Gus Davis

Professor Nate Hellmers

English 1201.5B
April 3, 2022

The first video is the original song “We Are The World” which was written by
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in 1985. They brought together numerous popular
musical artists at the time to record the song together. They did this in order to raise
money and awareness for the people experiencing the drought that was occurring in
Africa at the time. The video takes us through each persons singing part as they sing it
and shows the behind-the-scenes of the recording process. The story of the song is
about mankind coming together in solidarity and helping each other. Micahel Jackson
was definitely a communist which makes me like him even more. The artists all came
together as one to sing the song which was a good parallel to the overarching theme of
the song. The video wants the watcher to put themselves in the shoes of people who
are suffering because of unfortunate circumstances that are affecting them through no
fault of their own. The video shows the artists enjoying themselves, which is an indirect
reason supporting the claim that we are better overall when we come together. The
video and the song lyrics use pathos to appeal to the audience. This is displayed in
lyrics such as “there are people dying” and “love is all we need”. Pathos is also used
through the emotion in the singers’ voices and their facial expressions while singing.
The audience for the video is anyone who is old enough to listen and understand the
message of the video. All genders, races, and cultures are included. The video is
catered more toward English-speaking people who are fans of any of the artists
featured. I say this because the song is sung in English.

The second video is very similar to the first, with some notable differences in the
as lyrical and visual storytelling. In 2010 the island nation of Haiti experience multiple
multitude 7+ earthquakes. This resulted in a devastating number of deaths and major
damage to the infrastructure and well-being of the nation’s citizens. As a way to once
again raise money and awareness, this time for Haiti, another group of popular artists
came together to remake the song. Most of the lyrics are the same, just different artists
are singing them. There are a few changes in both the video and the song. The song
includes a rap part and some new ad-libs. The video now not only shows the
behind-the-scenes of the recording of the song but also shows footage of the wreckage
and cleanup in Haiti. Many of the artists went and helped to clean and rebuild, and the
video shows this happening. It also shows many Haitians dancing to the song and
enjoying themselves, which is great to see considering all that they had recently been
through. The video also begins with a heartwarming message and overview from
popular actor Jamie Foxx, where he explains what the song is for and asks for people to
donate to help Haiti. The story of the song is about mankind coming together in
solidarity and helping each other. Micahel Jackson was definitely a communist which
makes me like him even more. The artists all came together as one to sing the song
which was a good parallel to the overarching theme of the song. The video wants the
watcher to put themselves in the shoes of people who are suffering because of
unfortunate circumstances that are affecting them through no fault of their own. The
video shows the artists having fun and feeling the music, which is evidence of being
better when we’re together. The video and the song lyrics use pathos to appeal to the
audience. We see this in lyrics such as “there are people dying” and “love is all we
need”. The singers’ voices and their facial expressions while singing also displays
pathos. The audience for the video is anyone who is old enough to listen and
understand the message of the video. All genders, races, and cultures are included.
The video is catered more toward English-speaking people who are fans of any of the
artists featured. I say this because the song is sung in English.

Overall, although the videos are slightly different, both share a heartwarming
message about the possibilities for humankind if they choose to come together in
solidarity instead of constantly embracing the hyper-individualist attitude that they are
brought up to have. The videos not only emphasize some important lessons but also
backed them up materially by raising a lot of money for both Africa and Haiti.

Works Cited

Jackson, Michael, and Lionel Richie. “U.S.A. for Africa - We Are the World ... -
Youtube Music.” Youtube, WeAreTheWorld, 10 Apr. 2010,
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9AjkUyX0rVw.

Jackson, Michael, and Lionel Richie. “We Are the World 25 for Haiti - Official Video
- Youtube.” Youtube, WeAreTheWorld, 12 Feb. 2010,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI.