Is Billie Jean really the best MJ song?

[83magic]

it's one of them - along with 'startin' somethin', 'beat it', 'thriller', and 'human nature' imo

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

No. Michael had a lot great songs then just billie jean. i think people like billie jean is the fact that when Michael did his famous moonwalk.

 

[Kay-Girl]

Here's my take on a question such as this one: Every single person has a "best Michael Jackson song." And I can guarantee you that 80-90% will be different answers, but that's good because Michael was so diverse with what kind of lyrics he wrote and what kind of genre he went with for every single song. He knew how to speak to various audiences through his varying songs. That's why some people do think Billie Jean is the best, and then why others strongly disagree. I personally don't have a "best song" because I'm someone who listens to all sorts of music genres and can listen to any of Michael's songs and be satisfied. Now if you ask me my favorite album? Bad, for sure. But that's a different story. XD

 

[DifferentKindOfLady]

Here's my take on a question such as this one: Every single person has a "best Michael Jackson song." And I can guarantee you that 80-90% will be different answers, but that's good because Michael was so diverse with what kind of lyrics he wrote and what kind of genre he went with for every single song. He knew how to speak to various audiences through his varying songs. That's why some people do think Billie Jean is the best, and then why others strongly disagree. I personally don't have a "best song" because I'm someone who listens to all sorts of music genres and can listen to any of Michael's songs and be satisfied. Now if you ask me my favorite album? Bad, for sure. But that's a different story. XD

I totally agree with you. I think the same thing and yeah I also have a soft spot for Bad

 

[Ontheline]

It's clear that people will give different songs as his best but when asking yourself what is his best, you need to be objective and have determined criteria that you think make a song the best. It shouldn't be a personal opinion based on your favorites but it should be a personal opinion based on those objective criteria. People are saying BJ is not the best because it's not even their favorite. Should we hear the adjective favorite here when we are talking about "the best" ?

The thing with MJ is, all the songs are so great that it's hard to tell. Though we can all agree that Billie Jean is better than let's say 2000 Watts. I'm sure everyone will give the same answer here. Why ?

So we just need to do the same between Billie Jean and those close to its level. It's not because something is maintream (and mostly known by the non fans) that it suddenly is less impressive or less incredible, you have to analyse the song for what it is. My all time favorite song is Smooth Criminal, the most iconic to me is Thriller though, objectively speaking I don't think they are above Billie Jean (especially Thriller). I think we'll find songs that are close to it but :

To me Billie Jean is his best.

 

[biene.michaelj]

The song is awesome, and in my top 5, but there is e.g. "Smooth Criminal" or "Leave me alone" and I don't know if I can rate any of them as a 1 place alone.

 

[Mikky Dee]

The song is awesome, and in my top 5, but there is e.g. "Smooth Criminal" or "Leave me alone" and I don't know if I can rate any of them as a 1 place alone.

It's in my Top 5, too, but I think Man in the Mirror is his best, with "Is It Scary" as a close second. As another member pointed out, it's very subjective, though......everyone has their own opinion. In terms of performance, it's Billie jean at #1 and Smooth Criminal at #2 for me and that's because of a) the moonwalk and b) the lean. IMO.