Arcade Fire, John Mayer License Songs to Benefit Haiti Relief

Arcade Fire and John Mayer have licensed big songs to help support Haiti. Arcade Fire — whose Regine Chassagne's family has roots in the earthquake-ravaged island — has given the NFL permission to use their Funeral song "Wake Up" for charity ads during the Super Bowl. The commercials will later run during broadcasts on the NFL Network. One-hundred percent of the licensing fees will go to benefit Partners In Health's Stand With Haiti relief efforts. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Arcade Fire also asked fans to contribute money to Stand With Haiti on their official Website "Wake Up" has enjoyed a resurgence in the past year after featuring in the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are.

Similarly, Mayer has contributed his 2006 Continuum hit "The Heart of Life" to the Red Cross for a series of commercials and radio ads. Mayer has also donated $500,000 to the Red Cross' Haiti relief efforts through his Back to You Fund. Watch the "The Heart of Life" public service announcement here. Mayer previously performed on Larry King's "Haiti: How You Can Help" special, which helped raise $5.8 million for the Red Cross.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, the music world has banded together in the wake of the Haiti quake. The Hope For Haiti Now special raised over $65 million and counting, and dozens of stars gathered in a Los Angeles studio after the Grammys to re-record "We Are the World."

Check out photos of the "We Are the World" session featuring Lil Wayne, Pink and more.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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