Talk:Yes We Can (will.i.am song)

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Detailed Description Needed[edit]

This page needs a full paragraph description of the contents of the music video, which should come immediately after the introduction and before the production section. As the page is currently structured, it assumes the reader has already seen the music video or has the time to watch it--an unhelpful approach for most readers of Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zakethtrarr (talk • contribs) 05:22, 12 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Jessie Baylin[edit]

I do believe that musician Jessie Baylin appears in the video at 1:41. Can someone check that.

David Blaine[edit]

I added David Blaine, as he is feautred in the video as well. He says the famous Chavez line "Sí se puede." It means "Yes, It can be done." I think that both the David Blaine, and Yes We Can should reference each other. I am new to this, so if anyone knows how to do it, thanks.

Spaceman32002 (talk) 18:38, 5 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Citizenship[edit]

This is not a song that is primarily about voting, except for one text 'vote' at the end. Just like no one is questioning whether the contributors are registered Democrats or Republicans (which has a major effect to whether they can vote for Obama anytime in the near future, if ever), it is not pertinent to discuss in this song which nation the contributors claim citizenship. It is a song about what we can do as a nation -- and citizenship is no bar to contributing to this nation. Just ask any of the non-citizens who work in and contribute to the U.S. Thus the remark at the end is just a perspective bias. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.35.249.129 (talk) 22:45, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A fair case, and you've raised an interesting point. Obama's not just for American citizens (those who have the franchise); there's definitely a supra-national appeal as well. I only pointed out the foreign national(s) because AFAIK it's unprecedented for such to play such a role in a presidential campaign. If Esthero has in this regard any precursors whatsoever in previous election cycles, I'd like to hear about them; she might be sui generis. Then again, viral videos are a fairly new phenomenon! kencf0618 (talk) 15:28, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Esthero[edit]

Esthero is Canadian - anyone know why she was in the video?

Uh, because she supports Obama? Although she doesn't have the franchise here, she can lend her talent in support of the campaign every bit as much as Yael (whom I presume has dual French-Israeli citizenship). If anyone can further nail down the cites on the citizenship status of these two, feel free! kencf0618 (talk) 18:24, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Esthero is confused with Natasha Bedingfield. Bedingfield had nothing to do with this project. Natasha Bedingfield should be omitted from the article.

Cameron Diaz?[edit]

A previous editor added Cameron Diaz to the list of song contributors. But I don't believe Diaz was actually present in the video, and that the editor may be mistaking Amber Valletta for Diaz. Feel free to revert if I am mistaken. -asx- (talk) 04:42, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • Is it not Cameron Diaz at 1:51 and 4:17 holding a kid in her arms? Sure looks like her, but I might be wrong. enderminh (talk) 07:17, 6 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Lyrics[edit]

Here's an alternative formatting of the lyrics if anyone wants to use these instead of the current version. This version includes the chorus.


Yes We Can[edit]

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can. (x2)

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can. (x16)

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. (x2)

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can. (x12)

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We want change. (x3)

I want change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

We want change.

I want change. (x3)

The hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

Yes we can.

-asx- (talk) 03:32, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bob the Builder[edit]

Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Can we fix it? Yes we can!

I'm sure it's just coincidence, but I'm quite amazed. Tim (Xevious) (talk) 08:39, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'll admit it: I'm stunned you were able to find another example of someone using the words "Yes we can." It's just astonishing. I mean, really, who could have ever imagined those words having been put together in that order before, and that you were able to find them? Truly remarkable. Maybe they will make a TV show our of your remarkable discover. Perhaps Time Magazine will make you Man of the Year for 2008! Thank you for bringing this to our attention. -asx- (talk) 09:15, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It was more the part about being able to repair or fix something ... and the fact it's a song. But I'm happy to have provided you with your daily dose of sarcasm! Tim (Xevious) (talk) 10:32, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I found the comparison mildly amusing when I first heard Fox News talking about it over a month ago. This joke has been circulating for weeks on right-wing blogs and elsewhere. Most people will interpret your decision to post the comparison here as a partisan attack on Obama and his supporters. -asx- (talk) 18:18, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately, and contrary to what you may have been led to believe, what with me living in the UK I've not had detailed analysis of the US not-even-a-proper-election forced upon me for the past two months. But, in any case, everyone loves Bob the Builder. I could think of worse people to be compared to. Tim (Xevious) (talk) 07:15, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The "yes we can" line is a reference to Cesar Chavez's slogan "Sí se puede", coined during the 1970's. Long before Bob the Builder was around. 

 And your point is?  The catch phrase "Yes we can" (in English who cares about Spanish) was used by Bob's team long before 
 Obama used it.  Now had they replied to Bob's "Can we fix it" with "Sí se puede" I could see where you are at.  But they 
 didn't.  They replied, in English, with "Yes we can!"  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.149.31.230 (talk) 11:45, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

--AgentOfChange (talk) 04:32, 7 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"The Stolen Phrase In 1994 a children show called Bob the builder had the catch phrase. Can we build it? Yes we can! (Chorus: Bob the builder.)" They stole the phrase! It's a fact because Wikipedia told me so. But I'm pretty sure it was "fix" not "build"... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.138.213 (talk) 00:36, 12 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The Actual Song[edit]

Although it's one of the most quietly evocative pieces I've ever heard, I really don't have the musical chops, or for that matter the knowledge of hip-hop, to write about it any more detail than I already have. The song itself deserves its own paragraph about its R&B and hip-hop provenance and style. I've put up some thematic stuff, but I couldn't tell you about its time signature, what key it's in, etc., so have at it! kencf0618 (talk) 18:34, 3 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I Think It Appropriate[edit]

For someone to put a section about the fact that it has been reposted by other YouTubers... umm... several times. I've already counted 25 just from the first three search pages. Lol what a viral video indeed!! At least there's something to hope about. Kopf1988 (talk) 05:36, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]


I have seen the views to be

1,742,065+ 310,191+ 1,701,454+ 116,902+

=

3,870,612

for the top four identical videos with maximum view as of 3 27 PM Eastern, 6/2/2008

Complete List[edit]

Dipdive.com now shows complete credits for this video. Some of the folks listed on the webpage were not, in fact, in the Yes We Can video. This needs to be cleaned up.

Nevermind, I did it. Benjam1n (talk) 14:49, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Eric Olsen referenced in the list is incorrect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Christian_Olsen That is the correct person, an actor from movies such as The Last Kiss. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.215.209.236 (talk) 23:23, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Someone has since fixed this. William Pietri (talk) 17:30, 5 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Who's the woman in 1:11? It's not Natasha Bedingfield as wikipedia states... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.173.183.252 (talk) 22:55, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Grid of particpants and photos and/or times?[edit]

Hi! I've got an idea, and I'm wondering if it's overkill. Looking at the video, I'll wonder who some individual person is. Because there are so many of them, and because we don't have photos for many of them, I'd like a quick way to figure out who somebody is. I'm thinking either a) a grid of names and head shots (taken from the video) or b) a grid of names and timestamps. I'd lean towards the photos, myself. Any opinions? William Pietri (talk) 17:33, 5 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I like that idea. It's difficult to figure out who's who, so I think that would be very useful. Maybe simply a headshot taken from the video placed next to each name as it appears on the web page would be the easiest way to match up the names and faces. -asx- (talk) 01:32, 6 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • I went ahead and labeled (with times) as many people as I could. Please feel free to correct any mistakes and reformat as you see fit. Mgcsinc (talk) 18:48, 9 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, I made headshots, but I don't know how to get the pictures here or how to make a grid, basically I know nothing, however I did upload them into an album in photobucket, just search for " yeswecanbarackobama " then look at the album, I only made the screenshots for the one's who are listed with time stamps by their names. Sorry, but some of these people I don't know who they are either, if anyone finds anything out, post it here and I'll make a screenshot for them as well... have fun (please don't autobot my name or ISP Number.)
Fabulous! Mgcsinc, thanks for doing that. William Pietri (talk) 16:09, 10 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Greek Chrous?[edit]

Hi. Do the performers really act as a traditional Greek chorus? I'm not so sure that makes sense. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.156.133.52 (talk) 01:26, 9 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please interwiki this article[edit]

There is also an article on German Wikipedia, please interwiki it. Thank you. --134.155.99.42 (talk) 22:40, 9 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]



@1:17, "si, podemos" and 1:57, "sí, se puede"[edit]

I hear at 1:17, "si, podemos" and at 1:57, "sí, se puede". Whats what? Spanish and what else? --134.155.99.42 (talk) 16:19, 14 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think they're both in Spanish (Si, podemos + si, se puede). They both mean "Yes We Can". -- Megumi997 (talk) 23:07, 20 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

According to the article Sí se puede means "Yes, It can be done!" not "Yes We Can" - that would be "si, podemos" if my very limited knowledge of Spanish doesn't desert me. --Anjoe (talk) 02:14, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You're absolutely correct, Anjoe. But there's very little semantic difference between these two interchangeable expressions. --Vibragiel (talk) 07:08, 2 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One nation?[edit]

How does he figure that Americans are one nation? What what I've seen, a place like Texas has a completely separate national identity from a place like New England. American probably has four or five different nations within the country. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.45.183 (talk) 16:05, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, for a European as I am the differences are neglectable, because there are much more commonalities. A Texan can drink root beer like a New Englander, but for an European this drink is almost undrinkable. Just as an example. And Europeans have different languages, but a Texan can communicate with an New Englander, if he tries to. --Tubesship (talk) 05:42, 1 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Even if there are four of five different nations within the US, that's where the change comes in, non? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.191.22.133 (talk) 18:25, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No offense intended, but have you done much traveling outside the country? I find that people who tend to say things similar to this have never been exposed to a nation which is really fundamentally different. I used to go around saying that there was no such thing as American culture. Two months living in Japan turned me around on that one pretty fast. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.159.179.155 (talk) 22:32, 11 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

We are the ones[edit]

  • - 0:09
  • Jessica Alba - 0:22
  • - 0:31
  • - 0:32
  • - 0:34
  • - 0:38
  • - 0:38
  • - 0:39
  • - 0:42
  • - 0:45
  • - 0:49
  • Will.i.am - 0:49
  • - 0:50
  • - 0:51
  • - Macy Gray - 0:56
  • - 0:57
  • - Malcolm Jamal Warner - 0:59
  • - 1:02 (holding picture of Barack Obama)
  • - 1:05
  • - 1:07
  • John Leg - 1:09
  • - 1:10
  • Jamie Foxx - 1:10
  • - 1:11
  • - 1:13
  • - 1:13
  • - 1:16
  • - 1:16
  • - 1:19
  • - 1:30
  • - 1:33
  • - 1:33
  • - 1:50
  • - 2:00
  • George Lopez - 2:04
  • Luis Guzmán - 2:08

Bcc cindy (talk) 15:51, 2 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Rename to 'dipdive'?[edit]

Later today I'm hoping to change this article's focus to the dipdive.com site that released the video, with subsections on the two videos they've released. One issue that I'm worried about is whether the website itself meets notability guidelines, but I think that as a grassroots effort completely separate from the campaign itself it is pretty unique in how much attention it has gotten. If anyone has strong feelings of opposition, let me know and feel free to revert and wait for a fuller discussion. -Mgcsinc (talk) 20:11, 2 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • I went ahead and did it, along with some cleanup / reorganization / redundancy removal. -Mgcsinc (talk) 01:13, 3 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure it was well meant, but I think this was a mistake. "Yes We Can" gets maybe 15x the press mentions than the web site does. The song itself is clearly a notable phenomenon, but as you mention, the web site may not be. By all means create an article about the website if you can find sources for it, but I'd ask you to put "Yes We Can" back. Thanks, William Pietri (talk) 07:39, 3 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see "Dipdive.com" have anything to do with the subject in particular. I first found both videos on YouTube, as have millions of others who might not know anything about a website with a somewhat funny name. Please change back. --Anjoe (talk) 02:02, 4 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • The website is where the video originally came from, regardless of whether it was viewed on YouTube or elsewhere. The video has a hitcount of 4 million on the Dipdive site. The YouTube argument is silly - videos copied onto YouTube should still be considered in the context of their original source. I think that expanding the scope of this article made sense, regardless of whether the song itself was getting more news coverage than the group that created it. It is common to find articles with a less notable subject than one of their sub-sections - many articles about musicians are like this. It made sense here given that one group has created two notable videos - Mgcsinc (talk) 06:00, 5 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm.... Is there anything more to Dipdive.com than will.i.am? If not, then I'm not sure we have anything to say about the website. If we do, then sure, we can write about it. But the "Yes We Can" video is the clearly the main notable phenomenon. So whether or not we have an article on Dipdive.com, we should have one on "Yes We Can". William Pietri (talk) 01:00, 13 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Geezer Butler[edit]

Geezer Butler said his son did editing. Here is the source: Geezer Butler official website. Tenacious D Fan (talk) 14:31, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

License[edit]

I'd love to know what the copyright status is on this song. Considering that Obama's campaign has had some of it's content (change.gov as example) released under a Creative Commons license I wonder what's the case for this work of art that was made probably without intent for profit with a speech that's probably Public Domain. Maybe this information could be placed somewhere in the article, maybe in the infobox. What do you say? JunCTionS 01:30, 23 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Bob the Builder redux. Discussion please[edit]

I've added a dubious tag here, pending potential deletion of "Yes We Can" ( a phrase famously used by Bob the Builder's team)" from the current revision. Before this turns into an edit war, I would like to get consensus of whether or not Bob the Builder has a place in this article. The discussion above doesn't really delve into whether or not it does. People may feel strongly either way, therefore I want to generate discussion and perhaps even !vote whether it should be in the article. If it is in, it needs significant citation. Meanwhile, I think I am going to remove it for now because of the line's primacy in the title sentence as well as need that the entire sentence be rewritten. Valley2city‽ 22:10, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The problem I have with the article is that it misleads people into thinking that the phrase "Yes we can" was not used publicly or as a catch phrase before the Obama use. I'll rewrite. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.149.31.230 (talk) 11:36, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Assessment for WP:WikiProject Barack Obama[edit]

I've rated the importance as Low due to obscurity, but I think it has reached the B level of quality. It fulfills all of the six points well, except that the referencing is a bit sketchy with unexplained [1]'s and [citation needed] tags. Given the subject matter it is still remarkably well sourced. With that issue fixed and some cleanup and copy editing, it should be ready for WP:Good Article nomination in a reasonable time. Mike Serfas (talk) 06:15, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

song style - call-and-response?[edit]

"the performers (celebrities including musicians, singers and actors) echo his words in a hip-hop, call-and-response manner as his voice plays in the background."

I could be wrong, but this does NOT seem to be an example of call-and-response...they seem to be singing along to the words, not "call-and-response" in any way similar to that of hiphop or gospel.... -- 76.24.169.192 (talk) 17:13, 21 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Yes I Can" (1965) is the biography of Sammy Davis Jr.[edit]

"Si, se puede" was created in 1972 but it was preceded by Sammy's great biography in 1965. It is interesting to think that Barack Obama's catch phrase may have been inspired, perhaps indirectly, by a guy who hugged Richard Nixon.

Ejpole$ (talk) 23:40, 11 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move[edit]

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved to Yes We Can (will.i.am song) per WP:NCM for distinguishing multiple songs of the same title. -- JHunterJ (talk) 16:12, 8 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes We Can → Yes We Can (song) – This song is clearly not the primary topic for this phrase - the primary topic is probably Obama's 2008 campaign slogan, and since it doesn't have an article, Yes We Can should redirect to Yes we can, a disamiguation page. Admin assistance required to complete move. D O N D E groovily Talk to me 14:31, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment: if the campaign is the primary topic, the title Yes We Can can redirect to Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008 easily enough. If there is no primary topic, I would suggest moving the disamibiguation page to this Title Case title, since that's the "more ambiguous" caps variant. -- JHunterJ (talk) 19:41, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. Such a song typically capitalises on a pre-existing phrase, in the hope of borrowing its fame and prestige (for good or bad purposes; the intent is irrelevant). Wikipedia should not be party to such practices, but focus on what is of enduring interest. Here the enduring interest is plainly in the Obama speech, not in the song that is a mere derivative. Capital letters? They scarcely register with most readers, and cannot be relied on to provide information here. Let our titles inform readers at least minimally, especially when there is no associated disadvantage in doing so. NoeticaTea? 22:43, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    As always, capital letters can be relied upon to provide information; that's the current Wikipedia consensus that you keep tilting against without actually trying to form a new consensus at WP:AT. But in this case the existing phrase (chant) is also capitalized at Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008. -- JHunterJ (talk) 11:23, 1 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support multiple uses, several highly prominent. 70.24.244.198 (talk) 04:05, 1 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. American political stump speeches are rarely significant; I would agree that the primary topic here is the campaign slogan, but that is probably not notable enough for its own entry. But see List of U.S. presidential campaign slogans and List of political slogans. Early in the campaign Obama had groups of supporters who would chant during the pauses in the speech that would usually receive applause. During the New Hampshire primary (January 2008) they were chanting slogans like "fired up and ready to go", but by the time Obama gave his victory speech after winning the Illinois primary in Feb 2008 (with its significant number of electoral votes), the group had been given a place on risers behind the candidate and were chanting yes-we-can, yes-we-can, the slogan in the above song. So, even though the song was not officially done by Obama people, it was very much a piece of the political campaign, as much as, say, the Shepard Fairey's "Hope" poster, which also went pretty viral. Neotarf (talk) 19:18, 2 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support, just like what other people here have put so well already. Pinut (talk) 16:26, 4 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support pbp 16:27, 5 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Move discussion in progress[edit]

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Will.i.am which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 10:15, 30 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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