I suppose I understand the economic mechanisms behind charity singles. They're an easy way to get a lot of people to spend a small amount of money that'll be donated, when they might balk at making more substantial direct donations. That said, I think celebrities tend to sound a bit clueless when they talk about singles raising genuine awareness of international crises like the one ongoing in Haiti. Not that I expect the Pogues' former frontman Shane MacGowan to be an avatar of coherence, whether declaring that in recording Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put a Spell on You,"(which sort of resurrects the deeply unfortunate debate over whether Haiti's cursed) as a charity single "Casting a spell on you doesn't mean a bad spell!" or in insisting that in releasing the single in February, he and Nick Cave will keep Haiti alive as an issue right now. I tend to think 30 Rock's "Kidney Now" episode exposes both the good intentions and ridiculousness of such efforts:
It's like the "Title of the Song" of charity songs: