"We Are The World" was recorded in a session which included many of the foremost artists of the time. It was being recorded as a benefit for starving people in Africa.
There are times when a line is crossed. Very often in my own life, I have walked out. It is sobering to think how many times we walk out of a project because we blame somebody else for crossing a line, when it was us that crossed the line.
During the recording of "We Are The World," Stevie Wonder suggested singing some lines in Swahili. For Waylon Jennings, this crossed a line. He walked out, muttering that he would not sing in Swahili.
The rest of the artists stayed. They argued that the suggestion to sing some lines in Swahili was not appropriate. Stevie Wonder was open to their views, and he changed his mind. The song was not recorded in Swahili. (Most of the starving people did not speak Swahili, for one thing.)
We would not have known these things if a documentary had not been videoed and released this year on Netflix. Watch it. You will get to see these things and many more things that you would otherwise never know, including watching Stevie Wonder coach Bob Dylan on how to sing the song like Bob Dylan.
Along the way, think about crossing lines and walking out. Would you walk away or stay?
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