
We are the world (we are the world)
We are the children (we are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day
So let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There’s a choice we’re making
And we’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
We are the world (one world)
We are the children (our children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day
So let’s start giving (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
We are the world, we are the world (one world)
We are the children, yes sir (our children)
We are the ones that make a brighter day (one world)
So let’s start giving (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, ooh-hoo!
We are the world (dear God) (one world)
We are the children (our children)
We are the ones that make a brighter day so let’s start giving
All right, can you hear what I said? (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