Ethiopian singers release Live Aid-style song

Top Ethiopian singers on Tuesday released a charity Live Aid-style song to highlight the plight of some 12.6 million facing starvation in the country. The eight singers, who are among the country’s best-known vocalists, have collaborated to produce Negarit – War Drum – aimed at raising funds and awareness of the drought. The record was composed by Elias Melka and played for the first time on Tuesday on the country’s only FM radio station. Live Aid, the brainchild of British singer Bob Geldof, was beamed across the world in 1985, raising US $60m for the victims of famine in Ethiopia that claimed one million lives. The lyrics of the Ethiopian song describe how hunger is now the country's enemy and that the population must prepare to combat the food crisis. “Let's fight the enemy with hoes and spades,” the song goes. “And other better ways and means. To change our name from receivers to achievers. Our flag, symbol of unity, of liberty and victory - where is your full grace and beauty, if it fails to free the country from the horrors of poverty?” “We want this song to be a legacy,” former government spokeswoman Selome Tadesse, who is heading the campaign, told IRIN. “Not just for this event but for fighting poverty.” The singers are Misrak Ephrim, Abdul Kiar, Tadelle Roba, Gosay Tesfay, Alemayhu Hirpu, Aragahega Werash, Madingo Afewerk and Tabebe Worke. The song has been released in preparation for a festival that will take place in Addis Ababa on 25 May under a campaign called “Birr for a Compatriot”. Artists and businesses are backing the concert and a telethon in order to raise US $1.7 million for drought victims.