What’s wrong with “Earth” by Lil Dicky

So, if you haven’t heard it so far, comedy rapper Lil Dicky released his new single “Earth” on April 19, which features basically every relevant pop star of our times (including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus and many more)  and aims to raise awareness for climate change. It has quickly gone viral, amassing more 14 million views on Youtube in less than 48 hours, and conquering the iTunes charts all over the world. This is it:

I want to make it clear, that I absolutely support the effort and the cause. Climate change is here, it’s not going anywhere, our future depends on how we handle it, and although more and more voices call for “change” every day, it doesn’t seem like anything is actually changing, so any initiation that’s spreading the message to a wide audience is welcome. But if they make a song featuring an unrivalled amount of star power, shouldn’t they put in just a little more effort to ensure it achieves its full potential?

Dozens of world-renowned artists coming together to record a single to raise awareness for an impending (or actually, ongoing) humanitarian catastrophe – it’s not hard to draw parallels with the ultimate charity single, We Are the World. In 1985, that became a hugely successful single, topping charts everywhere, raising $63 million, and becoming a cornerstone of popular culture. But not simply because everyone from Michael Jackson to Ray Charles sang on it, but because it was a good, marketable song, with a clear concept and a world-class production that appealed for most people at the time.

Now, I’m not complaining about the lack of anthemic pathos that defined We are the World. It’s not at all a problem to hit a less-serious tone and make it funny. But the problem with Earth is that it feels inconsistent. Dicky has said, “What started as a silly joke of an idea along the way became the most important thing I’ll ever do.” Which is really nice, but it feels like he got confused halfway and couldn’t decide actually how much of a joke and how much of an important statement it is.

I’m talking about how the video has this cutesy animation style, which makes it look like it’s perfectly tailored for kids and more-conservative audiences, that all of a sudden Brendon Urie sings “I’m a fat fucking pig”, the first of multiple f-bombs, and it’s already alienated some viewers. Now, I’m not prudish by any means, but many people are, and when making a song with such an expected magnitude, you just have to accept that.

Also, when the message is “save your planet and do it now”, do you really have to include lines about how great orgasms are? Again, it might get a quick chuckle out of a viewer/listener, but ultimately, it undermines the cause. And of course, the songwriting and the production are quite simply, ridiculously bad. I understand that Lil Dicky ain’t no MJ or Lionel Richie, but if they could put all the energy into recruiting Halsey, Shawn Mendes, Snoop Dogg and so on, couldn’t they hire a leading producer and use something like an unpublished Max Martin-tune for the song? I highly doubt that, given the impressive list of contributors already on the project, they would have turned down the offer.

Maybe I’m just trying to read to deep into a funny novelty song. Maybe they had no intention of creating another We Are the World, but my point is, it should be another We Are the World. If the biggest current stars are willing to gather together and record an anthem to combat the greatest threat of our generation, they might as well do it right, so it can become another cultural landmark and it can make a considerable impact on our society. But I’m afraid, Earth isn’t well made enough to become that. I’m afraid it will only become a short-living viral sensation, fading to oblivion after a few weeks. Please let me be wrong.