« 16 Nov 04. Hassan | Main | 19 Nov 04. New blog »

17 November

I always thought I was the only one who hated Bob Geldof and all his Band Aid crap. I thought I was being terribly misanthropic and mean in thinking that he was a pouty, shouty old sod with a Victorian notion of charidee. I thought I was the only one who fumed when he ponced about Africa with the US Treasury Secretary and then declared, on behalf of everyone on the continent, that George W Bush was the best president that those lucky Africans had ever had.

I thought, too, that I was the only one who though Bono was a pompous, leather-clad, America-worshipping old tosser who should shut up about debt and try and write some good songs for once instead. I thought I was the only one who thought they were all missing the sodding point.

Well I wasn't, and hurray for that. The excellent World Development Movement has come out against the new Band Aid single in a strongly-worded attack, and not just because of the high twat-count that inevitably occurs when you put Chris Martin, Dizzee Rascal and Justin Whatsisname from the Darkness in the same room.

No, WDM has had enough of a song which spews out patronising rubbish about Africans suffering terrible drought and poverty without ever mentioning why. It's had enough of Band Aid's weirdly apolitical nature and its avoidance of the real issues. 'African poverty is not an unfortunate accident of geography and climate', says WDM. 'It is the result of damaging policies forced on Africa by rich countries.' Quite.

Fortunately, there's an alternative to this misdirected dirge: you can visit this website and help write your own, more politically-charged lyrics to the re-released song. Lyrics like 'Where the only water flowing has been sold to multinational companies', and 'There's a world of unjust trade rules, forced liberalisation and unpayable third world debt outside your window'.

Thank the Lord, I say. And as for Band Aid's new release: until I hear the Sugababes singing about GATS or Dido warbling about the tightening grip of multinationals on basic services in the developing world, I'm buggered if they're getting any of my money.

Posted by paul at November 17, 2004 02:18 PM

Comments

Posted by: cheeks at November 19, 2004 02:11 PM

Post a comment