There is a time when we should hear the certain calls
'Cause the world it seems it's right in this line
'Cause there's a chance for taking in needing our own lives
It seems we need nothing at all
I used to feel I should give away my heart
And it shows that fear of needing them
Then I read the headlines and it said they're dying there
And it shows that we must heed instead

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 chance we're taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day
Just you and me

Give in your heart and you will see that someone cares
'Cause you know that they can feed them all
Then I read the paper and it said that you've been denied
And it shows the second we will call

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 chance we're taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day
Just you and me

Now there's a time when we must love them all
And it seems that life, it don't make love at all
But if you'd been there, and I'll love you more and more
It seems in life, I didn't do that

We are the world, the world
We are the children, are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving, let's start giving
There's a chance we're taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day
Just you and me

We are the world, are the world
We are the children, are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving, let's start giving
But there's a chance we're taking, taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day
Just you and me

We are the world, shalom
We are the children, shalingin
We are the ones who make a brighter day, shalom
So let's start giving, 'cause that's what we're being
There's a chance we're taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day
Just you and me
Come on, yeah

We are the world, shalom
We are the children, shalingin
We are the ones who make a brighter day, shalom
So let's start giving, 'cause that's what we're being
There's a chance we're taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day
Just you and me
Oh yeah, we got it

We are the world, shalom
We are the children, shalingin
We are the ones who make a brighter day, shalom
So let's start giving, cause that's what we're being
There's a chance we're taking
We're taking our own lives
It's true we'll make a brighter day


Lyrics submitted by ruben

We Are the World Lyrics as written by Lionel Richie Michael Jackson

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

We Are the World (USA for Africa) song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

6 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    Why hasn't anybody commented this awesome song?! This song had forty-something pop artists in this song! like Cindy Lauper, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Lionel Ritchie and more! In the Chorus its not "We're saving out own lives" it's "We're saving our own lives". Knowing that Michael has passed I know that he really cared about what happens to the world. This song makes me teary eyed every time i hear it. I just love it! :D

    tokyo_loveron July 08, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I can't believe this song has no more than one comment. This song was a defining part out our (people who grew up listening to Michael) lives. I will never forget the way this song made the world feel. It is true that music heals all wounds. Today the WORLD has said good by the the greatest talent of our time. No one can replace him. My heart is broken. I pray for Michael to be at peace and for his children to grow up knowing that their daddy was an amazing icon!!

    CoolmomMPon July 08, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is being tainted right now, by some of the worst the music industry has to offer.

    This song had some amazing talent behind it, but the current remake is just depressing.

    sigmaliveson February 02, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    The original to this song is soooo much better than the remake with Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus and more artists that I have no respect for. The original came from the soul. If this generation of artists cared so much about Haiti, than they should have demonstrated that compassion by writing their OWN song. Those singers only commented on how amazing it was to be surrounded by so many other famous singers. I mean I thought it was about raising money and helping victims of that horrible disaster in Haiti. They didn't care, they still don't. They cared about the good publicity.

    Thank you, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. I know you both cared, but I especially know Michael Jackson did. May he rest in peace. I love you and I always will.

    wayla1234on May 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This video for Haiti i over studied (literally frame by frame) and that made my friend sick to the stomach.hehe. Obviously I prefer the original, but it's not like i hate this one, and it was done for a good cause, i still watch it sometimes even.heh. I sooo love Miley, Keri Hilson & McPhee in this video, they look amazing! What's with Tpain and the bag, though?

    LightofAuguston July 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song so much. I grew up on this song, and I get teary eyed every time I hear it. I wish more people could hear this song, and maybe people would actually care.

    oceanheart13on October 15, 2011   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.