There’s nothing that says more about the festive season than the barrage of sometimes jovial, sometimes tacky songs that begin with a trickle and then end up flooding our airwaves every day before December 25 each year. Where would we be without Mariah Carey heralding the beginning of the Christmas season with her inimitable musical prowess? But there are some that make me cringe when I hear them, and not for the overflowing cheesy Christmas spirit.

‘It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid’. These lines from the song ‘Feed the World’ are sung with rapturous glee by intoxicated revellers every year in clubs and bars around Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was written by Bono and Midge Ure in the 1980s to help raise money to tackle a devastating famine that was ravaging Ethiopia at the time. But since then, every year it has become something of a crude reminder of the ignorance of people who have no idea what Africa is about or perhaps even where it is on a map, and who see such countries within Africa through the prism of poverty, charity and need. With lines from the original song such as ‘And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time’, ‘Where nothing ever grows ... no rain or rivers flow’, it’s easy to see why it might be a bit offensive to people who actually live on that vast continent.

The song speaks of the idea that those living in these countries are vulnerable victims who have no agency and are waiting for others to help. But this is farthest from the truth. While there was a lot of money raised for the charities that were sending aid to Ethiopia at the time, the legacy of the song has become somewhat toxic and reinforces the simplistic ideas that people garner from equally questionable television advertisements for various charity organisations that appeal to us to give money for the poor children of Africa. The song is rolled out year after year to raise money for whatever charity the songwriters deem suitable for that year and they round up a stellar line-up of celebrities to sing the lines that tell of hunger and horror. It’s unfortunate that money is raised in this way that reinforces old stereotypes of countries in Africa, and you could argue that it has done more damage than it has good.

Christmas is a time when people think of charity and give more to others, but images such as those offered by the charities give an unbalanced view of the people they claim to want to help.

I have to admit to being one of those people who adored the ‘Feed the World’ song, perhaps in the same way someone can adore a racist old aunt or a bigoted uncle. You wish they wouldn’t be the way they are, but it’s too late to change the fundamental make-up of their being. It’s in their DNA, a hardened relic of a time long passed. But it’s been a long time since I sang along to it. Instead, I tell people how absurd it is and appeal to their better judgement. However, giving inebriated people advice on the moral currency of charity songs usually isn’t warmly received.

There are plenty of other songs that drive people such as myself to distraction, but I also have to admit that I’m a big fan of the Christmas song, one that has the perfect balance of tackiness and singalong potential. Surely the point of a Christmas song is to unite and celebrate this time of year. In which case, I think I’ll be sticking with Mariah Carey’s festive offerings — you can’t get any better.

Christina Curran is a freelance journalist based in Northern Ireland.