"Well, tonight thank God it's them..."

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u2mad25

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"...instead of youuuuuuuu!"

A stupendously delivered line by the B-man in one of the best modern day X-mas songs ever.

But, it struck me lately after hearing it for the 4,121,105th time this week, does anyone find that lyric rather, oh I don't know, ironic or bizarre coming from Bono, in light of all he has done for Africa?

He would never, nowadays, say something like "well, too bad for those bastards but at least we got it good, right, Edge?".

I know, I know, that was 1985 but there's a certain irony in the meaning now with all Bono has done for Africa that I almost think it would be hard for him to sing that line today. Even though he did last year :huh:

What do ya'll think?
 
I think that's the point of the whole song. The lyrics pretty much say that we've got it good but it sucks over there. It implies that while you're thinking how great life is, you should also think about (and act on) the crappiness in Africa.

In a way, the song is kind of similar to John Lennon's Happy Christmas (War Is Over), which also has a bit of irony/sarcasm in it. Both songs have this implied "you've got it good, so what have you done?" bit in them, yet people listen to them like they're happy-go-lucky Christmas songs. :shrug:
 
I remember an interview where Bono stated that upon reading the lyrics, that was the one line he specifically said he would not do - only to learn that all the other artists had recorded their lines and that was all that was left for him to sing.

And he manages to deliver it magnificiently, rather than in some awful, superiorist way.
 
The line is clearly sarcastic and meant to make us feel a little guilty--prompt us into action. I love the song, too. Bono and Sting's parts are the best.
 
It's obvious they wanted Sting to sing "the bitter sting of tears" and Bono to say the line with God in it. I always thought that was kinda silly.

Anyway, from day one, that line has always made me cringe. Bono's delivery is awesome, but there's just something about what he's saying that disturbs me. You should never thank God someone else is suffereing instead of you.

I'm actually relieved to find out that Bono didn't want to sing that.

The sarcasm angle? Man, I don't know.
 
The irony has seemed to be lost here.

People don't like sarcasm, irony, or the tongue in cheek in their music.

It's a shame, it's a lost art form.
 
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he told geldof 'I'm not singing that' and geldof told him "you have to because that's the line I wrote for you!"
 
I know that line is not meant to be taken literally, but that entire song perfectly encapsulates the 80s attitude towards Africa/world hunger. It describes Africans in general as poor, starving people who are completely helpless and entirely at the mercy of the First World. While it's true in a lot of places, I don't like that tone at all, it's very insensitive and ignorant. Africans are beautiful, hard working people. Unfortunately, in many places they don't have the chance to really blossom because of a century of opression, corruption, and inequality that has perpatuated the structural economic issues they now are left to deal with.
 
LivLuvAndBootlegMusic said:
I know that line is not meant to be taken literally, but that entire song perfectly encapsulates the 80s attitude towards Africa/world hunger. It describes Africans in general as poor, starving people who are completely helpless and entirely at the mercy of the First World. While it's true in a lot of places, I don't like that tone at all, it's very insensitive and ignorant. Africans are beautiful, hard working people. Unfortunately, in many places they don't have the chance to really blossom because of a century of opression, corruption, and inequality that has perpatuated the structural economic issues they now are left to deal with.

:yes: I always thought it was a pretty lame image of an entire continent... :shrug: Here are the lyrics. If you read them, you'll pretty clearly see that there's a good bit of sarcasm in there to prod us on, as well as a 6-year-old's picture of Africa:

It's Christmastime,
there's no need to be afraid
At Christmastime,
we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty
we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
at Christmastime

But say a prayer,
pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard,
but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window,
and it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them
instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Here's to you raise a glass for everyone
Here's to them underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Feed the world
Feed the world
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again
 
This thread brings back some memories....

December 1984:

Me (a 16 year old) trying to explain to my little sister (a 10 year old) that Bono wasn't being mean when he sang that line. He was trying to get our attention with those words.

It was like talking to a brick wall. Whatever I said she would come back with something.

It's funny now (and she's a U2 fan/Edge girl). I love to remind her from time to time of that conversation. We get some good laughs from it. I'm going to have to call her. :)
 
I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking that line's a bit :shifty: :eyebrow: kinda thing!

The sentiment's still good I suppose! :shrug:
 
At the end of the day Band Aid saved lives. It may have only been a drop in the ocean compared with the overall scale of African poverty, but I'm sure that those who were fed with the proceeds would be more than happy about the song.

The song, along with Live Aid and the BBC news reports raised awareness and a sense of urgency. That's where I feel the latest re-release and Live 8 went wrong.

Although there's a disaster happening in Africa, it's not viewed as a crisis.

If pictures of dying children were shown on the TV on Christmas Day, then perhaps the world would think differently.
 
My background is in literature, so I'm usually pretty good at picking out verbal irony when I see it. And I'm still not buying it. Anger? Sure. Frustration? You bet. But if it was meant as irony, it doesn't work.

No, I don't think Geldof literally wants us to get on our knees and thank God for their suffering. I just think it's a clumsy line that should've been rewritten. I think Bono's first instinct (refusing to sing it) was correct. JMO.
 
that line in the context of the whole song, clumsy or not is grim irony and becomes even more apparent having Bono sing it.

So if there is no irony, what exactly are they trying to say with that thought, even if it worded differently?

The thought is the situation is dire and grim, and the singer/songwriter is saying "well at least it's not us" with a firm tongue in cheek as if to mock those that say the very same thing.

Doused in irony.

So you explain what it means, with no ironical overtones, I'd be interested to know.
 
U2DMfan said:
that line in the context of the whole song, clumsy or not is grim irony and becomes even more apparent having Bono sing it.

So if there is no irony, what exactly are they trying to say with that thought, even if it worded differently?

The thought is the situation is dire and grim, and the singer/songwriter is saying "well at least it's not us" with a firm tongue in cheek as if to mock those that say the very same thing.

Doused in irony.

So you explain what it means, with no ironical overtones, I'd be interested to know.

I think you're right; I think it means "well at least it's not us." But awkwardly, not cruelly. Kinda like when you pass an accident and you say "thank god I didn't leave two minutes earlier." You don't literally thank God THOSE people were hurt instead of you. You might SAY such a thing, but you probably wouldn't write it.

Also, I don't hear the mocking tone that you do. Why? Because it's nowhere else in the song. If you read the lyrics, the song is about as straightforward as a song gets. Not just void of irony, but sincere, unabashed, earnest...almost embarrassingly so. And suddenly, in one line, there's a mocking tone? I just don't buy it.

One more thing. I think Geldof doesn't think of God the way some of us do. When Bono says "thank God..." I think he literally means to thank our Creator. And that's probably why he balked at the line. When Geldof says it, I suspect it's just an idiom.

OK, now I've spent far too much time on this.
 
I think it's supposed to nudge the listener into thought/action. "You are lucky, but don't just leave it at that" sort of mentality.

I think the first-glance harshness of the words is deliberate to jump out at you.
 
LPU2 said:


I think you're right; I think it means "well at least it's not us." But awkwardly, not cruelly. Kinda like when you pass an accident and you say "thank god I didn't leave two minutes earlier." You don't literally thank God THOSE people were hurt instead of you. You might SAY such a thing, but you probably wouldn't write it.

Also, I don't hear the mocking tone that you do. Why? Because it's nowhere else in the song. If you read the lyrics, the song is about as straightforward as a song gets. Not just void of irony, but sincere, unabashed, earnest...almost embarrassingly so. And suddenly, in one line, there's a mocking tone? I just don't buy it.

One more thing. I think Geldof doesn't think of God the way some of us do. When Bono says "thank God..." I think he literally means to thank our Creator. And that's probably why he balked at the line. When Geldof says it, I suspect it's just an idiom.

OK, now I've spent far too much time on this.

I dunno. :huh: I think the problem is that it's not really "irony," but more of "sarcasm." That sentiment is in the song before the Bono line. This whole verse is doused in sarcasm:

At Christmastime it's hard,
but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window,
and it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom

..essentially saying, "Hey, dumbass! You're sitting here drinking wine at your holiday party, hitting on the boss' daughter, having fun, but right outside there are people who aren't having fun because their world sucks."

It's prefaced by the line in the previous verse:

And in our world of plenty
we can spread a smile of joy

which gets you ready for the idea that our lives are bountiful & perhaps overstocked with good stuff.

Later, these lines have just as much sarcasm as Bono's line:

Here's to you raise a glass for everyone
Here's to them underneath that burning sun

In a song devised to generate funds to fight poverty, a song in which Geldof describes people living in a place where nothing ever grows, there's no water, and people are suffering underneath a burning sun, do you really think he really wants you to simply "raise a glass?" What a lame action that would be! "Your life really sucks, you've got no food or water, and you're burning under the sun. I raise my glass to you."

You've really got to read/listen to the song with the original intent in mind. That original intent was to raise both awareness and, more importantly, money to fight poverty in Africa.

I also hope (and do believe) that Bono is a wise enough man to know that the phrase "thank God" isn't always to be taken literally... :shrug:



is this a zoomacphisto800 post? :wink:
 
I think that line, strangely enough, was the very early predecessor of another, more recent, lyric: "Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die." I've always felt like that was part of the message behind thanking God it was 'them' and not 'you'.... that just by mere chance you didn't live in those conditions. And, out of your gratitude for that fact, 'Send us your damn money!' - quoth Sir Bob. :D
 
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westendgirl said:
Does anyone find it ironic at all that most of the continent of Africa doesn't celebrate Christmas?

Now that's irony! :yes:

:wink:
 
Some good debate here - I certainly can see both sides and I'm not attacking the line per se. But I don't feel Bono's delivery of the line is ironic or sarcastic (and I think he's pretty obvious when he does that, e.g., WGRYWH's "Baby, can we still be friends?"). It's sung plaintively. I agree that it's a call to arms but where I find the irony is where Bono's life has taken him since then and how that line seems in stark contrast to what he espouses today? My view, at least...:|
 
The part that Bono sings sends shivers down my spine...You are supposed think when you here that song that during all the hub bub of the holidays people are dying....somewhere and that we should just be grateful for the hub-bub of the season.
Its very sad to see just how much we have....it sounds kinda strange but while I am driving I look at the garbage on the side of the road and its sooo much of what others do not have...hence Africa....
:sad:

Does anyone have the original LP?
 
LPU2 said:


I think you're right; I think it means "well at least it's not us." But awkwardly, not cruelly. Kinda like when you pass an accident and you say "thank god I didn't leave two minutes earlier." You don't literally thank God THOSE people were hurt instead of you. You might SAY such a thing, but you probably wouldn't write it.

Also, I don't hear the mocking tone that you do. Why? Because it's nowhere else in the song. If you read the lyrics, the song is about as straightforward as a song gets. Not just void of irony, but sincere, unabashed, earnest...almost embarrassingly so. And suddenly, in one line, there's a mocking tone? I just don't buy it.

One more thing. I think Geldof doesn't think of God the way some of us do. When Bono says "thank God..." I think he literally means to thank our Creator. And that's probably why he balked at the line. When Geldof says it, I suspect it's just an idiom.

OK, now I've spent far too much time on this.

Fair points, I see what you are saying.

ultimately, I'll agree that it was probably just clumsy, irony or not.
 
BluRmGrl said:
I think that line, strangely enough, was the very early predecessor of another, more recent, lyric: "Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die." I've always felt like that was part of the message behind thanking God it was 'them' and not 'you'.... that just by mere chance you didn't live in those conditions. And, out of your gratitude for that fact, 'Send us your damn money!' - quoth Sir Bob. :D

I much prefer "Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die" to "Thank God it's them instead of you." The latter is just cringeworthy, IMHO. And I don't buy it as irony - I think it's simply piss-poor writing.
 
:huh: I never even THOUGHT of an interpretation of that lyric as anything but sardonic... :huh: :huh: It's completely obvious, IMO. And not really clumsy, but clearly a dig at people to get them to listen. Whether it works or not, I don't know, but I'm actually surprised that people might have thought otherwise.
 
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