Re: Katy Perry Closing In on Michael Jackson Chart Record
I'm not really surprised it goes like this: whose turn is it this year? I have always felt Michael should have won a lot more. I mean they totally ignored him after Thriller (apart from the lifetime achievement award in 1993).
No surprise there. Look at what kind of singers they're in love with. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber, Usher, Justin Timberlake, etc. The list goes on, ad nauseam. I'm not saying there is anything particularly wrong about liking any of these people [there isn't], however, it is evident to anyone who has eyes that, when compared to Michael in any way imaginable, every one of them is completely left behind coughing up his dust.
Their kind of music and
his kind of music (especially after Thriller) are completely divorced in terms of theme and value. What do Justin Timberlake, Gaga and Co. sing about? Sex, love, booze, drugs, etc. Things which appeal to the id and have no lasting value [much like their music]. The effect they attempt to achieve is further obscured by the fact that they
all sing about the same thing, so that if the songs could be broken up and left in abstract terms, you'd have a pretty tough time figuring to whom the material in question belongs.
Michael, on the other hand, sang about things which actually matter in this world, timeless themes, and modern issues. More importantly, he sang about them sincerely, putting all his heart into every syllable, penning the words with utmost wisdom, resulting in the creation of something which has infinite value. It is priceless music, music which only a few can truly understand, and those of us who do are very fortunate, because we have glimpsed into eternal beauty as imagined in his mind, or have come to the realization of a great truth from hearing his words.
Those who would rather forget about the true beauty or the current problems of the world would be repelled by such compositions, preferring to carry on with the endless party, drugging the id with mindless fodder ad infinitum. That is why Michael's post-Thriller music doesn't receive the amount of recognition it should. It is on a completely different wavelength than most people's mindsets. There is a reason why the most popular forms of entertainment are also the stupidest--reality TV, violent sports, pointless sitcoms/cartoons, etc. It is the sorry way of the world. It's no wonder the average American reads less than ten books per year [four, as of 2007, with one in four Americans reading no books at all], but I can guarantee you they have mountains of pop music CDs [either physically or in digital format] or mainstream films of the romantic comedy/mindless violence persuasion, and more than one television set [and 1-2 computers] in their household. There is nothing inherently wrong with watching television, viewing films, listening to music, or using the Internet. However, what matters is not so much the medium but the quality of the material being absorbed--the most popular material tends to be the most banal, with books like Twilight, television like Jersey Shore/American Idle, music with simple lyrics and not-so-useful messages like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, etc., films like the previously mentioned genres, and Internet time being used to socialize/look for pornography [sad but true] rather than enriching the mind. Again, there is nothing wrong with partaking in any of these things once in a while, but the problem arises when they become a form of escapism, so that the average person is unwilling and unable to grasp anything of importance to the world.
The same exists in music, and it is no coincidence that, as Michael's songs became more meaningful/important/genius, the attention he received became more negative. How can you expect people like that to understand something with such sophistication? It's evident, what those who give the awards prefer, the devil is in the details, as they say, and the patterns set in times past paint a picture which foreshadows the continuation of a disturbing trend.
In short, yes, he should have received much more recognition from the mainstream than he did, especially in his later [and IMO better] years. However, I'd rather have things as they currently are than have him be hailed as the best at the price of him having to conform to their mud standards.
