xthunderx2
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:boohoo:...Michael I miss you.
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:boohoo:...Michael I miss you.
MJJLaugh
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Michael's Favorite Things
Everybody has favourite things, Michael jackson had his share of favourite things as well. Curious ? Here is a list
Best Friend: Elizabeth Taylor
Idols: Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Three Stooges, Walt Disney,James Brown, Jackie Wilson
Favorite Accessory: Black Fedora
Favorite Actor/Actress: Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Morgan Freeman, Marlon Brando
Favorite Artists: Michaelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci
Favourite Board Game: Monopoly
Favorite Books: ‘Peter Pan’ by James Matthew Barrie, ‘Jonathan Livingstone Seagull’ by Richard Bach, ‘The Old Man And The Sea’ by Ernest Hemingway
Favorite Classical Composers: Claude Debussy (’Afternoon of the Fawn’), Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky, Sergei Sergejewitsch Prokofjew
Favorite Colors: Red, black
Favorite Disney Characters: Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Pinocchio
Favorite Drink: mineral water (e.g. Evian, Perrier), fruit juice (orange), vegetable juice (carrot), Gatorade (during concerts)
Favorite Food: Mexican, exotic, spicy & vegetarian food, Sushi, pizza, chicken, fish, fresh fruits, popcorn, vanilla ice with cookie pieces, sunflower seeds, glazed doughnuts, frosted flakes with milk, M&Ms
Favorite Movies: ‘Peter Pan’, ‘E.T.’, ‘Star Wars’
Favorite Singers: James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr., The Temptations, Diana Ross
Favorite Songs When He Was A Child: ‘Tobacco Road’, ‘You Are My Sunshine’, ‘Cloud Nine’ by The Temptations
Favorite TV Shows: Flip Wilson Show, Brady Bunch, Road Runner Show, The Simpsons
Source: http://www.michaeljacksonmoon.com/michaels-favourite-things/
Everybody has favourite things, Michael jackson had his share of favourite things as well. Curious ? Here is a list
Best Friend: Elizabeth Taylor
Idols: Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Three Stooges, Walt Disney,James Brown, Jackie Wilson
Favorite Accessory: Black Fedora
Favorite Actor/Actress: Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Morgan Freeman, Marlon Brando
Favorite Artists: Michaelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci
Favourite Board Game: Monopoly
Favorite Books: ‘Peter Pan’ by James Matthew Barrie, ‘Jonathan Livingstone Seagull’ by Richard Bach, ‘The Old Man And The Sea’ by Ernest Hemingway
Favorite Classical Composers: Claude Debussy (’Afternoon of the Fawn’), Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky, Sergei Sergejewitsch Prokofjew
Favorite Colors: Red, black
Favorite Disney Characters: Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Pinocchio
Favorite Drink: mineral water (e.g. Evian, Perrier), fruit juice (orange), vegetable juice (carrot), Gatorade (during concerts)
Favorite Food: Mexican, exotic, spicy & vegetarian food, Sushi, pizza, chicken, fish, fresh fruits, popcorn, vanilla ice with cookie pieces, sunflower seeds, glazed doughnuts, frosted flakes with milk, M&Ms
Favorite Movies: ‘Peter Pan’, ‘E.T.’, ‘Star Wars’
Favorite Singers: James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr., The Temptations, Diana Ross
Favorite Songs When He Was A Child: ‘Tobacco Road’, ‘You Are My Sunshine’, ‘Cloud Nine’ by The Temptations
Favorite TV Shows: Flip Wilson Show, Brady Bunch, Road Runner Show, The Simpsons
Source: http://www.michaeljacksonmoon.com/michaels-favourite-things/
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson - Maria (You were the only one)
This song featured on Michael's 1972 debut album "Got To Be There"
Just listen to the soul in his voice, even then!
Written & composed: larry brown, shadee, george gordy and linda glover
Maria hey hey maria
Maria don’t you hear me calling maria
Maria girl you know you were the only one
Hey hey maria
Maria don’t you miss me just a little
Maria after all you were the only one
Come on back to me maria
Maria come on back to me girl
Hey hey maria
Maria it’s been long so long
Maria since you’ve been gone
Hey hey maria
Maria don’t you need me just a little
Maria ’cause honest girl you were the only one
Come on back to me maria
Oh come on back to me girl
Maria I need you
Maria why d’you keep a-running away
Oh baby you keep a-running away
Oh baby yeah maria
I need you honey
Oh maria you sweet little sunflower
Oh hear my plea for sympathy
I just want you here with me maria
If you’re on that lonely night
What’s my life without you girl
I’m so lonely I’m so blue
Without you darling my life is through
Come on back
This song featured on Michael's 1972 debut album "Got To Be There"
Just listen to the soul in his voice, even then!
Written & composed: larry brown, shadee, george gordy and linda glover
Maria hey hey maria
Maria don’t you hear me calling maria
Maria girl you know you were the only one
Hey hey maria
Maria don’t you miss me just a little
Maria after all you were the only one
Come on back to me maria
Maria come on back to me girl
Hey hey maria
Maria it’s been long so long
Maria since you’ve been gone
Hey hey maria
Maria don’t you need me just a little
Maria ’cause honest girl you were the only one
Come on back to me maria
Oh come on back to me girl
Maria I need you
Maria why d’you keep a-running away
Oh baby you keep a-running away
Oh baby yeah maria
I need you honey
Oh maria you sweet little sunflower
Oh hear my plea for sympathy
I just want you here with me maria
If you’re on that lonely night
What’s my life without you girl
I’m so lonely I’m so blue
Without you darling my life is through
Come on back
MJJLaugh
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Messages and Symbolism beyond the Obvious in 'They Don't Care About Us'
Movement of the Jah People, and Pelourhino.
Say what?
The African diaspora. What Bob Marley called ‘The Movement of the Jah People‘. The colors, symbols, and history of Olodum with Michael in ‘They Don’t Care About Us‘, along with the significance of the location in Brazil in which one version of it was filmed.
Michael stated that he was proud of his heritage, proud to be black. For many reasons, one of which was because his skin lightened due to vitiligo, ignorants (some of them even of his own race), doubted his commitment and felt that Michael had somehow betrayed his own people.
But, as we delve deeper into the symbolism and meaning of his songs and videos we find that not only was Michael proud to be black but that he was deeply committed to his race, to fighting the causes of social injustice, and fighting for racial and social equality for people of all races and religions.
As in the video and song ‘Black or White‘, we find messages and symbolism beyond the obvious in ‘They Don’t Care About Us‘, too. If one looks just a little deeper, we find symbolic genius in Michael’s work that he never talked about – but was always there – quietly waiting to be discovered.
Samar Habib did just that. He did a little research and discovered some quite interesting gems about Olodum and the song ‘They Don’t Care About Us‘ as filmed in Largo do Pelourinho, Salvadore, Brazil. For instance, Samar found this:
Jackson’s great dancing, his readily apparent friendliness made all the people in Pelourinho smile with pride. Especially proud were the youths of Olodum, to have had the opportunity to showcase their talent to the world through Jackson’s video. The video was in fact filmed in the “Largo do Pelourinho,” the exact spot where hundreds of years ago slaves were whipped and tortured by their masters, hence the name “Pelourinho” (the Pillory). Olodum purposefully headquarters in Pelourinho to tap into the negative energy caused by the shedding of slave blood precisely to gain strength for their fight for Black equality and power.
-Pravina Shukla, Brazzil.com – ‘The Heartbeat of Bahia‘
Gabriel Rich, in a column for ‘SoulInterviews.com‘ last year a few weeks following Michael’s death, wrote:
(Michael Jackson) Wrote one of the most kick-ass songs of revolt and raised his fist in a Black Power salute in his “They Don’t Care about Us” video, with everyone wearing red, black and green colors in their t-shirts. . .. Michael broke down racial stereotypes; he didn’t create them, unlike most entertainers today, and truthfully, like hip hop does nowadays.
-Gabriel Rich
And what about those colors? What do they mean?
Stewart Clegg states in a fascinating paper he wrote all about Olodum called ‘The Rhythm of the Saints‘ (click to download and read – it’s in Adobe PDF format):
Olodum’s imaginative use of symbols expresses itself most symbolically in its colours of green, red, yellow, black and white. Each colour has a symbolic significance: green represents the rain forests of Africa; the deep red is symbolic of the blood of the people, shed in so many centuries of suffering, from the slavery days; golden yellow represents the colours of gold, for prosperity; black is for the colour and the pride of the people, while white is symbolic of world peace. Together, these colours are symbolic of the African diaspora, ‘the movement of Jah people’, as Bob Marley (1977) once put it.
-Stewart Clegg
The Rhythm of the Saints
The Rhythm of the Saints was the title of a best selling record released by Paul Simon in 1990. The opening track introduced a new sound to many ears – recorded in Pelhourino Square, Salvador, Bahia, in Brazil – the sounds of Olodum. A martial, insistent, hypnotically rhythmic beat, the sound of a troupe of drums, percussive and shuffling, behind a typical Paul Simon lyric, ‘The Obvious Child‘. The name of the troupe of drummers was Grupo Olodum. Olodum and Pelhourino have become inseparable since the founding of the former in on April 25th 1979, in Pelhourino, the centre of old Salvador. Olodum means ‘The God of Gods’ or ‘The Supreme God’ in Yorubß. Although music fans may know Olodum as a band, they are, in fact, much more than that. They are a social and a cultural movement. . .
-Stewart Clegg
Samar takes note of a couple of interesting things Michael does in this video:
@2.00 He sings the lines “Black man, blackmail (although this is transcribed as ‘black male’ in the official lyrics – probably for legal reasons)” while giving the Black Power salute
@2.35 He sings “The government don’t wanna see” and gives a Nazi-salute while saying the word ‘government‘
Sadly, the founder of Olodum, Neguinho do Samba, also left us in 2009 and has now joined Michael in spirit. From Wikipedia:
Neguinho do Samba (? – October 31, 2009), whose real name was Antonio Luis Alves de Souza, was a Brazilian percussionist and musician. Samba was the founder of Olodum, an internationally known cultural group based in Salvador, Brazil.[1] Samba, a resident of Pelourinho, was considered to be the “father” of samba reggae in Bahia.[2]
Neguinho do Samba died of heart failure on October 31, 2009, at the age of 54.[1] Samba was buried in the Jardim da Saudade cemetery in Salvador.[2]
Source: http://www.mjj-777.com
Movement of the Jah People, and Pelourhino.
Say what?
The African diaspora. What Bob Marley called ‘The Movement of the Jah People‘. The colors, symbols, and history of Olodum with Michael in ‘They Don’t Care About Us‘, along with the significance of the location in Brazil in which one version of it was filmed.
Michael stated that he was proud of his heritage, proud to be black. For many reasons, one of which was because his skin lightened due to vitiligo, ignorants (some of them even of his own race), doubted his commitment and felt that Michael had somehow betrayed his own people.
But, as we delve deeper into the symbolism and meaning of his songs and videos we find that not only was Michael proud to be black but that he was deeply committed to his race, to fighting the causes of social injustice, and fighting for racial and social equality for people of all races and religions.
As in the video and song ‘Black or White‘, we find messages and symbolism beyond the obvious in ‘They Don’t Care About Us‘, too. If one looks just a little deeper, we find symbolic genius in Michael’s work that he never talked about – but was always there – quietly waiting to be discovered.
Samar Habib did just that. He did a little research and discovered some quite interesting gems about Olodum and the song ‘They Don’t Care About Us‘ as filmed in Largo do Pelourinho, Salvadore, Brazil. For instance, Samar found this:
Jackson’s great dancing, his readily apparent friendliness made all the people in Pelourinho smile with pride. Especially proud were the youths of Olodum, to have had the opportunity to showcase their talent to the world through Jackson’s video. The video was in fact filmed in the “Largo do Pelourinho,” the exact spot where hundreds of years ago slaves were whipped and tortured by their masters, hence the name “Pelourinho” (the Pillory). Olodum purposefully headquarters in Pelourinho to tap into the negative energy caused by the shedding of slave blood precisely to gain strength for their fight for Black equality and power.
-Pravina Shukla, Brazzil.com – ‘The Heartbeat of Bahia‘
Gabriel Rich, in a column for ‘SoulInterviews.com‘ last year a few weeks following Michael’s death, wrote:
(Michael Jackson) Wrote one of the most kick-ass songs of revolt and raised his fist in a Black Power salute in his “They Don’t Care about Us” video, with everyone wearing red, black and green colors in their t-shirts. . .. Michael broke down racial stereotypes; he didn’t create them, unlike most entertainers today, and truthfully, like hip hop does nowadays.
-Gabriel Rich
And what about those colors? What do they mean?
Stewart Clegg states in a fascinating paper he wrote all about Olodum called ‘The Rhythm of the Saints‘ (click to download and read – it’s in Adobe PDF format):
Olodum’s imaginative use of symbols expresses itself most symbolically in its colours of green, red, yellow, black and white. Each colour has a symbolic significance: green represents the rain forests of Africa; the deep red is symbolic of the blood of the people, shed in so many centuries of suffering, from the slavery days; golden yellow represents the colours of gold, for prosperity; black is for the colour and the pride of the people, while white is symbolic of world peace. Together, these colours are symbolic of the African diaspora, ‘the movement of Jah people’, as Bob Marley (1977) once put it.
-Stewart Clegg
The Rhythm of the Saints
The Rhythm of the Saints was the title of a best selling record released by Paul Simon in 1990. The opening track introduced a new sound to many ears – recorded in Pelhourino Square, Salvador, Bahia, in Brazil – the sounds of Olodum. A martial, insistent, hypnotically rhythmic beat, the sound of a troupe of drums, percussive and shuffling, behind a typical Paul Simon lyric, ‘The Obvious Child‘. The name of the troupe of drummers was Grupo Olodum. Olodum and Pelhourino have become inseparable since the founding of the former in on April 25th 1979, in Pelhourino, the centre of old Salvador. Olodum means ‘The God of Gods’ or ‘The Supreme God’ in Yorubß. Although music fans may know Olodum as a band, they are, in fact, much more than that. They are a social and a cultural movement. . .
-Stewart Clegg
Samar takes note of a couple of interesting things Michael does in this video:
@2.00 He sings the lines “Black man, blackmail (although this is transcribed as ‘black male’ in the official lyrics – probably for legal reasons)” while giving the Black Power salute
@2.35 He sings “The government don’t wanna see” and gives a Nazi-salute while saying the word ‘government‘
Sadly, the founder of Olodum, Neguinho do Samba, also left us in 2009 and has now joined Michael in spirit. From Wikipedia:
Neguinho do Samba (? – October 31, 2009), whose real name was Antonio Luis Alves de Souza, was a Brazilian percussionist and musician. Samba was the founder of Olodum, an internationally known cultural group based in Salvador, Brazil.[1] Samba, a resident of Pelourinho, was considered to be the “father” of samba reggae in Bahia.[2]
Neguinho do Samba died of heart failure on October 31, 2009, at the age of 54.[1] Samba was buried in the Jardim da Saudade cemetery in Salvador.[2]
Source: http://www.mjj-777.com
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson - Smile - Compliation of his most beautiful smiles
The video contains a compilation of Michael's gorgeous smile, through the years.
A mischievous smile, a happy smile, a sad smile, an innocent smile and a shy smile.
Oh Mike, loving you more and more each day.
The video contains a compilation of Michael's gorgeous smile, through the years.
A mischievous smile, a happy smile, a sad smile, an innocent smile and a shy smile.
Oh Mike, loving you more and more each day.
Ashtanga
Proud Member
Messages and Symbolism beyond the Obvious in 'They Don't Care About Us'
Brazil!!!!!!!!!!
:heart:Michael Jackson - Smile - Compliation of his most beautiful smiles
The video contains a compilation of Michael's gorgeous smile, through the years.
A mischievous smile, a happy smile, a sad smile, an innocent smile and a shy smile.
Oh Mike, loving you more and more each day.
MJJLaugh
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- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
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Michael Jackson and Floetry : Butterflies
[size=-1]Posted by Alicia Michele Benjamin at 6/26/2009 10:35:00 PM[/size]
Michael Jackson's passing has inspired me, along with millions of others I'm sure, to do a mental tally of my favorites by the gloved one.
My top two are: "Butterflies" and "Remember the Time."
Then I remembered that Jackson didn't actually write "Butterflies" -- Marsha Ambrosius, one half of the former group Floetry, wrote the song.
Here's the story of how Jackson discovered the song and made it his own, according to Songfacts.com:
Marsha Ambrosius of the English Neo-Soul duo Floetry wrote this ballad when she was still at school. She and her Floetry colleague Natalie Stewart ... met Jackson through John McClain, DreamWorks's senior urban executive, who also manages Jackson. MJ heard this song and decided he wanted to record it.
Jackson invited the two Floetry girls to the studio and asked for their input on the recording of the song. Natalie Stewart of Floetry told Yahoo: "It was incredible because he asked, he continually, asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for? He was so open."
Marsha Ambrosius told Yahoo that it took a few minutes for her to calm down. She recalled: "To begin with, I was kinda shook. Because you don't realize how you're going to feel until you're put in that kind of situation. I had the tears in my eyes and got kinda nervous. But as I got into it, I realized it was work, it was a job. I had to vocally conduct a legend."
Ambrosius told VH1 that Stewart had a dream that the two girls were in a limo with Michael. She continued, "He was singing a song and it was like, 'Oh, I like that song.' A year later, we're in the studio cutting 'Butterflies' with Michael Jackson."
A year after this appeared on Invincible, Floetry's original version was included as a bonus track on the English version of their debut album Floetic.
Michael Jackson has said that this is his favorite song on the album.
Source: http://cappuccinosoul.blogspot.com/2009/06/michael-jacksons-passing-has-inspired.html
[size=-1]Posted by Alicia Michele Benjamin at 6/26/2009 10:35:00 PM[/size]
Michael Jackson's passing has inspired me, along with millions of others I'm sure, to do a mental tally of my favorites by the gloved one.
My top two are: "Butterflies" and "Remember the Time."
Then I remembered that Jackson didn't actually write "Butterflies" -- Marsha Ambrosius, one half of the former group Floetry, wrote the song.
Here's the story of how Jackson discovered the song and made it his own, according to Songfacts.com:
Marsha Ambrosius of the English Neo-Soul duo Floetry wrote this ballad when she was still at school. She and her Floetry colleague Natalie Stewart ... met Jackson through John McClain, DreamWorks's senior urban executive, who also manages Jackson. MJ heard this song and decided he wanted to record it.
Jackson invited the two Floetry girls to the studio and asked for their input on the recording of the song. Natalie Stewart of Floetry told Yahoo: "It was incredible because he asked, he continually, asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for? He was so open."
Marsha Ambrosius told Yahoo that it took a few minutes for her to calm down. She recalled: "To begin with, I was kinda shook. Because you don't realize how you're going to feel until you're put in that kind of situation. I had the tears in my eyes and got kinda nervous. But as I got into it, I realized it was work, it was a job. I had to vocally conduct a legend."
Ambrosius told VH1 that Stewart had a dream that the two girls were in a limo with Michael. She continued, "He was singing a song and it was like, 'Oh, I like that song.' A year later, we're in the studio cutting 'Butterflies' with Michael Jackson."
A year after this appeared on Invincible, Floetry's original version was included as a bonus track on the English version of their debut album Floetic.
Michael Jackson has said that this is his favorite song on the album.
Source: http://cappuccinosoul.blogspot.com/2009/06/michael-jacksons-passing-has-inspired.html
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson - Butterflies
This is the 7th song on the Invincible album.
All you gotta do is just walk away and pass me by
Don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you, yeah
And all you gotta do is not answer my calls when
I'm trying to get through
To keep me wondering why, when all I can do is sigh
I just wanna touch you
[Chorus]
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
All I gotta say is that I must be dreaming, can't be real
You're not here with me, still I can feel you near me
I caress you, let you taste us, just so blissful listen
I would give you anything baby, just make my dreams come true
Oh baby you give me butterflies
[Chorus]
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
If you would take my hand, baby I would show you
Guide you to the light babe
If you would be my love, baby I will love you, love you
'Til the end of time
[Chorus]
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
This is the 7th song on the Invincible album.
All you gotta do is just walk away and pass me by
Don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you, yeah
And all you gotta do is not answer my calls when
I'm trying to get through
To keep me wondering why, when all I can do is sigh
I just wanna touch you
[Chorus]
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
All I gotta say is that I must be dreaming, can't be real
You're not here with me, still I can feel you near me
I caress you, let you taste us, just so blissful listen
I would give you anything baby, just make my dreams come true
Oh baby you give me butterflies
[Chorus]
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
If you would take my hand, baby I would show you
Guide you to the light babe
If you would be my love, baby I will love you, love you
'Til the end of time
[Chorus]
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
windy09
Proud Member
MJJLaugh, these are wonderful. Please keep posting. Let's just say that my box of Kleenex is empty. :mello:
Ashtanga
Proud Member
Lovely story. :wub:Michael Jackson and Floetry : Butterflies
[SIZE=-1]Posted by Alicia Michele Benjamin at 6/26/2009 10:35:00 PM[/SIZE]
Michael Jackson's passing has inspired me, along with millions of others I'm sure, to do a mental tally of my favorites by the gloved one.
My top two are: "Butterflies" and "Remember the Time."
Then I remembered that Jackson didn't actually write "Butterflies" -- Marsha Ambrosius, one half of the former group Floetry, wrote the song.
Here's the story of how Jackson discovered the song and made it his own, according to Songfacts.com:
Marsha Ambrosius of the English Neo-Soul duo Floetry wrote this ballad when she was still at school. She and her Floetry colleague Natalie Stewart ... met Jackson through John McClain, DreamWorks's senior urban executive, who also manages Jackson. MJ heard this song and decided he wanted to record it.
Jackson invited the two Floetry girls to the studio and asked for their input on the recording of the song. Natalie Stewart of Floetry told Yahoo: "It was incredible because he asked, he continually, asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for? He was so open."
Marsha Ambrosius told Yahoo that it took a few minutes for her to calm down. She recalled: "To begin with, I was kinda shook. Because you don't realize how you're going to feel until you're put in that kind of situation. I had the tears in my eyes and got kinda nervous. But as I got into it, I realized it was work, it was a job. I had to vocally conduct a legend."
Ambrosius told VH1 that Stewart had a dream that the two girls were in a limo with Michael. She continued, "He was singing a song and it was like, 'Oh, I like that song.' A year later, we're in the studio cutting 'Butterflies' with Michael Jackson."
A year after this appeared on Invincible, Floetry's original version was included as a bonus track on the English version of their debut album Floetic.
Michael Jackson has said that this is his favorite song on the album.
Source: http://cappuccinosoul.blogspot.com/2009/06/michael-jacksons-passing-has-inspired.html
MJJLaugh
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Will You Be There - Ode to Song
Michael Jackson first revealed Will You Be There to the world when it featured as the eleventh song on his 1991 album release 'Dangerous'. Penned solely by Michael at the height of his career, this initial 7 minutes and 40 seconds version of the song became an instant favourite of fans the world over.
The first time I heard Will You Be There, I was captivated by the intensity of emotion conveyed by Michael in both his voice and lyrics. I can still remember sitting at eight years old, engrossed in writing out the lyrics over and over again in an attempt to decipher Michael's true intent behind these profoundly impassioned, almost haunting words.
From its opening segment featuring Beethoven's Ode to Joy and choral introduction by the Andrae Crouch singers to its emotionally exhausting finale, the song mesmerizes its listener from start to finish. It is this incredibly captivating effect which has inspired me to write this tribute piece. I do not feel the song has ever received the credit it unquestionably deserves, nor been truly revered outside the Michael Jackson fan circle for its incontestable excellence.
In this written tribute, I am going to share with you some facts, opinions and theories behind what is doubtless in my mind the greatest song of all time: Will You Be There.
The Facts:
------------------------------
After sitting on the Dangerous album for almost two years, Michael decided to release Will You Be There as a single in July 1993 to coincide with the release of the Warner Brothers film 'Free Willy'. The song became the theme tune to the movie telling the story of an unbreakable friendship between a young boy and a killer whale. Two versions of a video were released to accompany the single - the principle version featuring shots of Michael on his Dangerous world tour interlaced with shots of his appearance on MTV's 10th anniversary awards show; on both occasions performing this song. The second version featured accompanying outtakes from Free Willy and later featured as bonus material on the movie's DVD release. The videos first aired in May 1993 and were directed by Vincent Paterson - who would later direct the video for Michael's 'Blood On The Dance Floor' - and produced by Joel Gallen and Ute Leonhardt.
As a single release, Will You Be There achieved great success as it reached number 11 in the UK, sold over 500, 000 copies in the USA and was certified gold. It also reached #1 on the MTV Eurochart. The single was available in CD, LP and cassette format, the LP format featuring its own collectors edition poster bag. The chosen B-side to accompany the single was the song 'Girlfriend' from Michael's Off The Wall album. The most notable difference between the single and album versions of the song is the omission of the Beethoven segment as the song's prelude.
Michael wrote and produced Will You Be There - with co-producing credits going to Bruce Swedien - and orchestrated the rhythm and vocal arrangements. Featured instruments are noted as piano, synthesizer, keyboard, drums, and percussion. In 2002 he told an ITV documentary it was written at his Neverland ranch, in what he calls his Giving Tree: "I've written so many of my songs in this tree. I wrote... Will You Be There..." (Living with Michael Jackson, aired Feb 2003).
The 1994 MTV Movie Awards pronounced Will You Be There 'Best Song' for its accompaniment to Free Willy. To date, Michael has performed this song only on the Dangerous tour, MTV's 10th anniversary show, and very briefly at the NAACP Image Awards in 1993.
A complimentary review of Will You Be There follows:
"Having dipped his toe in the turgid pool of heavy metal he plunges headlong into inspirational gospel. A choral arrangement lifted from a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony by the Cleveland Orchestra opens this BIG track (and resulted in a $7 m lawsuit against Jackson, his MJJ Productions company and Epic - which Sony settled out of court). Later copies of the album and CD which credit Ludwig van B's part in the track. Again, the tune and arrangement have familiar progressions but his voicing against the full might of the Crouch Choir is unexpectedly passionate. A gospel album might have great artistic rewards. He ends the track with a spoken prayer which will have considerable resonance during the next few years. Two "special" versions of the song appeared on the soundtrack to the Free Willy, a movie about a boy and his friend, the Killer Whale."
- Complete Guide to the Music Of Michael Jackson & the Jackson Family, Geoff Brown (1996)
As mentioned in the above quote, the song brought with it its fair share of legal issues. First was the omission of any credit to the Beethoven piece in the Dangerous album booklet, resulting in a massive lawsuit from Beethoven's camp filed against the above-mentioned parties. Secondly, in 1992, a little-known singer named Albano Carrisi filed a lawsuit accusing Michael of copying his 'I Cigni di Balaka' ('The Swans of Balaka') song, a suit which in total would last seven years. In 1997 an Italian lower court ruled against Carrisi, which he followed up with an appeal. On November 3rd 1999, a civil court in Milan rejected his appeal, confirming the lower court's judgement in favour of Michael and ordering Carrisi to pay legal expenses to both Michael and Sony.
Michael also wrote an extended version of Will You Be There for his book 'Dancing The Dream' (released June 18, 2002), which carried new additional lines towards the end of the song. This longer version will be shown and compared to the original at the end of this page. An interesting question would be whether this was in fact the original version of the song which had been condensed for the album, or if the 'new' verses were simply added at a later date for the book.
The Song:
------------------------------
The greatest reason for my deciding to analyse Will You Be There stemmed from my realisation that no one, not even myself, truly knew the meaning waiting to be discovered between its lines. Most commonly classified as a love song, the lyrics speak of an intense, at times desperate longing for affection - but from whom? Rarely spoken of by Michael himself, Will You Be There carries a message seeming almost to lie dormant in the ears of the listener - a song felt but never completely understood by its fans.
This message I hope to at least partly decipher in these following pages. Perhaps one day Michael will unlock the secrets of the song, but until that day Will You Be There will forever remain an unsolved mystery to even its most devout fans.
Before attempting to analyse the possibilities, I feel it is important to have truly heard this song. The emotion of the music - the anguish, the despair and incredible sadness. The effects Michael uses both musically and vocally play a crucial part in the song's message and its perception to the listener. There is no doubt, if nothing else, it certainly draws the listener in to an incredible degree of empathy towards Michael as both singer and author, as detailed below.
The dual introduction with Beethoven and Andrae Crouch immediately sets the tone for the song; the spiritual intensity of the voices demonstrating right from the beginning that this will be no ordinary Michael Jackson song.
The first verses are sung slowly, in tones deeper than those Michael usually employs - possibly to signify the depth and rawness of the emotion. The slow delivery of the lines ensures the point is laboured - the despair and yearning evident in his voice throughout.
The bridge of: "everyone's taking control of me," takes on a more intense, more desperate resonance - Michael's punching out of the lyrics demonstrating the anger and helplessness he feels at his situation, whatever that may be.
Throughout the entire song, Michael's vulnerability is evident, the Andrae Crouch singers coming in in the background to support him as he repeats lines such as "carry me" and "hold me" continuously.
Confused and frustrated, he similarly punches out the line "but they told me," again, to show the listener just how alone he truly feels. At this point, his voice begins to sound harsher and more angry as if he feels truly helpless and lost, as if he simply does not know how to be the person he feels he should.
At times, such as the line, "when lost will you find me," Michael uses two layers of his voice - possibly to convey the mix of emotions. The two voices merge together in unison, resulting in a more poignant delivery of the selected lines.
Gradually, as the song proceeds, Michael's voice gets more and more impassioned as he sings louder and with increased intensity, pulling in the listener and forcing them to pay attention to what he has to say while the choir support him relentlessly in the background, emphasising every word.
Just as the song reaches its climax, it falls back and releases the listener from its grip. The beat softens and the choir chorus more slowly, before Michael begins to softly speak. In a faltering, unsteady but determined voice, Michael pleads with the listener for their empathy and support, regardless of what the future may bring.
The most significant part of the song is undoubtedly the closing lines, when Michael's voice starts to break as he begins to lose control, culminating in his speaking the last line through tears. The song closes with the emotion still hanging in the air, as palpable as the reassuring beat steadying it throughout.
The Theories:
------------------------------
The three hypotheses I have conceived are as follows. Either the song is 1) a hidden prayer - a hymnal manifestation of Michael's religious ideals, or 2) an anthem aimed at his fans - the very people who would most likely connect with its message, or finally, as assumed by so many for so long, 3) it is simply a love song and nothing more. The second is the theory most commonly believed by Michael's fans, the latter by the music industry and the first has never fully been considered to my knowledge.
Theory 1
There are a number of clues I feel point to the possibility that this song could actually be intended as a message to God himself. Deeply religious, Michael has frequently spoken of his feelings towards God and his seeing Him in everything he does and is it my belief Will You Be There could be a heightened elaboration of some of those feelings.
"I wrote Will You Be There at my house in California.... I didn't think about it hard. That's why it's hard to take credit for the songs that I write, because I just always feel that it's done from above. I feel fortunate for being that instrument through which music flows. I'm just the source through which it comes. I can't take credit for it because it's God's work. He's just using me as the messenger."
- Ebony Magazine, 1992
The full seven-minute version of the song as it appears on the Dangerous album begins with a sampling of Beethoven's 9th Symphony - "Ode To Joy" - a song which speaks of the creator and his subjects on earth:
"Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such ihn überm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen."
("Do you come crashing down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creators presence, world?
Seek Him above the starry firmament,
For above the stars he surely dwells.")
It is curious in my opinion why a love song would feature such an introduction.
The introduction and opening notes of Michael's song itself begins, as previously mentioned, with a gospel style choral song by the Andrae Crouch choir, reminiscent of the chords sung on innumerate church hymns, further indication of the song's spiritual intentions.
The lyrics themselves commence with the line, "hold me like the river Jordan." This river is highly significant in biblical tales as the river between Syria and Israel where Jesus himself, as well as the people of Jerusalem and Judea, were baptised by John. According to the bible after Jesus' baptism, heaven opened above the river and God appeared in the image of a dove.
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilea to the Jordan unto John, to be baptised of him... And Jesus, when he was baptised, went up straightaway from the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him".
Matthew 3:13
The use of the word "thee" in the line, "I will then say to thee," is also indicative of the God-like inference and the possibility that Michael was in fact using this song as some form of outlet, perhaps for religious frustration.
There is no doubt the undertone of Will You Be There is a deeply spiritual one. I wonder, in the vein of my first theory: could the words "carry me", repeated throughout, be reminiscent of Saint Christopher carrying the child Jesus across the great river?
The use of the religious theme can also be seen in the song's video - the dance routine encompasses prayer-like interaction between Michael and his dancers, especially as at one point they lift him above their heads and gather round him, almost as if they are raising him up as a god among them. At the end of the video, as Michael recites the spoken verse which closes the song, an angel descends from above and wraps her arms around him, ending the video.
Overall, in my opinion, there is sufficient evidence this song could indeed have been written by Michael to serve as a personal address to God.
Theory 2
Another theory, and the one most commonly believed by those it relates to, is that the song serves as a message to Michael's fans. The reasons supporting this are endless - the very title of the song, written at the height of his popularity, appears to set the tone for Michael's first musical statement to his followers, a theme which would be repeated by him in the future on various offerings.
The lyrics are a clear message that Michael is looking for unconditional love - the question is, from whom? He is at times almost begging the listener to support and care for him, rendering it impossible not to be inflicted with even slight sympathy for his apparent plight.
The bridge of: "everyone's taking control of me, seems that the world's got a role for me, I'm so confused," can surely only be referring to his overwhelming and, at times no doubt unbearable, lifestyle. Constantly deified and adored by millions, here he seems to be relaying just how this feels for him, and his longing to be seen as a person by his droves of smothering followers. This longing is most obviously demonstrated by the lines, "but they told me a man should be faithful and walk when not able, and fight to the end but I'm only human".
No one is more aware of how he is perceived by the world than Michael himself. Fans, media and critics seem simply to go crazy over him - he can do nothing, go nowhere. Looking at the song from the point of view that it was written to fans, it becomes glaringly obvious that this song is a cry for help, especially as Michael knows only too well the people most sensitive to its pleas would be the very fans themselves.
A further sign of this song possibly being written to the fans is the method in which it is sung - the choice of words used to convey his longing. The line: "but they told me," begs the question - who exactly is being referred to here? This line could be another hidden message regarding his fame - the word "they" implying those around him, coaching and teaching him, have advised him he must be a certain way, and this is his attempt at breaking free from the suffocating limitations impressed upon him.
Michael further demonstrates this in lines such as, "lift me up slowly, softly then boldly," almost as if he is relying on the love of his fans to keep himself together, showing his vulnerability and possible desire for reassurance that the fans truly love him and will be strong and defiant in that love.
The portion of the song which cements this particular theory in the fans' minds is the spoken verse at the end. In his entire career, there has surely been no clearer message to his fans than the words he so painfully relates as Will You Be There draws to a close. Michael's choosing to speak, as opposed to sing, the lyrics acts as a method of relating more intimately with the listener, giving the listener a more personal slant to the song which ultimately enables Michael to portray the image of his humanity far more effectively. No longer the entertainer, he speaks clearly and slowly, pleading with the listener simply to hear him. The questions he asks in this closing sequence surround the many possibilities which Michael feels his life may lead him to - the chance that he may fail, he may disappoint, he may just turn out to be only human after all.
He tearfully ends this spoken verse by saying that through all the sorrow and pain, things will always get better. His promise of "another tomorrow" suggests a message to the fans that he will always be there, just as he is begging them to be there for him now. The last few lines of the verse are almost a promise of eternity; that his love will continue forever in their hearts.
A side note on this spoken verse is the spookily prophetic inclusion of the words, "in my trials and my tribulations, through our doubts and frustrations" - an interesting choice of words since mere months later he would face the biggest trial of his life in the 1993 allegations - filed the same year the song was released.
Theory 3
The final theory I have encountered of the meaning behind this song is that it is written to a lover. This realisation first occurred to me many years ago when I saw advertised an upcoming album compilation of great love songs. Will You Be There was included, which greatly surprised me at the time, as I had frankly never considered the lyrics to be indicative of that particular mode of love.
In analysing the song for this piece and in speaking to a number of fans, I can see now how it could be perceived as such a love song.
Requests such as, "hold me, carry me, love me," appear to be clear requests for someone to play a major part in his life. My personal theory, assuming this is indeed perceived as a love song, is that Michael has written this to a fictitious lover; an illusion he has fashioned in his mind as the perfect love - something Michael Jackson appears to have been searching for all his life. This song seems to signify all the questions he has in his mind about this love he has created, and whether it really exists as honestly as he needs it to.
He is clearly vulnerable, reaching out for someone to take care of him. The line, "carry me there" - evokes a similar question to those asked above - to where is he wishing to be carried? Could it be to a place of safety or, as per this final theory, love?
Alternately, the line, "but I'm only human," could be a sign that he can no longer cope with the trials of life alone. Similarly with the line, "I get lonely," which is sung over the lyrics twice and an interesting statement for inclusion in the consideration of the theory being explored here.
In the spoken outro, Michael promises, "I'll never let you part," at which point his voice begins to break. Of course, this could be applied to whichever theory you choose to believe, but it is in my opinion most believable this is directed to the love he so desperately craves. Perhaps here he is stating how if this fantasy love figure were in fact to support and love him, he would reciprocate this by ensuring such a love remained in his heart forever.
The extended version of the song features lyrics such as, "needing you only," "heal me and bathe me," "hug me and shield me," and, "face me and kiss me." In my opinion, there is no clearer explanation for these lines than their intended inference towards a lover, as they can surely not be applied to any other theory offered in this piece.
The inclusion - and amendment - of Will You Be There in the 'Dancing the Dream' poetry book mentioned earlier is also an interesting fact. It begs the simple question why, in a book of new and previously unreleased work, Michael would choose to include a song written years earlier, and why that same song would be Will You Be There. In a book filled with heartfelt and intense verses about love, Will You Be There sits proudly amongst them, with its newly added verses. These new verses are the strongest indication yet that this could easily be a love song. Without them, it can be about anything the listener chooses to believe, yet the added verses bring with them an entirely different angle to the song.
Conclusion:
------------------------------
Of course, analysing Will You Be There and Michael's true feelings portrayed through its lines is an endless task. Lines seemingly so innocent and simplistic upon first listen adopt a whole new perspective when studied in depth. Of course, only Michael himself truly knows the story behind Will You Be There and the message he was trying to convey, and until he decides to share that message with us it will no doubt remain forever undiscovered in all its cryptic glory.
A song can be heard in a multitude of alternate ways and a listener will always derive all varieties of emotions from those ways. I personally think the song is about the emotion of love itself, and the variety of forms love can take. As I have attempted to portray in these pages, this love could be for God, fans or a lover - yet the possible intentions are endless.
In conclusion, I personally believe as long as you go wherever your heart leads you with Will You Be There, Michael's message has been communicated exactly as he intended, and he has achieved everything he set out to in the penning of this breathtaking and exceptional ballad.
- L.J. Sheridan © 2005
Source: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/michael-jackson/articles/23576/title/will-ode-song
Michael Jackson first revealed Will You Be There to the world when it featured as the eleventh song on his 1991 album release 'Dangerous'. Penned solely by Michael at the height of his career, this initial 7 minutes and 40 seconds version of the song became an instant favourite of fans the world over.
The first time I heard Will You Be There, I was captivated by the intensity of emotion conveyed by Michael in both his voice and lyrics. I can still remember sitting at eight years old, engrossed in writing out the lyrics over and over again in an attempt to decipher Michael's true intent behind these profoundly impassioned, almost haunting words.
From its opening segment featuring Beethoven's Ode to Joy and choral introduction by the Andrae Crouch singers to its emotionally exhausting finale, the song mesmerizes its listener from start to finish. It is this incredibly captivating effect which has inspired me to write this tribute piece. I do not feel the song has ever received the credit it unquestionably deserves, nor been truly revered outside the Michael Jackson fan circle for its incontestable excellence.
In this written tribute, I am going to share with you some facts, opinions and theories behind what is doubtless in my mind the greatest song of all time: Will You Be There.
The Facts:
------------------------------
After sitting on the Dangerous album for almost two years, Michael decided to release Will You Be There as a single in July 1993 to coincide with the release of the Warner Brothers film 'Free Willy'. The song became the theme tune to the movie telling the story of an unbreakable friendship between a young boy and a killer whale. Two versions of a video were released to accompany the single - the principle version featuring shots of Michael on his Dangerous world tour interlaced with shots of his appearance on MTV's 10th anniversary awards show; on both occasions performing this song. The second version featured accompanying outtakes from Free Willy and later featured as bonus material on the movie's DVD release. The videos first aired in May 1993 and were directed by Vincent Paterson - who would later direct the video for Michael's 'Blood On The Dance Floor' - and produced by Joel Gallen and Ute Leonhardt.
As a single release, Will You Be There achieved great success as it reached number 11 in the UK, sold over 500, 000 copies in the USA and was certified gold. It also reached #1 on the MTV Eurochart. The single was available in CD, LP and cassette format, the LP format featuring its own collectors edition poster bag. The chosen B-side to accompany the single was the song 'Girlfriend' from Michael's Off The Wall album. The most notable difference between the single and album versions of the song is the omission of the Beethoven segment as the song's prelude.
Michael wrote and produced Will You Be There - with co-producing credits going to Bruce Swedien - and orchestrated the rhythm and vocal arrangements. Featured instruments are noted as piano, synthesizer, keyboard, drums, and percussion. In 2002 he told an ITV documentary it was written at his Neverland ranch, in what he calls his Giving Tree: "I've written so many of my songs in this tree. I wrote... Will You Be There..." (Living with Michael Jackson, aired Feb 2003).
The 1994 MTV Movie Awards pronounced Will You Be There 'Best Song' for its accompaniment to Free Willy. To date, Michael has performed this song only on the Dangerous tour, MTV's 10th anniversary show, and very briefly at the NAACP Image Awards in 1993.
A complimentary review of Will You Be There follows:
"Having dipped his toe in the turgid pool of heavy metal he plunges headlong into inspirational gospel. A choral arrangement lifted from a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony by the Cleveland Orchestra opens this BIG track (and resulted in a $7 m lawsuit against Jackson, his MJJ Productions company and Epic - which Sony settled out of court). Later copies of the album and CD which credit Ludwig van B's part in the track. Again, the tune and arrangement have familiar progressions but his voicing against the full might of the Crouch Choir is unexpectedly passionate. A gospel album might have great artistic rewards. He ends the track with a spoken prayer which will have considerable resonance during the next few years. Two "special" versions of the song appeared on the soundtrack to the Free Willy, a movie about a boy and his friend, the Killer Whale."
- Complete Guide to the Music Of Michael Jackson & the Jackson Family, Geoff Brown (1996)
As mentioned in the above quote, the song brought with it its fair share of legal issues. First was the omission of any credit to the Beethoven piece in the Dangerous album booklet, resulting in a massive lawsuit from Beethoven's camp filed against the above-mentioned parties. Secondly, in 1992, a little-known singer named Albano Carrisi filed a lawsuit accusing Michael of copying his 'I Cigni di Balaka' ('The Swans of Balaka') song, a suit which in total would last seven years. In 1997 an Italian lower court ruled against Carrisi, which he followed up with an appeal. On November 3rd 1999, a civil court in Milan rejected his appeal, confirming the lower court's judgement in favour of Michael and ordering Carrisi to pay legal expenses to both Michael and Sony.
Michael also wrote an extended version of Will You Be There for his book 'Dancing The Dream' (released June 18, 2002), which carried new additional lines towards the end of the song. This longer version will be shown and compared to the original at the end of this page. An interesting question would be whether this was in fact the original version of the song which had been condensed for the album, or if the 'new' verses were simply added at a later date for the book.
The Song:
------------------------------
The greatest reason for my deciding to analyse Will You Be There stemmed from my realisation that no one, not even myself, truly knew the meaning waiting to be discovered between its lines. Most commonly classified as a love song, the lyrics speak of an intense, at times desperate longing for affection - but from whom? Rarely spoken of by Michael himself, Will You Be There carries a message seeming almost to lie dormant in the ears of the listener - a song felt but never completely understood by its fans.
This message I hope to at least partly decipher in these following pages. Perhaps one day Michael will unlock the secrets of the song, but until that day Will You Be There will forever remain an unsolved mystery to even its most devout fans.
Before attempting to analyse the possibilities, I feel it is important to have truly heard this song. The emotion of the music - the anguish, the despair and incredible sadness. The effects Michael uses both musically and vocally play a crucial part in the song's message and its perception to the listener. There is no doubt, if nothing else, it certainly draws the listener in to an incredible degree of empathy towards Michael as both singer and author, as detailed below.
The dual introduction with Beethoven and Andrae Crouch immediately sets the tone for the song; the spiritual intensity of the voices demonstrating right from the beginning that this will be no ordinary Michael Jackson song.
The first verses are sung slowly, in tones deeper than those Michael usually employs - possibly to signify the depth and rawness of the emotion. The slow delivery of the lines ensures the point is laboured - the despair and yearning evident in his voice throughout.
The bridge of: "everyone's taking control of me," takes on a more intense, more desperate resonance - Michael's punching out of the lyrics demonstrating the anger and helplessness he feels at his situation, whatever that may be.
Throughout the entire song, Michael's vulnerability is evident, the Andrae Crouch singers coming in in the background to support him as he repeats lines such as "carry me" and "hold me" continuously.
Confused and frustrated, he similarly punches out the line "but they told me," again, to show the listener just how alone he truly feels. At this point, his voice begins to sound harsher and more angry as if he feels truly helpless and lost, as if he simply does not know how to be the person he feels he should.
At times, such as the line, "when lost will you find me," Michael uses two layers of his voice - possibly to convey the mix of emotions. The two voices merge together in unison, resulting in a more poignant delivery of the selected lines.
Gradually, as the song proceeds, Michael's voice gets more and more impassioned as he sings louder and with increased intensity, pulling in the listener and forcing them to pay attention to what he has to say while the choir support him relentlessly in the background, emphasising every word.
Just as the song reaches its climax, it falls back and releases the listener from its grip. The beat softens and the choir chorus more slowly, before Michael begins to softly speak. In a faltering, unsteady but determined voice, Michael pleads with the listener for their empathy and support, regardless of what the future may bring.
The most significant part of the song is undoubtedly the closing lines, when Michael's voice starts to break as he begins to lose control, culminating in his speaking the last line through tears. The song closes with the emotion still hanging in the air, as palpable as the reassuring beat steadying it throughout.
The Theories:
------------------------------
The three hypotheses I have conceived are as follows. Either the song is 1) a hidden prayer - a hymnal manifestation of Michael's religious ideals, or 2) an anthem aimed at his fans - the very people who would most likely connect with its message, or finally, as assumed by so many for so long, 3) it is simply a love song and nothing more. The second is the theory most commonly believed by Michael's fans, the latter by the music industry and the first has never fully been considered to my knowledge.
Theory 1
There are a number of clues I feel point to the possibility that this song could actually be intended as a message to God himself. Deeply religious, Michael has frequently spoken of his feelings towards God and his seeing Him in everything he does and is it my belief Will You Be There could be a heightened elaboration of some of those feelings.
"I wrote Will You Be There at my house in California.... I didn't think about it hard. That's why it's hard to take credit for the songs that I write, because I just always feel that it's done from above. I feel fortunate for being that instrument through which music flows. I'm just the source through which it comes. I can't take credit for it because it's God's work. He's just using me as the messenger."
- Ebony Magazine, 1992
The full seven-minute version of the song as it appears on the Dangerous album begins with a sampling of Beethoven's 9th Symphony - "Ode To Joy" - a song which speaks of the creator and his subjects on earth:
"Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such ihn überm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen."
("Do you come crashing down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creators presence, world?
Seek Him above the starry firmament,
For above the stars he surely dwells.")
It is curious in my opinion why a love song would feature such an introduction.
The introduction and opening notes of Michael's song itself begins, as previously mentioned, with a gospel style choral song by the Andrae Crouch choir, reminiscent of the chords sung on innumerate church hymns, further indication of the song's spiritual intentions.
The lyrics themselves commence with the line, "hold me like the river Jordan." This river is highly significant in biblical tales as the river between Syria and Israel where Jesus himself, as well as the people of Jerusalem and Judea, were baptised by John. According to the bible after Jesus' baptism, heaven opened above the river and God appeared in the image of a dove.
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilea to the Jordan unto John, to be baptised of him... And Jesus, when he was baptised, went up straightaway from the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him".
Matthew 3:13
The use of the word "thee" in the line, "I will then say to thee," is also indicative of the God-like inference and the possibility that Michael was in fact using this song as some form of outlet, perhaps for religious frustration.
There is no doubt the undertone of Will You Be There is a deeply spiritual one. I wonder, in the vein of my first theory: could the words "carry me", repeated throughout, be reminiscent of Saint Christopher carrying the child Jesus across the great river?
The use of the religious theme can also be seen in the song's video - the dance routine encompasses prayer-like interaction between Michael and his dancers, especially as at one point they lift him above their heads and gather round him, almost as if they are raising him up as a god among them. At the end of the video, as Michael recites the spoken verse which closes the song, an angel descends from above and wraps her arms around him, ending the video.
Overall, in my opinion, there is sufficient evidence this song could indeed have been written by Michael to serve as a personal address to God.
Theory 2
Another theory, and the one most commonly believed by those it relates to, is that the song serves as a message to Michael's fans. The reasons supporting this are endless - the very title of the song, written at the height of his popularity, appears to set the tone for Michael's first musical statement to his followers, a theme which would be repeated by him in the future on various offerings.
The lyrics are a clear message that Michael is looking for unconditional love - the question is, from whom? He is at times almost begging the listener to support and care for him, rendering it impossible not to be inflicted with even slight sympathy for his apparent plight.
The bridge of: "everyone's taking control of me, seems that the world's got a role for me, I'm so confused," can surely only be referring to his overwhelming and, at times no doubt unbearable, lifestyle. Constantly deified and adored by millions, here he seems to be relaying just how this feels for him, and his longing to be seen as a person by his droves of smothering followers. This longing is most obviously demonstrated by the lines, "but they told me a man should be faithful and walk when not able, and fight to the end but I'm only human".
No one is more aware of how he is perceived by the world than Michael himself. Fans, media and critics seem simply to go crazy over him - he can do nothing, go nowhere. Looking at the song from the point of view that it was written to fans, it becomes glaringly obvious that this song is a cry for help, especially as Michael knows only too well the people most sensitive to its pleas would be the very fans themselves.
A further sign of this song possibly being written to the fans is the method in which it is sung - the choice of words used to convey his longing. The line: "but they told me," begs the question - who exactly is being referred to here? This line could be another hidden message regarding his fame - the word "they" implying those around him, coaching and teaching him, have advised him he must be a certain way, and this is his attempt at breaking free from the suffocating limitations impressed upon him.
Michael further demonstrates this in lines such as, "lift me up slowly, softly then boldly," almost as if he is relying on the love of his fans to keep himself together, showing his vulnerability and possible desire for reassurance that the fans truly love him and will be strong and defiant in that love.
The portion of the song which cements this particular theory in the fans' minds is the spoken verse at the end. In his entire career, there has surely been no clearer message to his fans than the words he so painfully relates as Will You Be There draws to a close. Michael's choosing to speak, as opposed to sing, the lyrics acts as a method of relating more intimately with the listener, giving the listener a more personal slant to the song which ultimately enables Michael to portray the image of his humanity far more effectively. No longer the entertainer, he speaks clearly and slowly, pleading with the listener simply to hear him. The questions he asks in this closing sequence surround the many possibilities which Michael feels his life may lead him to - the chance that he may fail, he may disappoint, he may just turn out to be only human after all.
He tearfully ends this spoken verse by saying that through all the sorrow and pain, things will always get better. His promise of "another tomorrow" suggests a message to the fans that he will always be there, just as he is begging them to be there for him now. The last few lines of the verse are almost a promise of eternity; that his love will continue forever in their hearts.
A side note on this spoken verse is the spookily prophetic inclusion of the words, "in my trials and my tribulations, through our doubts and frustrations" - an interesting choice of words since mere months later he would face the biggest trial of his life in the 1993 allegations - filed the same year the song was released.
Theory 3
The final theory I have encountered of the meaning behind this song is that it is written to a lover. This realisation first occurred to me many years ago when I saw advertised an upcoming album compilation of great love songs. Will You Be There was included, which greatly surprised me at the time, as I had frankly never considered the lyrics to be indicative of that particular mode of love.
In analysing the song for this piece and in speaking to a number of fans, I can see now how it could be perceived as such a love song.
Requests such as, "hold me, carry me, love me," appear to be clear requests for someone to play a major part in his life. My personal theory, assuming this is indeed perceived as a love song, is that Michael has written this to a fictitious lover; an illusion he has fashioned in his mind as the perfect love - something Michael Jackson appears to have been searching for all his life. This song seems to signify all the questions he has in his mind about this love he has created, and whether it really exists as honestly as he needs it to.
He is clearly vulnerable, reaching out for someone to take care of him. The line, "carry me there" - evokes a similar question to those asked above - to where is he wishing to be carried? Could it be to a place of safety or, as per this final theory, love?
Alternately, the line, "but I'm only human," could be a sign that he can no longer cope with the trials of life alone. Similarly with the line, "I get lonely," which is sung over the lyrics twice and an interesting statement for inclusion in the consideration of the theory being explored here.
In the spoken outro, Michael promises, "I'll never let you part," at which point his voice begins to break. Of course, this could be applied to whichever theory you choose to believe, but it is in my opinion most believable this is directed to the love he so desperately craves. Perhaps here he is stating how if this fantasy love figure were in fact to support and love him, he would reciprocate this by ensuring such a love remained in his heart forever.
The extended version of the song features lyrics such as, "needing you only," "heal me and bathe me," "hug me and shield me," and, "face me and kiss me." In my opinion, there is no clearer explanation for these lines than their intended inference towards a lover, as they can surely not be applied to any other theory offered in this piece.
The inclusion - and amendment - of Will You Be There in the 'Dancing the Dream' poetry book mentioned earlier is also an interesting fact. It begs the simple question why, in a book of new and previously unreleased work, Michael would choose to include a song written years earlier, and why that same song would be Will You Be There. In a book filled with heartfelt and intense verses about love, Will You Be There sits proudly amongst them, with its newly added verses. These new verses are the strongest indication yet that this could easily be a love song. Without them, it can be about anything the listener chooses to believe, yet the added verses bring with them an entirely different angle to the song.
Conclusion:
------------------------------
Of course, analysing Will You Be There and Michael's true feelings portrayed through its lines is an endless task. Lines seemingly so innocent and simplistic upon first listen adopt a whole new perspective when studied in depth. Of course, only Michael himself truly knows the story behind Will You Be There and the message he was trying to convey, and until he decides to share that message with us it will no doubt remain forever undiscovered in all its cryptic glory.
A song can be heard in a multitude of alternate ways and a listener will always derive all varieties of emotions from those ways. I personally think the song is about the emotion of love itself, and the variety of forms love can take. As I have attempted to portray in these pages, this love could be for God, fans or a lover - yet the possible intentions are endless.
In conclusion, I personally believe as long as you go wherever your heart leads you with Will You Be There, Michael's message has been communicated exactly as he intended, and he has achieved everything he set out to in the penning of this breathtaking and exceptional ballad.
- L.J. Sheridan © 2005
Source: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/michael-jackson/articles/23576/title/will-ode-song
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PaceMioDolceCuore
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Oh my goodness, I have bought this as a single release when it first came out as a single in the stores...together with the single release of "Gone to soon". Everything else I bought on tapes or LPs, but exactly that single release I bought on a CD...way back it seems. The CD still carries the original sticker before the introduction of the Euro... I brought this CD with me in 2007 because it never moved with me. Now I'm so glad to hold this precious CD, it might not be "worth" a million, but to me it's an ultimate memento... *sniff*
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson - Will You Be There
This is the performance videoclip of Will You Be There. I have been intrigued by the meaning behind the little black kid doing some form of sign language. My theory is that Michael voices not only his own hurts and fears, but he gives a voice to those who cannot voice their fear and hurt. The children of the world who are mistreated, who are too young, who aren't loved, who do not have a home. They are included in this spiritual prayer-song. Included in his unconditional love for children and mankind.
Perpetuum Jazzile - Will You Be There (Michael Jackson) - Ecce quomodo moritur iustus
This video contains a fascinating mix of a renaissance masterpiece, composed by the Slovanian composer Iacobus Gallus Carniolus, at the beginning and end of the video with Michael Jackson's 'Will You Be There' in the middle of the video.
This is the performance videoclip of Will You Be There. I have been intrigued by the meaning behind the little black kid doing some form of sign language. My theory is that Michael voices not only his own hurts and fears, but he gives a voice to those who cannot voice their fear and hurt. The children of the world who are mistreated, who are too young, who aren't loved, who do not have a home. They are included in this spiritual prayer-song. Included in his unconditional love for children and mankind.
Perpetuum Jazzile - Will You Be There (Michael Jackson) - Ecce quomodo moritur iustus
This video contains a fascinating mix of a renaissance masterpiece, composed by the Slovanian composer Iacobus Gallus Carniolus, at the beginning and end of the video with Michael Jackson's 'Will You Be There' in the middle of the video.
PaceMioDolceCuore
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MJJLaugh, thank you...I loved the video if Pepeetum Jazzile. unk:
...gee, do they have an extra fund for all the mics?? :bugeyed That's a lot of mics, impressive...
unk:...gee, do they have an extra fund for all the mics?? :bugeyed
That's a lot of mics, impressive...MJJLaugh
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To Walk a Lifetime in Michael Jackson's Moccasins
You probably can't read the words in the note next to the accompanying photo of Michael Jackson, but they were handwritten by the singer himself during the mid 1990s when he was constantly on tour and just as constantly a subject of much public ridicule and condemnation. This note was composed on hotel stationery and, complete with original spellings, grammar, and format, reads as follows:
"like the old Indian proverb says do not judge a man until you've walked 2 moons in his moccasins.
Most people don't know me, that is why they write such things in wich most is not true
I cry very very often because it hurts and I worry about the children all my children all over the world, I live for them.
If a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written.
Animals strike, not from malice, but because they want to live, it is the same with those who criticize, they desire our blood, not our pain. But still I must achieve I must seek truth in all things. I must endure for the power I was sent forth, for the world for the children.
But have mercy, for I've been bleeding a long time now."
M.J. (circa 1995)
It's hard to think of Michael Joseph Jackson as having been a baby boomer because nothing defined him quite so much as his music, and his music possesses the eternal quality of genius that makes all superior art timeless, ageless, and endlessly compelling. But a baby boomer he was, born August 29, 1958, and now gone so soon to his rest June 25, 2009.
Reporting on Jackson's death just hours after it was confirmed, NBC News anchorman Lester Holt noted, "We were the same age. I remember being a ten-year-old watching this ten-year-old kid on television." A familiar feeling. I arrived on the planet one year before either of them but like Holt I also watched the young Michael Jackson on stage on television. My attention was fully captured with no desire to be released because there he was: a cultural mirror image of myself who was not the watermelon-eyed "Buckwheat" (all due respect to the actor who played that role) or a stereotypical barefoot "pickaninny" movie extra in some Gone With the Wind spin-off, but a little black boy musical genius so charged with the lightning of his talent and confidence that he could take the lead singer position with his four brothers behind him and an audience of thousands in front of him--and perform with all the grace, skill, and maturity of someone three times his age. How did that kid do that? Living as I did in a southern region where black skin and a male anatomy often reduced one's life expectancy by decades, the answer of how that kid did what he did was important to this future author.
Years later I considered the greater scope of what he had achieved. While the vast majority of those in our peer group at age eleven or twelve were at home evenings studying for a quiz in school the next day or building up nerve to steal a first kiss, Michael Jackson was working--working in clubs, working in theaters, working on television, working in concert halls, working working working his ass off. On how many continents, and in how many countries, was that child a stranger in a strange land? Yet one who repeatedly channeled gifts of song and dance and love to bring respites of celebrated joy to the lives of others? His labors as a child played no small role in laying a foundation of lasting wealth for what has been called America's "preeminent family of pop music." Later on, those labors would pull a lagging recording industry out of its deathbed slump, and jump-start a new industry art form known as video while trashing racial barriers on TV and radio in the process. Did that make him a saint? No. Does it make his memory one worthy of respect? Most definitely.
Not all "child prodigies" who exhibit the level of talent that Jackson did as a child tend to fulfill the promise of those gifts in their adulthood. He was one of those who did. Once his ambition led him to pursue and establish with phenomenal results a solo career, each year thereafter when birthdays came around (his in August, mine in July) I started studying what he had accomplished to date and would challenge myself to do better in my own career. That's not to say I ever did, or even that I thought I could or should match him; only that his accomplishments motivated me to reach for some of my own.
The judgments of different critics aside, he outdid himself repeatedly: with the flawless album Off the Wall in 1979; the all-time bestselling Thriller in 1982; Bad in 1987; and Dangerous in 1991. By the time Jackson's HIStory-Past, Present and Future, Book I was released in 1995, I was managing a multi-media book, video, software and music store, which allowed me to indulge the pleasure of dancing along to the album's combination of anthology and new music while shelving and selling books. True, I was dancing to his life's soundtrack rather than my own and another three years would pass before my first book would get published. But: I celebrated this last album (not the last of his career) in particular because it was the first one released after the singer had descended into the tar-thick shadow-side of celebrity-hood: constant hounding by the paparazzi, reportedly "bizarre" behavior bordering on insanity, and allegations of pedophilia. The fact that his fame had become his cross made me less envious that he had achieved it so early.
Yet in the album HIStory, the purity of the music declared that whatever might or might not be the truth behind the scandalous headlines, all had somehow remained well with his soul. Whereas madness attempted to take over his life--and for a time possibly did--he fought and won his battle to turn it into superlative art. The new songs on HIStory presented his defense of himself even while going beyond that to champion the environment and level substantial social criticism of his own. It was around the time of HIStory's release that he wrote the above note and the photo that accompanies it was taken (my apologies for failing to track down the exact date or the photographer's name). When I saw them published in People Magazine, I cut the page out and placed it in a photo album, then said a prayer for this man whose voice had helped awaken my voice.
We human beings tend to demand that our heroes fulfill many fantasies, but one fantasy no hero can fulfill is perfection while in this world. They can make the effort to give as much of themselves to the global community as they can, and then beg forgiveness when the gifting isn't enough and the less appealing aromas of their humanity dim the air with the funky truth of their flesh and blood limitations. It was good that "the King of Pop" had been tested and learned something about his limitations in one major battle because he would need whatever strength he gained from it for other confrontations down the road. In the end, it was strength he was reaching for once again to begin his journey anew and do the one thing he did better than anybody else.
A lot of tabloids, magazines, websites, radio stations, entertainment personalities, and retail chains made tons of good hard cash peddling before the world what they presented as Michael Jackson's eccentricities and possible moral failings. Perhaps now that he has left the stage for the last time, they can pay a bit of that forward by leaning in the opposite direction and honoring the brilliance of his dynamic artistry, the beauty of his dazzling creative passion, and the simple sincerity--however wounded it may have been--of his love for his fellow human beings.
by Aberjhani
co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
and ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love
Source: http://www.redroom.com/blog/aberjhani/to-walk-a-lifetime-michael-jacksons-moccasins
You probably can't read the words in the note next to the accompanying photo of Michael Jackson, but they were handwritten by the singer himself during the mid 1990s when he was constantly on tour and just as constantly a subject of much public ridicule and condemnation. This note was composed on hotel stationery and, complete with original spellings, grammar, and format, reads as follows:
"like the old Indian proverb says do not judge a man until you've walked 2 moons in his moccasins.
Most people don't know me, that is why they write such things in wich most is not true
I cry very very often because it hurts and I worry about the children all my children all over the world, I live for them.
If a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written.
Animals strike, not from malice, but because they want to live, it is the same with those who criticize, they desire our blood, not our pain. But still I must achieve I must seek truth in all things. I must endure for the power I was sent forth, for the world for the children.
But have mercy, for I've been bleeding a long time now."
M.J. (circa 1995)
It's hard to think of Michael Joseph Jackson as having been a baby boomer because nothing defined him quite so much as his music, and his music possesses the eternal quality of genius that makes all superior art timeless, ageless, and endlessly compelling. But a baby boomer he was, born August 29, 1958, and now gone so soon to his rest June 25, 2009.
Reporting on Jackson's death just hours after it was confirmed, NBC News anchorman Lester Holt noted, "We were the same age. I remember being a ten-year-old watching this ten-year-old kid on television." A familiar feeling. I arrived on the planet one year before either of them but like Holt I also watched the young Michael Jackson on stage on television. My attention was fully captured with no desire to be released because there he was: a cultural mirror image of myself who was not the watermelon-eyed "Buckwheat" (all due respect to the actor who played that role) or a stereotypical barefoot "pickaninny" movie extra in some Gone With the Wind spin-off, but a little black boy musical genius so charged with the lightning of his talent and confidence that he could take the lead singer position with his four brothers behind him and an audience of thousands in front of him--and perform with all the grace, skill, and maturity of someone three times his age. How did that kid do that? Living as I did in a southern region where black skin and a male anatomy often reduced one's life expectancy by decades, the answer of how that kid did what he did was important to this future author.
Years later I considered the greater scope of what he had achieved. While the vast majority of those in our peer group at age eleven or twelve were at home evenings studying for a quiz in school the next day or building up nerve to steal a first kiss, Michael Jackson was working--working in clubs, working in theaters, working on television, working in concert halls, working working working his ass off. On how many continents, and in how many countries, was that child a stranger in a strange land? Yet one who repeatedly channeled gifts of song and dance and love to bring respites of celebrated joy to the lives of others? His labors as a child played no small role in laying a foundation of lasting wealth for what has been called America's "preeminent family of pop music." Later on, those labors would pull a lagging recording industry out of its deathbed slump, and jump-start a new industry art form known as video while trashing racial barriers on TV and radio in the process. Did that make him a saint? No. Does it make his memory one worthy of respect? Most definitely.
Not all "child prodigies" who exhibit the level of talent that Jackson did as a child tend to fulfill the promise of those gifts in their adulthood. He was one of those who did. Once his ambition led him to pursue and establish with phenomenal results a solo career, each year thereafter when birthdays came around (his in August, mine in July) I started studying what he had accomplished to date and would challenge myself to do better in my own career. That's not to say I ever did, or even that I thought I could or should match him; only that his accomplishments motivated me to reach for some of my own.
The judgments of different critics aside, he outdid himself repeatedly: with the flawless album Off the Wall in 1979; the all-time bestselling Thriller in 1982; Bad in 1987; and Dangerous in 1991. By the time Jackson's HIStory-Past, Present and Future, Book I was released in 1995, I was managing a multi-media book, video, software and music store, which allowed me to indulge the pleasure of dancing along to the album's combination of anthology and new music while shelving and selling books. True, I was dancing to his life's soundtrack rather than my own and another three years would pass before my first book would get published. But: I celebrated this last album (not the last of his career) in particular because it was the first one released after the singer had descended into the tar-thick shadow-side of celebrity-hood: constant hounding by the paparazzi, reportedly "bizarre" behavior bordering on insanity, and allegations of pedophilia. The fact that his fame had become his cross made me less envious that he had achieved it so early.
Yet in the album HIStory, the purity of the music declared that whatever might or might not be the truth behind the scandalous headlines, all had somehow remained well with his soul. Whereas madness attempted to take over his life--and for a time possibly did--he fought and won his battle to turn it into superlative art. The new songs on HIStory presented his defense of himself even while going beyond that to champion the environment and level substantial social criticism of his own. It was around the time of HIStory's release that he wrote the above note and the photo that accompanies it was taken (my apologies for failing to track down the exact date or the photographer's name). When I saw them published in People Magazine, I cut the page out and placed it in a photo album, then said a prayer for this man whose voice had helped awaken my voice.
We human beings tend to demand that our heroes fulfill many fantasies, but one fantasy no hero can fulfill is perfection while in this world. They can make the effort to give as much of themselves to the global community as they can, and then beg forgiveness when the gifting isn't enough and the less appealing aromas of their humanity dim the air with the funky truth of their flesh and blood limitations. It was good that "the King of Pop" had been tested and learned something about his limitations in one major battle because he would need whatever strength he gained from it for other confrontations down the road. In the end, it was strength he was reaching for once again to begin his journey anew and do the one thing he did better than anybody else.
A lot of tabloids, magazines, websites, radio stations, entertainment personalities, and retail chains made tons of good hard cash peddling before the world what they presented as Michael Jackson's eccentricities and possible moral failings. Perhaps now that he has left the stage for the last time, they can pay a bit of that forward by leaning in the opposite direction and honoring the brilliance of his dynamic artistry, the beauty of his dazzling creative passion, and the simple sincerity--however wounded it may have been--of his love for his fellow human beings.
by Aberjhani
co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
and ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love
Source: http://www.redroom.com/blog/aberjhani/to-walk-a-lifetime-michael-jacksons-moccasins
Last edited:
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson's beautiful message to our planet
An extended hand and holding hands is a sign of trust and unity, and everything we do has an impact on our planet. Michael understood all of this so well and taught us about love; we are all one.
Mother Earth
I was walking along the beach one winter day. Looking down, I saw a wave push a feather up on the sand. It was a sea gull feather stained with oil. I picked it up and felt the dark slick film on my fingers. I couldn't help wondering if the bird had survived. Was it all right out there? I knew it wasn't.
I felt sad to think how carelessly we treat our home. The earth we all share is not just a rock tossed through space but a living, nurturing being. She cares for us; she deserves our care in return. We've been treating Mother Earth the way some people treat a rental apartment. Just trash it and move on.
But there's no place to move on to now. We have brought our garbage and our wars and our racism to every part of the world. We must begin to clean her up, and that means cleaning up our own hearts and minds first, because they led us to poison our dear planet. The sooner we change, the easier it will be to feel our love for Mother Earth and the love she so freely gives back to us.
From Dancing the Dream - by Michael Jackson
An extended hand and holding hands is a sign of trust and unity, and everything we do has an impact on our planet. Michael understood all of this so well and taught us about love; we are all one.
Mother Earth
I was walking along the beach one winter day. Looking down, I saw a wave push a feather up on the sand. It was a sea gull feather stained with oil. I picked it up and felt the dark slick film on my fingers. I couldn't help wondering if the bird had survived. Was it all right out there? I knew it wasn't.
I felt sad to think how carelessly we treat our home. The earth we all share is not just a rock tossed through space but a living, nurturing being. She cares for us; she deserves our care in return. We've been treating Mother Earth the way some people treat a rental apartment. Just trash it and move on.
But there's no place to move on to now. We have brought our garbage and our wars and our racism to every part of the world. We must begin to clean her up, and that means cleaning up our own hearts and minds first, because they led us to poison our dear planet. The sooner we change, the easier it will be to feel our love for Mother Earth and the love she so freely gives back to us.
From Dancing the Dream - by Michael Jackson
MJJLaugh
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The Man in the Mirror
~ A tribute to Michael Jackson and “This Is It” ~ Nature's Pathways Magazine
Michael Jackson was a world messenger with a spiritual message—make a change; make the world a better place. “This Is It,” the film about his planned comeback concert features Michael living his mission not only in what he is saying, but in who he is being. It features a man whose artistry and talent was too forceful for him to contain and too big to hide, someone who was ahead of his time and anything but understood.
The film is a kind of event horizon-- the place where the creative process leaves the creators mind, meets imagination and emerges in birth. The world’s biggest mega-star, lost in the act of creation artfully wields his incredible talent in the spirit of politicians spending political capital. It is clear Michael Jackson was called; his work was a calling. There is no turning away from a calling for it will hound and haunt until expressed. “This Is It” was stirring and inspiring and begged the answer to what compelled him to step up and into a life mission that was anything but easy?
While I liked Michael Jackson, I can't say that I ever met the definition of fan. I didn't pay close attention to his career; maybe I should have. Much of my own work as an artist, messenger and writer has been about embracing the spiritual—with empathic impulse, evocative emotion to change the world and make it a better place with words. I recognize that impulse of calling. With Michael it was more than impulse- it was Force. It is there to see for anyone watching Michael in his last performance.
I left the theater a believer; there is more to this man called Michael. The movie dashed any of my doubts about his character, personality or creative process. The filming was intended for Michael’s private library and that made me a voyeur-- disturbing because he is gone now. But I am richer for that stealth and for the process bequeathed me now by Michael. I revisited accusations, slurs; the vitriolic tabloid insults that impaled Michael Jackson for years and despite being proven not guilty impale him still, even beyond death. Was he a master at commanding attention? Yes. Was he capable of what some accused him of? If you want an answer ask silently in your heart and go see the movie.
I met the Michael in the music more than the music in Michael. I watched a master of transcendentalism building a meditation in magic. I saw Michael in the role of artist, leader, teacher, master and guru. I saw his infinite patience and I didn't miss his kindness in dealing with his musicians, dancers, singers and crew, his long breaths of tolerance toward solicitous blather designed to impress. Stunned by his allegiance to the brutal taskmaster of message, I even glimpsed his vision. I admired his translation, his explosive embodiment of the music in motion, emotion, majesty and metaphor. I know the man’s soul.
What drove Michael? What kept him loyal to his message through some of the most laser focused unkindness, betrayal and ridicule I have ever witnessed in the world? What sustained him? What did he tap into? The film reveals his source when Michael, knowing he is rehearsing, holds back from performing full out and you get a feel for the tide he is stemming. Watching his body move because it can't NOT move, the light dawns. Whatever it was, it didn't come from Michael, it came through him.
His talent painted feelings, conveyed sensation, became a portal for the vision of what is possible if we all just recognize what drives us, breathes us, what gives us life and being.
Michael was obviously an empath. When Michael felt, it was acutely, exquisitely. He may have been synesthesic as well processing through more than one sensory neural channel at a time: “and the pain is thunder.” Maybe Michael Jackson was following light that we couldn't see, music that we couldn't hear, and feelings that we couldn't access and perhaps simultaneously. Michael’s lyrics are prayer.
Synesthesia may even explain his grounding of the music in his body in the lower chakras (energy centers) as that is where the seat of emotion lives. Michael said dancing brought him in touch with the Divine impulse. That is not the first time the world has heard of that phenomena- Kundalini, spiritual energy that ascends the backbone to the brain originates in the lower groin area; Sufis and dervishes whirl to create a vortex for spiritual energy: indigenous cultures use drumbeat and dance.
Michael’s Man in the Mirror is a Gandhi-esque message to be the change you wish to see in the world. I “got it” courtesy of Michael: about the mirror; about shadow; about reflection of self in the world. How we view the world and what we see comes from who we are being. For some, Michael was their everything, for others he would never be enough. And still others will see the reflection of their own darkness. Michael Jackson embodied Light, Shadow, Bright Shadow, the Divine Feminine, the aggressive masculine and androgyny.
He was born into a world too far gone from innocence to embrace it; too distant from naiveté to tolerate it in an adult; too cynical to believe Michael’s own words; too tainted to embrace the sensitive Peter Pan man who understood too well the worlds intolerance to blemish- he wore it in his face. How did he live in a world where dark minds made him things that he never was and couldn't imagine? How did he show up for life… in a world with so much shadow? When that shadow turned on him? How did Michael never give up on the world? On us? And how is it that Michael was coming back to try one last time saying This Is It? Is the irony of that clear enough?
Who now will be our planetary human cheerleader? Our global humanitarian? Who among us can amass millions to catch the vision and carry it forward? Who now in our world is capable of that? This is it? See the movie and then tune to your inner Michael. Whatever you thought about Michael Jackson is correct because it is more about who you are being than it is about Michael because he wasn't just the man in the mirror, he was the mirror.
© B. Kaufmann 2009 and beyond
Source: http://gracemedeiros.over-blog.com/...mirror-46055397-comments.html#comment62472611
~ A tribute to Michael Jackson and “This Is It” ~ Nature's Pathways Magazine
Michael Jackson was a world messenger with a spiritual message—make a change; make the world a better place. “This Is It,” the film about his planned comeback concert features Michael living his mission not only in what he is saying, but in who he is being. It features a man whose artistry and talent was too forceful for him to contain and too big to hide, someone who was ahead of his time and anything but understood.
The film is a kind of event horizon-- the place where the creative process leaves the creators mind, meets imagination and emerges in birth. The world’s biggest mega-star, lost in the act of creation artfully wields his incredible talent in the spirit of politicians spending political capital. It is clear Michael Jackson was called; his work was a calling. There is no turning away from a calling for it will hound and haunt until expressed. “This Is It” was stirring and inspiring and begged the answer to what compelled him to step up and into a life mission that was anything but easy?
While I liked Michael Jackson, I can't say that I ever met the definition of fan. I didn't pay close attention to his career; maybe I should have. Much of my own work as an artist, messenger and writer has been about embracing the spiritual—with empathic impulse, evocative emotion to change the world and make it a better place with words. I recognize that impulse of calling. With Michael it was more than impulse- it was Force. It is there to see for anyone watching Michael in his last performance.
I left the theater a believer; there is more to this man called Michael. The movie dashed any of my doubts about his character, personality or creative process. The filming was intended for Michael’s private library and that made me a voyeur-- disturbing because he is gone now. But I am richer for that stealth and for the process bequeathed me now by Michael. I revisited accusations, slurs; the vitriolic tabloid insults that impaled Michael Jackson for years and despite being proven not guilty impale him still, even beyond death. Was he a master at commanding attention? Yes. Was he capable of what some accused him of? If you want an answer ask silently in your heart and go see the movie.
I met the Michael in the music more than the music in Michael. I watched a master of transcendentalism building a meditation in magic. I saw Michael in the role of artist, leader, teacher, master and guru. I saw his infinite patience and I didn't miss his kindness in dealing with his musicians, dancers, singers and crew, his long breaths of tolerance toward solicitous blather designed to impress. Stunned by his allegiance to the brutal taskmaster of message, I even glimpsed his vision. I admired his translation, his explosive embodiment of the music in motion, emotion, majesty and metaphor. I know the man’s soul.
What drove Michael? What kept him loyal to his message through some of the most laser focused unkindness, betrayal and ridicule I have ever witnessed in the world? What sustained him? What did he tap into? The film reveals his source when Michael, knowing he is rehearsing, holds back from performing full out and you get a feel for the tide he is stemming. Watching his body move because it can't NOT move, the light dawns. Whatever it was, it didn't come from Michael, it came through him.
His talent painted feelings, conveyed sensation, became a portal for the vision of what is possible if we all just recognize what drives us, breathes us, what gives us life and being.
Michael was obviously an empath. When Michael felt, it was acutely, exquisitely. He may have been synesthesic as well processing through more than one sensory neural channel at a time: “and the pain is thunder.” Maybe Michael Jackson was following light that we couldn't see, music that we couldn't hear, and feelings that we couldn't access and perhaps simultaneously. Michael’s lyrics are prayer.
Synesthesia may even explain his grounding of the music in his body in the lower chakras (energy centers) as that is where the seat of emotion lives. Michael said dancing brought him in touch with the Divine impulse. That is not the first time the world has heard of that phenomena- Kundalini, spiritual energy that ascends the backbone to the brain originates in the lower groin area; Sufis and dervishes whirl to create a vortex for spiritual energy: indigenous cultures use drumbeat and dance.
Michael’s Man in the Mirror is a Gandhi-esque message to be the change you wish to see in the world. I “got it” courtesy of Michael: about the mirror; about shadow; about reflection of self in the world. How we view the world and what we see comes from who we are being. For some, Michael was their everything, for others he would never be enough. And still others will see the reflection of their own darkness. Michael Jackson embodied Light, Shadow, Bright Shadow, the Divine Feminine, the aggressive masculine and androgyny.
He was born into a world too far gone from innocence to embrace it; too distant from naiveté to tolerate it in an adult; too cynical to believe Michael’s own words; too tainted to embrace the sensitive Peter Pan man who understood too well the worlds intolerance to blemish- he wore it in his face. How did he live in a world where dark minds made him things that he never was and couldn't imagine? How did he show up for life… in a world with so much shadow? When that shadow turned on him? How did Michael never give up on the world? On us? And how is it that Michael was coming back to try one last time saying This Is It? Is the irony of that clear enough?
Who now will be our planetary human cheerleader? Our global humanitarian? Who among us can amass millions to catch the vision and carry it forward? Who now in our world is capable of that? This is it? See the movie and then tune to your inner Michael. Whatever you thought about Michael Jackson is correct because it is more about who you are being than it is about Michael because he wasn't just the man in the mirror, he was the mirror.
© B. Kaufmann 2009 and beyond
Source: http://gracemedeiros.over-blog.com/...mirror-46055397-comments.html#comment62472611
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson - My Respect Video (German Fan)
The song in the video is "There Must be More to Life than This" and it feels like a "Man in the Mirror" kind of song. 'There must be more to life than this' can be about your potential. Reaching for the stars and being all that you can be, in love, in compassion, in self-respect, in respect for others. Very touching song!
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
How do we cope in a world without love
Mending all those broken hearts
And tending to those crying faces
There must be more to life than living
A better way for us to survive
Why should it be just a case of black or white
There must be more to life than this
Why is this world so full of hate
People dying everywhere
And we destroy what we create
People fighting for their human rights
But we just go on saying c'est la vie
So this is life
There must be more to life than killing
There must be more than meets the eye
What good is life, if in the end we all must die
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than killing
There must be more to life than this
I live in hope for a world filled with love
Then we can all just live in peace
There must be more to life, much more to life
There must be more to life, more to life than this
The song in the video is "There Must be More to Life than This" and it feels like a "Man in the Mirror" kind of song. 'There must be more to life than this' can be about your potential. Reaching for the stars and being all that you can be, in love, in compassion, in self-respect, in respect for others. Very touching song!
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
How do we cope in a world without love
Mending all those broken hearts
And tending to those crying faces
There must be more to life than living
A better way for us to survive
Why should it be just a case of black or white
There must be more to life than this
Why is this world so full of hate
People dying everywhere
And we destroy what we create
People fighting for their human rights
But we just go on saying c'est la vie
So this is life
There must be more to life than killing
There must be more than meets the eye
What good is life, if in the end we all must die
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than killing
There must be more to life than this
I live in hope for a world filled with love
Then we can all just live in peace
There must be more to life, much more to life
There must be more to life, more to life than this
Maria MJ
Proud Member
This article by Examiner is really nice and respectful, both to Mike and his countless fans all over the world. Sorry if it's been posted elsewhere, I just thought it deserves a positive reaction.
BET Awards 2010: Michael Jackson tribute to take place -- 2 days after one-year anniversary
APOn June 27th the 2010 BET Awards will take place in Los Angeles, California. It has just been announced that a tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson will take place at the event -- two days after the one-year anniversary.
According to Rolling Stone magazine Michael Jackson's family will be present to witness the tribute at the BET Awards. Jackson's film This Is It, which documented the performer's rehearsals for the tour that would have been, has received much acclaim and is nominated for a BET Award in the Best Film category.
June 25th marks the day where one year ago the world was shocked by the devastating news that Michael Jackson had died. The news left his family, friends, and his countless fans all over the world reeling, and struggling to comprehend how it could have happened. Many fans are planning to go to Forest Lawn on the 25th to pay their respects to the iconic performer, whom fans continue to mourn.
Given the sadness that is still associated with the loss of Jackson, arguably the greatest entertainer that ever was -- it is nice to know that his life will be celebrated through the fans, and by the BET tribute.
This week, Jackson was honored by being inducted into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame. Aretha Franklin was also inducted.
http://www.examiner.com/x-52612-Jac...-take-place--2-days-after-oneyear-anniversary
BET Awards 2010: Michael Jackson tribute to take place -- 2 days after one-year anniversary
APOn June 27th the 2010 BET Awards will take place in Los Angeles, California. It has just been announced that a tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson will take place at the event -- two days after the one-year anniversary.
According to Rolling Stone magazine Michael Jackson's family will be present to witness the tribute at the BET Awards. Jackson's film This Is It, which documented the performer's rehearsals for the tour that would have been, has received much acclaim and is nominated for a BET Award in the Best Film category.
June 25th marks the day where one year ago the world was shocked by the devastating news that Michael Jackson had died. The news left his family, friends, and his countless fans all over the world reeling, and struggling to comprehend how it could have happened. Many fans are planning to go to Forest Lawn on the 25th to pay their respects to the iconic performer, whom fans continue to mourn.
Given the sadness that is still associated with the loss of Jackson, arguably the greatest entertainer that ever was -- it is nice to know that his life will be celebrated through the fans, and by the BET tribute.
This week, Jackson was honored by being inducted into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame. Aretha Franklin was also inducted.
http://www.examiner.com/x-52612-Jac...-take-place--2-days-after-oneyear-anniversary
Last edited:
MJJLaugh
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Top Ten Questions Everyone SHOULD Be Asking About Michael Jackson
By Brenna Chase
Rather than keep your eyes glued to your favorite news channel for the latest intrusive development or read another biased career retrospective on the recently deceased King of Pop, ponder these conundrums, posed by a true (frustrated) fan who pays attention to what’s really important.
10. How is it that Michael Jackson is sexy?
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
Admit it, he is. His appearance(s) may be odd, but with all the different faces/styles/versions of Michael Jackson, there has got to be something there for everyone—just pick whichever one suits your particular fancy. He’s got the whole masculine/feminine, black/white, borders-all blurred-and-undefined thing going on, and he pulls it off, turning it into something ethereal that just draws you to him. He may have been a shy, seemingly asexual recluse in real life, but on stage, he will always be pure sex. The supernatural flow of his form is so completely attractive and captivating. He possesses magnetism that can’t be explained, because it can’t be compared to anything else. It’s like his public persona and bizarre behavior are the challenges, and he overcomes them when he performs by forcing you to forget about everything else.
Perhaps a better question would be: if you had never seen or been told anything about Michael Jackson before, and just heard his music, what would your first thought be upon hearing his voice? How about, “Michael, will you marry me?” He has recorded some of the sexiest songs ever made in the history of popular music. Close your eyes and listen again to “Liberian Girl,” “In the Closet,” “Human Nature,” “Heaven Can Wait,” and “Butterflies.” Pay careful attention to the words and how he phrases them. Michael Jackson is a perfect vocalist. Just as he’s playfully floating above the harmonies on his dance songs and spitting with anger in the intense ones, he is oh-so-convincingly romantic on every ballad. His last album, Invincible, is more R&B-tinged and, though often overlooked, is actually sexier than all his earlier works put together. On the smooth track “Break of Dawn,” Michael Jackson, the same guy who’s had more than his fair share of nose jobs and believes he is the modern day Peter Pan, is telling you that he wants to make love to you all night until the sun comes up, and you are more than okay with that.
Forget Justin Timberlake, forget Prince, because the King of Pop can lure you like no other. Why is everyone freaking out about if he is actually the biological father of his children, or what drugs were in his system when he died? “Michael Jackson is sexy—how and why?” should be the headline frozen at the bottom of the CNN screen which only the most qualified professionals will discuss until they’ve got some substantial answers.
9. Why does Bono get all the credit for saving the world?
Michael Jackson’s the one who implored us to heal the world and showed us how. Universal love, giving, and making positive changes are recurring themes in his songs: “Man In The Mirror,” “Heal The World,” “We Are The World,” and “The Lost Children,” just to name a few. He began contributing to charity in 1979 when he provided Public Library’s Young Adult Section with new books to encourage reading. For the next three decades, his generosity grew to incredible proportions as Michael donated to hospitals, orphanages, educational, and employment institutions in countries all over the world. He contributed to large scale causes—AIDS research, Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, The International Federation of Red Cross, and UNESCO—as well as smaller: his MJJ Productions office once provided 200 turkey dinners to needy families in Los Angeles at Christmas.
Michael donated the profits from several of his hit singles and tours to charity, including his entire share of profits from the Jacksons’ Victory Tour to the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research, The United Negro College Fund, and the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times and $100 million from the “Heal the World” single and tour to USA for Africa. He set up the Heal The World Foundation in 1992, which brought underprivileged kids to the theme park at Neverland and also raised millions of dollars for children threatened by war and disease all over the world. In 2001, he founded Heal the Kids, an international program that helps parents rededicate their lives to raising their children with love and attention.
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
Perhaps most importantly, Michael Jackson visited victims of famine, illness, war, and natural disasters throughout his lifetime, traveling as far as South America, Africa, and India to personally connect with the suffering and bring them happiness and hope. He would often coordinate these trips with his tours in foreign countries so he could meet with people in hospitals and impoverished villages anonymously in between show dates.
He holds the world record for the “Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star” in the 2000 Guinness Book Of World Records. Charity isn’t a competition, so I won’t list how much money Bono has raised compared to MJ, but feel free to look into it. The U2 front man has somehow become the high profile archetype of humanity while Michael has been the living definition of good will for decades. He just does it without needing credit or praise. In your FACE, egotistical Irish guy! Michael Jackson raised hundreds of millions of dollars and donated $50 million of his own personal fortune to try to make the world a better place. . . why didn’t more people take notice? (For a more thorough examination of MJ’s charity work—it couldn’t really fit in one paragraph—go to the “charity” section of the JacksonAction website.)
8. What’s so bad about dangling a baby over a balcony?
Clips of Michael Jackson holding up baby Prince Michael II (Blanket) from a Berlin hotel terrace in 2002 for a crowd to see are still being replayed on countless television shows. Let’s watch it one more time and examine just what a terrible, crazy father this man must have been to commit such an act. What about the famous scene in The Lion King where Rafiki holds Simba up over Pride Rock to proudly show the king’s newborn son to his kingdom. . . now was that so wrong? A bizarre act of questionable parenting, or one of the most genuine, emotional expressions of love ever executed? Watch the Disney movie again and reevaluate your answer.
The Lion King
Image © 1994 Walt Disney Pictures
7. Why is everyone so shocked by the possibility that Michael Jackson had health problems?
All typical celebrity addiction clichés aside, it’s been pretty clear that Michael Jackson was dealing with serious ailments for years. For those of you shocked by the disclosure of his dependence on painkillers, listen to “Morphine” from his album Blood On The Dance Floor. It’s clearly about the sinister addictiveness of Morphine and Demerol. Yes, he wrote the song and put it on an album for all to hear in 1997, and yes, it’s a fucking good song. Why weren’t more people listening then?
Photo from MJJ Pictures.com
Remember when the media—and anyone who believed the reports—was convinced that Michael’s claim of having a skin condition was a fabrication to cover up the fact that he was obsessed with bleaching his skin? He wrote “Black or White” and promoted the universal love of all races; he disclosed to the prying world his personal health condition of vitiligo, a disease involving the loss of skin pigmentation; and made multiple public statements declaring his pride of being African American. Still he was assailed as a liar. And to this day people still doubt the validity of him really having the disease.
Michael Jackson’s personal doctors, including longtime friend and well-respected physician Deepak Chopra, have now come forward to report on the singer’s struggle with vitiligo. Yes, he really had the disease. He was always incredibly self-conscious about his appearance, so he wore pounds of makeup to cover up the uncontrollable splotches on his skin. The condition made him literally allergic to sunlight, which would explain him always carrying around an umbrella. What a crazy person, right?! Dr. Chopra has also revealed that Michael suffered from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that caused the vitiligo, and that it is believed to have developed from the trauma of severe emotional abuse and stress he endured as a child. MJ never publicly spoke of the lupus, probably because he never owed anyone more of an explanation for his skin abnormalities than he had already given.
Despite the “evidence,” there will always be some who remain convinced that Michael Jackson bleached his skin for the hell of it. These skeptics are like Thomas the Apostle. You know, the guy that missed out on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and told the other disciples, “Unless I put my finger into the nail marks of his hands and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Yes, I just quoted The Bible in reference to Michael Jackson. For all the Thomases out there who doubt him, read this article or search for invasive pictures like this. . . f***k ***.)
For the rest of the entries, please go to the link and click on pages 3,4 and 5.
http://popshifter.com/2009-07-30/top-ten-questions-everyone-should-be-asking-about-michael-jackson/
By Brenna Chase
Rather than keep your eyes glued to your favorite news channel for the latest intrusive development or read another biased career retrospective on the recently deceased King of Pop, ponder these conundrums, posed by a true (frustrated) fan who pays attention to what’s really important.
10. How is it that Michael Jackson is sexy?
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
Admit it, he is. His appearance(s) may be odd, but with all the different faces/styles/versions of Michael Jackson, there has got to be something there for everyone—just pick whichever one suits your particular fancy. He’s got the whole masculine/feminine, black/white, borders-all blurred-and-undefined thing going on, and he pulls it off, turning it into something ethereal that just draws you to him. He may have been a shy, seemingly asexual recluse in real life, but on stage, he will always be pure sex. The supernatural flow of his form is so completely attractive and captivating. He possesses magnetism that can’t be explained, because it can’t be compared to anything else. It’s like his public persona and bizarre behavior are the challenges, and he overcomes them when he performs by forcing you to forget about everything else.
Perhaps a better question would be: if you had never seen or been told anything about Michael Jackson before, and just heard his music, what would your first thought be upon hearing his voice? How about, “Michael, will you marry me?” He has recorded some of the sexiest songs ever made in the history of popular music. Close your eyes and listen again to “Liberian Girl,” “In the Closet,” “Human Nature,” “Heaven Can Wait,” and “Butterflies.” Pay careful attention to the words and how he phrases them. Michael Jackson is a perfect vocalist. Just as he’s playfully floating above the harmonies on his dance songs and spitting with anger in the intense ones, he is oh-so-convincingly romantic on every ballad. His last album, Invincible, is more R&B-tinged and, though often overlooked, is actually sexier than all his earlier works put together. On the smooth track “Break of Dawn,” Michael Jackson, the same guy who’s had more than his fair share of nose jobs and believes he is the modern day Peter Pan, is telling you that he wants to make love to you all night until the sun comes up, and you are more than okay with that.
Forget Justin Timberlake, forget Prince, because the King of Pop can lure you like no other. Why is everyone freaking out about if he is actually the biological father of his children, or what drugs were in his system when he died? “Michael Jackson is sexy—how and why?” should be the headline frozen at the bottom of the CNN screen which only the most qualified professionals will discuss until they’ve got some substantial answers.
9. Why does Bono get all the credit for saving the world?
Michael Jackson’s the one who implored us to heal the world and showed us how. Universal love, giving, and making positive changes are recurring themes in his songs: “Man In The Mirror,” “Heal The World,” “We Are The World,” and “The Lost Children,” just to name a few. He began contributing to charity in 1979 when he provided Public Library’s Young Adult Section with new books to encourage reading. For the next three decades, his generosity grew to incredible proportions as Michael donated to hospitals, orphanages, educational, and employment institutions in countries all over the world. He contributed to large scale causes—AIDS research, Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, The International Federation of Red Cross, and UNESCO—as well as smaller: his MJJ Productions office once provided 200 turkey dinners to needy families in Los Angeles at Christmas.
Michael donated the profits from several of his hit singles and tours to charity, including his entire share of profits from the Jacksons’ Victory Tour to the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research, The United Negro College Fund, and the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times and $100 million from the “Heal the World” single and tour to USA for Africa. He set up the Heal The World Foundation in 1992, which brought underprivileged kids to the theme park at Neverland and also raised millions of dollars for children threatened by war and disease all over the world. In 2001, he founded Heal the Kids, an international program that helps parents rededicate their lives to raising their children with love and attention.
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
Perhaps most importantly, Michael Jackson visited victims of famine, illness, war, and natural disasters throughout his lifetime, traveling as far as South America, Africa, and India to personally connect with the suffering and bring them happiness and hope. He would often coordinate these trips with his tours in foreign countries so he could meet with people in hospitals and impoverished villages anonymously in between show dates.
He holds the world record for the “Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star” in the 2000 Guinness Book Of World Records. Charity isn’t a competition, so I won’t list how much money Bono has raised compared to MJ, but feel free to look into it. The U2 front man has somehow become the high profile archetype of humanity while Michael has been the living definition of good will for decades. He just does it without needing credit or praise. In your FACE, egotistical Irish guy! Michael Jackson raised hundreds of millions of dollars and donated $50 million of his own personal fortune to try to make the world a better place. . . why didn’t more people take notice? (For a more thorough examination of MJ’s charity work—it couldn’t really fit in one paragraph—go to the “charity” section of the JacksonAction website.)
8. What’s so bad about dangling a baby over a balcony?
Clips of Michael Jackson holding up baby Prince Michael II (Blanket) from a Berlin hotel terrace in 2002 for a crowd to see are still being replayed on countless television shows. Let’s watch it one more time and examine just what a terrible, crazy father this man must have been to commit such an act. What about the famous scene in The Lion King where Rafiki holds Simba up over Pride Rock to proudly show the king’s newborn son to his kingdom. . . now was that so wrong? A bizarre act of questionable parenting, or one of the most genuine, emotional expressions of love ever executed? Watch the Disney movie again and reevaluate your answer.
The Lion King
Image © 1994 Walt Disney Pictures
7. Why is everyone so shocked by the possibility that Michael Jackson had health problems?
All typical celebrity addiction clichés aside, it’s been pretty clear that Michael Jackson was dealing with serious ailments for years. For those of you shocked by the disclosure of his dependence on painkillers, listen to “Morphine” from his album Blood On The Dance Floor. It’s clearly about the sinister addictiveness of Morphine and Demerol. Yes, he wrote the song and put it on an album for all to hear in 1997, and yes, it’s a fucking good song. Why weren’t more people listening then?
Photo from MJJ Pictures.com
Remember when the media—and anyone who believed the reports—was convinced that Michael’s claim of having a skin condition was a fabrication to cover up the fact that he was obsessed with bleaching his skin? He wrote “Black or White” and promoted the universal love of all races; he disclosed to the prying world his personal health condition of vitiligo, a disease involving the loss of skin pigmentation; and made multiple public statements declaring his pride of being African American. Still he was assailed as a liar. And to this day people still doubt the validity of him really having the disease.
Michael Jackson’s personal doctors, including longtime friend and well-respected physician Deepak Chopra, have now come forward to report on the singer’s struggle with vitiligo. Yes, he really had the disease. He was always incredibly self-conscious about his appearance, so he wore pounds of makeup to cover up the uncontrollable splotches on his skin. The condition made him literally allergic to sunlight, which would explain him always carrying around an umbrella. What a crazy person, right?! Dr. Chopra has also revealed that Michael suffered from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that caused the vitiligo, and that it is believed to have developed from the trauma of severe emotional abuse and stress he endured as a child. MJ never publicly spoke of the lupus, probably because he never owed anyone more of an explanation for his skin abnormalities than he had already given.
Despite the “evidence,” there will always be some who remain convinced that Michael Jackson bleached his skin for the hell of it. These skeptics are like Thomas the Apostle. You know, the guy that missed out on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and told the other disciples, “Unless I put my finger into the nail marks of his hands and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Yes, I just quoted The Bible in reference to Michael Jackson. For all the Thomases out there who doubt him, read this article or search for invasive pictures like this. . . f***k ***.)
For the rest of the entries, please go to the link and click on pages 3,4 and 5.
http://popshifter.com/2009-07-30/top-ten-questions-everyone-should-be-asking-about-michael-jackson/
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson - Prelude Compassion
My love and compassion goes out to all of you who are suffering and having a hard time as the anniversary of June 25th draws near. The music in the video is very beautiful and please remember the words Michael wrote in 'Dancing the Dream':
Heaven is Here
You and I were never separate
It's just an illusion
Wrought by the magical lens of
Perception
- Dancing the Dream, Michael Jackson
My love and compassion goes out to all of you who are suffering and having a hard time as the anniversary of June 25th draws near. The music in the video is very beautiful and please remember the words Michael wrote in 'Dancing the Dream':
Heaven is Here
You and I were never separate
It's just an illusion
Wrought by the magical lens of
Perception
- Dancing the Dream, Michael Jackson
StephluvsMJ
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Stuart Brawley Co-Mixer on Invincible
"Some of my favourite moments on the project were when Michael was singing.
Watching him sing is truly a treat. Not just because he sings like no one else, but because, unlike some artists, when Michael sings it involves his whole being.
I have recorded many vocalists, and the majority of them stand still at the microphone, occasionally using a hand gesture here and there as they sing. Not so with Michael. Michael's whole body gets into the action. He dances, he stomps his feet and the music oozes out of him. The first day I recorded vocals with him I nearly got up and started dancing myself, it was so infectious. (This, of course, could have meant the end of my involvement in the project, as my dance moves consist mostly of bad '80s white boy moves, embarrassing to anyone in a half mile radius.)
What strikes me most about Michael is how much music moves him. Sometimes we'd be listening to a playback of a mix in the control room, and Michael would suddenly do a dance move out of nowhere. I think it's instinctual and maybe involuntary.
As time passed on the project, Michael and I got to know each other a little better, and I started to see the man behind the image. Michael Jackson is absolutely without a doubt the kindest, most genuine person I have ever worked for. His soft spoken nature, even in times of high stress, and his complete lack of ego made working for him a true pleasure.
Everyone on the project, producers, engineers, asistants all had this unspoken respect for him. It wasn't something we talked about, it was just understood. He commands respect on so many levels: as a producer, songwriter, artist, and most importantly, as a human being."
From Seth Riggs (Michael's vocal coach)
"He's [Michael's] a high tenor with a three-and-a-half octave range. He goes from basso low E up to G and A-Flat above high C. A lot of people think its falsetto, but it’s not. It’s all connected, which is remarkable. During his vocal exercises he would put his arms up in the air and would start spinning while holding a note. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said ‘I may have to do it onstage, so I want to make sure it’s possible.’ I’d never seen anything like that before. I thought maybe I should stop him so he can concentrate on his voice now, and dance later. But I figured if he can do it, let him do it...
.... He would always take time to see the sights. I recall that when we were rehearsing at Liverpool, he stopped the rehearsal so that we could look at some beautiful clouds that had wafted in. That’s how Michael is... He’s the most natural, loving person I’ve ever known, a very good person, as corny as that sounds. He’ll see a picture of a baby, and if it’s a cute kid, he will go absolutely gaga over the picture. During the tour, on his nights off, he would go into a toy store and buy ten of this and ten of that and then stay up all night long putting batteries into the toys, making certain each and every one worked so that he could have them ready to give to kids back-stage the next day. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about.
Every night the kids would come in on stretchers, so sick they could barely hold their heads up. Michael would kneel down at the stretchers and put his face right down beside theirs so that he could have his picture taken with them, and than give them a copy to remember the moment. I’m a sixty-year-old man, and I couldn’t take it. I’d be in the bathroom crying. But Michael could take it, and right before going on stage no less. The kids would perk right up in his presence. If it gave them a couple days’ more energy, to Michael that was worth it. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a prince of the world."
"Some of my favourite moments on the project were when Michael was singing.
Watching him sing is truly a treat. Not just because he sings like no one else, but because, unlike some artists, when Michael sings it involves his whole being.
I have recorded many vocalists, and the majority of them stand still at the microphone, occasionally using a hand gesture here and there as they sing. Not so with Michael. Michael's whole body gets into the action. He dances, he stomps his feet and the music oozes out of him. The first day I recorded vocals with him I nearly got up and started dancing myself, it was so infectious. (This, of course, could have meant the end of my involvement in the project, as my dance moves consist mostly of bad '80s white boy moves, embarrassing to anyone in a half mile radius.)
What strikes me most about Michael is how much music moves him. Sometimes we'd be listening to a playback of a mix in the control room, and Michael would suddenly do a dance move out of nowhere. I think it's instinctual and maybe involuntary.
As time passed on the project, Michael and I got to know each other a little better, and I started to see the man behind the image. Michael Jackson is absolutely without a doubt the kindest, most genuine person I have ever worked for. His soft spoken nature, even in times of high stress, and his complete lack of ego made working for him a true pleasure.
Everyone on the project, producers, engineers, asistants all had this unspoken respect for him. It wasn't something we talked about, it was just understood. He commands respect on so many levels: as a producer, songwriter, artist, and most importantly, as a human being."
From Seth Riggs (Michael's vocal coach)
"He's [Michael's] a high tenor with a three-and-a-half octave range. He goes from basso low E up to G and A-Flat above high C. A lot of people think its falsetto, but it’s not. It’s all connected, which is remarkable. During his vocal exercises he would put his arms up in the air and would start spinning while holding a note. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said ‘I may have to do it onstage, so I want to make sure it’s possible.’ I’d never seen anything like that before. I thought maybe I should stop him so he can concentrate on his voice now, and dance later. But I figured if he can do it, let him do it...
.... He would always take time to see the sights. I recall that when we were rehearsing at Liverpool, he stopped the rehearsal so that we could look at some beautiful clouds that had wafted in. That’s how Michael is... He’s the most natural, loving person I’ve ever known, a very good person, as corny as that sounds. He’ll see a picture of a baby, and if it’s a cute kid, he will go absolutely gaga over the picture. During the tour, on his nights off, he would go into a toy store and buy ten of this and ten of that and then stay up all night long putting batteries into the toys, making certain each and every one worked so that he could have them ready to give to kids back-stage the next day. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about.
Every night the kids would come in on stretchers, so sick they could barely hold their heads up. Michael would kneel down at the stretchers and put his face right down beside theirs so that he could have his picture taken with them, and than give them a copy to remember the moment. I’m a sixty-year-old man, and I couldn’t take it. I’d be in the bathroom crying. But Michael could take it, and right before going on stage no less. The kids would perk right up in his presence. If it gave them a couple days’ more energy, to Michael that was worth it. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a prince of the world."
Last edited:
MJJLaugh
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The Top Five Michael Jackson Moments That Changed Entertainment Forever
Posted June 25, 2009 by dsussman
Now that he’s gone, there are probably going to be serious debates on how Michael Jackson changed the face of popular music, and pop culture, all over the world. Even if you don’t believe that MJ was “The King,” there is no way that you can deny his God-given talent, infectious energy, and the infinite influence he has had on every single pop artist that came after him. R.I.P. MJ.
5. The Moonwalk
Sure, the moonwalk (or backslide as it was originally called) had been performed for years before Michael Jackson slid across the stage to "Billie Jean" at the Motown 25 TV special in 1983. But his impeccable execution of the move, and the national TV audience watching, would change the face of dance forever. If you were young at the time, you undoubtedly spent hours the next day trying to pull it off, and it opened the gates for break dancing to move off the street corners and into pop culture. With one move, Michael made street dancing acceptable to rural America, and it wasn’t long before teens all around the country were breaking down cardboard boxes and giving it a spin. It’s hard to imagine a world without break dancing now, but it took someone of Jackson’s caliber to endorse it before people would accept it as a legitimate form of art.
4. We Are The World
Musicians contributing their talents for a noble cause was nothing new when "We Are the World" was released in March of 1985. The Monterey Pop Festival and the Concert for Bangladesh were certainly pioneers in this regard, but there had never been a supergroup formed to help out a bad situation until Micheal Jackson and Lionel Richie penned this track. Quincy Jones produced the single that included over 20 of the industry’s brightest stars at the time, with proceeds going to starving children in Africa. Michael was the catalyst for the effort, and despite what’s been said and written about him since, no one can deny that his motivations were pure. Even though the supergroup Band Aid was around a number of months earlier with their song “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the global success of “We Are the Wolrd” is what sets it apart form any other pop/musical charity relief. The fact that the song hit #1 in over 17 countries brought more awareness to this cause than any other in the past and most of it’s success has to do with the work contributed Mr. Michael Jackson.
3. His Music Video Work
It’s true that Michael got very lucky by hitting his musical stride during the rise of MTV. There is no way he would have had the same cultural impact if it weren't for his iconic videos for “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “Thriller” hitting homes all around the world. But let’s not just give all the credit to MTV so quickly. If Michael had one thing that separated him from the pack it was a detailed vision of what he wanted his art to be. There have been numerous accounts of Michael being a complete control freak when it came to his art, but those details are what made him the total pop package. All of this hard work and brilliant foresight can be seen in almost all of his videos from the 1980s. He saw the vision of marrying music to video, and turned it into an art form. Who else had the guts to create a short film instead of just a video? Again, Michael created a blueprint for every artist after him and there is not a single band or singer who has graced the screens of MTV that doesn't owe him a serious debt of gratitude.
2. The Release of Thriller
What can we really say about this album that has not already been said? Well, for one, it kinda never gets old. For being the biggest-selling record of all-time, you would think people would be throwing it out of their windows by now. The truth of the matter is that every single song on this entire Quincy Jones-produced classic is absolutely timeless. It also hits on almost every genre of pop music possible. Besides the obvious standout mega-hits, “Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean,” “P.Y.T.,” "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and “Human Nature” are just as epic. Michael’s vocal talents are also something that people seem to take for granted. In “Beat It” he somehow blows most rock singers out of the water, while he was also able to perfectly smooth things with his soothing vibrato work on “Human Nature.”
We all need to understand that without this album the entire music world would have never been the same. I’m not saying it made it better or worse in the long run, but as far as being an entire package and its level of impact, it is undoubtedly one of the most important musical works ever created.
1. The Jackson 5 Motown Audition
At the tender age of 9, Michael Jackson and his brothers Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie went to Detroit for their now-famous Motown audition. The group performed James Brown’s hit "I Got the Feelin'" and obviously knocked that s*** out of the park. Berry Gordy wasn’t actually there, but the audition was filmed and sent to him to be viewed. Gordy's initial reluctance to sign the group disappeared when he finally saw the boys perform. Gordy, of course, decided to sign the group to Motown, and the rest is history. At times it kinda feels like Michael was four or five different people in the span of his career. The birth of Michael as a young artist is truly something to watch. The audition was critical to Michael’s career as well as the history of popular music. Without his time spent at Motown all the gifts he had to give would have never been shared with the world. At Motown he was lucky enough to work with (and learn from) so many amazing artists. His relationship with Diana Ross was legendary and their musical relationship definitely had a profound effect on him. If Michael had bombed this 1968 audition, pop music would have never evolved in the same way.
Source: http://www.spike.com/blog/top-5-michael/82792
Posted June 25, 2009 by dsussman
Now that he’s gone, there are probably going to be serious debates on how Michael Jackson changed the face of popular music, and pop culture, all over the world. Even if you don’t believe that MJ was “The King,” there is no way that you can deny his God-given talent, infectious energy, and the infinite influence he has had on every single pop artist that came after him. R.I.P. MJ.
5. The Moonwalk
Sure, the moonwalk (or backslide as it was originally called) had been performed for years before Michael Jackson slid across the stage to "Billie Jean" at the Motown 25 TV special in 1983. But his impeccable execution of the move, and the national TV audience watching, would change the face of dance forever. If you were young at the time, you undoubtedly spent hours the next day trying to pull it off, and it opened the gates for break dancing to move off the street corners and into pop culture. With one move, Michael made street dancing acceptable to rural America, and it wasn’t long before teens all around the country were breaking down cardboard boxes and giving it a spin. It’s hard to imagine a world without break dancing now, but it took someone of Jackson’s caliber to endorse it before people would accept it as a legitimate form of art.
4. We Are The World
Musicians contributing their talents for a noble cause was nothing new when "We Are the World" was released in March of 1985. The Monterey Pop Festival and the Concert for Bangladesh were certainly pioneers in this regard, but there had never been a supergroup formed to help out a bad situation until Micheal Jackson and Lionel Richie penned this track. Quincy Jones produced the single that included over 20 of the industry’s brightest stars at the time, with proceeds going to starving children in Africa. Michael was the catalyst for the effort, and despite what’s been said and written about him since, no one can deny that his motivations were pure. Even though the supergroup Band Aid was around a number of months earlier with their song “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the global success of “We Are the Wolrd” is what sets it apart form any other pop/musical charity relief. The fact that the song hit #1 in over 17 countries brought more awareness to this cause than any other in the past and most of it’s success has to do with the work contributed Mr. Michael Jackson.
3. His Music Video Work
It’s true that Michael got very lucky by hitting his musical stride during the rise of MTV. There is no way he would have had the same cultural impact if it weren't for his iconic videos for “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “Thriller” hitting homes all around the world. But let’s not just give all the credit to MTV so quickly. If Michael had one thing that separated him from the pack it was a detailed vision of what he wanted his art to be. There have been numerous accounts of Michael being a complete control freak when it came to his art, but those details are what made him the total pop package. All of this hard work and brilliant foresight can be seen in almost all of his videos from the 1980s. He saw the vision of marrying music to video, and turned it into an art form. Who else had the guts to create a short film instead of just a video? Again, Michael created a blueprint for every artist after him and there is not a single band or singer who has graced the screens of MTV that doesn't owe him a serious debt of gratitude.
2. The Release of Thriller
What can we really say about this album that has not already been said? Well, for one, it kinda never gets old. For being the biggest-selling record of all-time, you would think people would be throwing it out of their windows by now. The truth of the matter is that every single song on this entire Quincy Jones-produced classic is absolutely timeless. It also hits on almost every genre of pop music possible. Besides the obvious standout mega-hits, “Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean,” “P.Y.T.,” "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and “Human Nature” are just as epic. Michael’s vocal talents are also something that people seem to take for granted. In “Beat It” he somehow blows most rock singers out of the water, while he was also able to perfectly smooth things with his soothing vibrato work on “Human Nature.”
We all need to understand that without this album the entire music world would have never been the same. I’m not saying it made it better or worse in the long run, but as far as being an entire package and its level of impact, it is undoubtedly one of the most important musical works ever created.
1. The Jackson 5 Motown Audition
At the tender age of 9, Michael Jackson and his brothers Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie went to Detroit for their now-famous Motown audition. The group performed James Brown’s hit "I Got the Feelin'" and obviously knocked that s*** out of the park. Berry Gordy wasn’t actually there, but the audition was filmed and sent to him to be viewed. Gordy's initial reluctance to sign the group disappeared when he finally saw the boys perform. Gordy, of course, decided to sign the group to Motown, and the rest is history. At times it kinda feels like Michael was four or five different people in the span of his career. The birth of Michael as a young artist is truly something to watch. The audition was critical to Michael’s career as well as the history of popular music. Without his time spent at Motown all the gifts he had to give would have never been shared with the world. At Motown he was lucky enough to work with (and learn from) so many amazing artists. His relationship with Diana Ross was legendary and their musical relationship definitely had a profound effect on him. If Michael had bombed this 1968 audition, pop music would have never evolved in the same way.
Source: http://www.spike.com/blog/top-5-michael/82792
MJJLaugh
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Sonu Niigaam's Tribute to Michael Jackson - MJ This One's For You
A tribute to Michael Jackson - MJ This One's For You. Song composed by Saikat Roy & Shankar R.,
Lyrics - Geetha Balsaara & Sowmya Raoh.
Singers - Sonu Niigaam, Natalie Di Luccio, Jonita Gandhi, George Kuruvilla, Devika Mathur, Parashar Joshi, Salman Asif. Mixing and Mastering - Pramod Chandorkar
Lyrics
MJ This One's for You
Verse 1:
You brought a song to everyone's lips
You moon walked your way through those crazy years
You struck us all with your magic
For us youre the 'King of Music'
The critics saw just a facet,
They said you stayed In the Closet
It killed you, but you still urged
To Come Together and 'Heal the World'
Chorus:
MJ, this ones for you
Now in death, hope you get your due
With heavy hearts, we bid adieu
We will always Love you....
Verse 2:
We do believe, you were a Child of God
A beacon of light, like a star you shone
A colorful life, be it 'Black or White'
You lived it all, in bright limelight
You asked us all 'Will you be there?'
We let you down, led you to despair
Forgive us, we didn't realize
You were for us, a blessing in disguise
Bridge:
Believe us now, for we've learnt our lesson
We miss you so, we wish our pain to lessen
Hope you've found peace up above somewhere
Everyone of us is saying a silent prayer
Chorus:
MJ, this ones for you
Now in death, hope you get your due
With heavy hearts, we bid adieu
We will always Love you....
A tribute to Michael Jackson - MJ This One's For You. Song composed by Saikat Roy & Shankar R.,
Lyrics - Geetha Balsaara & Sowmya Raoh.
Singers - Sonu Niigaam, Natalie Di Luccio, Jonita Gandhi, George Kuruvilla, Devika Mathur, Parashar Joshi, Salman Asif. Mixing and Mastering - Pramod Chandorkar
Lyrics
MJ This One's for You
Verse 1:
You brought a song to everyone's lips
You moon walked your way through those crazy years
You struck us all with your magic
For us youre the 'King of Music'
The critics saw just a facet,
They said you stayed In the Closet
It killed you, but you still urged
To Come Together and 'Heal the World'
Chorus:
MJ, this ones for you
Now in death, hope you get your due
With heavy hearts, we bid adieu
We will always Love you....
Verse 2:
We do believe, you were a Child of God
A beacon of light, like a star you shone
A colorful life, be it 'Black or White'
You lived it all, in bright limelight
You asked us all 'Will you be there?'
We let you down, led you to despair
Forgive us, we didn't realize
You were for us, a blessing in disguise
Bridge:
Believe us now, for we've learnt our lesson
We miss you so, we wish our pain to lessen
Hope you've found peace up above somewhere
Everyone of us is saying a silent prayer
Chorus:
MJ, this ones for you
Now in death, hope you get your due
With heavy hearts, we bid adieu
We will always Love you....
MJJLaugh
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Michael Jackson: His Lead Guitarist Jennifer Batten Gives a Rare Insight
posted March 5, 2010
March 05, 2010, (Sawf News) - One year ago today Michael Jackson announced his 'This Is It' concert run in a press conference at London's O2 arena. To mark the anniversary, Charles Thomson sat down with Jackson's long-serving guitarist Jennifer Batten, who told us what it was really like behind the scenes on a Michael Jackson tour.
Jennifer Batten... It might not ring any bells at first, but you'd probably recognize her if you saw her. She's not really a household name but she's an icon nonetheless.
Throughout the eighties and nineties she played in sold out stadiums all around the world. Her image was beamed into sitting rooms to audiences totaling several billion. Young girls everywhere wanted to be Jennifer Batten.
If you ever went to a Michael Jackson concert, watched his performances on TV or bought a ticket for Moonwalker then you'll know Jennifer Batten. She's Jackson's tall, slender, arresting guitarist, perhaps best known for her enormous mane of bright white hair.
"It was Michael's idea to have my hair turned snow white and big," Batten once said. "Often all you can see in the photos is Michael Jackson and my hair!"
Batten was Jackson's lead guitarist for a decade, accompanying the star on all three of his record-breaking world tours. At 29 years old she was plucked by the King of Pop from complete obscurity. Despite announcing to her mother at age 12 that she would become a professional guitarist, before Batten joined Jackson her touring experience was limited almost exclusively to a brief spell with an Elvis impersonator.
"We played down in American Samoa of all places," she laughs. "He had a brother that was a missionary on the island, so he set up the gig. Then we did another stint in Colorado because he had a brother there too. That was it."
Inspired by blues legends like BB King and Brownie McGee, Batten began playing guitar at the tender age of eight. As a young woman she attended the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.
"I was the only woman with 60 guys," she says. "I didn't have a problem with it. I could go practice in the bathroom because you get the natural reverb in there and I knew I wouldn't be bothered."
Audition for Bad Tour
After the Elvis gigs she lived for several years in San Diego, playing in cover bands. But soon she grew restless so she upped sticks and moved to Los Angeles in search of success on the music scene. It wasn't long before she fell into teaching at her former school, the Musicians Institute, and it was there - on one fateful day in 1987 - that Michael Jackson's representatives called asking for musicians to attend tour auditions.
"They were auditioning about a hundred people so it was pretty intense," she recalls. "When I went, there was just a video camera, no band. The only guidance I was given was to play some funk rhythm stuff so I did that, then I finished off with the Beat It solo because I had been playing that for years in cover bands. I think ultimately that's what got me the gig."
Winning her place on Jackson's Bad Tour in 1987 changed her life, she says. "It was like a paid vacation. I had been teaching and gigging pretty much seven nights a week and all of a sudden I'm on the biggest tour in the world making ten times the money and only working two or three days a week!"
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Bad Tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Bad Tour Rehearsal
Rehearsals began almost immediately and they were punishing; seven days a week for two solid months. For the first month the band, singers and dancers rehearsed separately. For the second they converged in a production studio, where every element of the show came together. It was here that Batten first met Michael Jackson.
"We heard that if he liked the music he'd start dancing and he did as soon as he walked through the door. We stopped and people who hadn't met him before were introduced to him. I remember seeing his manager Frank Dileo come in with the ponytail and the cigar. It was kind of surreal seeing the two of them together. I just remember Michael looked gorgeous close up. He was just beautiful.
"He was very much hands on and he was an extremely hard worker. By the end of rehearsals we were running the show a minimum of once a day, sometimes twice. I would say that's the number one thing I learned from him: the value of rehearsing that much and that intensely, because by the time we hit the stage everybody was relaxed."
Bad Tour
Opening night in Tokyo, she says, was 'very, very exciting'. "I'd never played for that many people before. On the road Michael took it up another notch. I mean, he was pretty full out at the last rehearsals anyway but that extra excitement of knowing there are people going nuts watching you... There's an extra amount of fire that you can feel onstage with everybody doing their best and trying to give 110%."
But soon after hitting the road, Batten discovered a more sinister side to working with Michael Jackson. "I was approached in the beginning by somebody who said I could make a lot of money by talking to the National Enquirer," she reveals. "I was just appalled. I thought 'that is just sick', you know? I just got this great gig. Why would I sabotage it like that? It seemed like a really evil thing to do."
Michael Jackson's Isolation
Batten grew to feel sorry for Jackson, who she says was trapped by his celebrity.
"If he wanted to go anywhere he had to alert the security and he had to really have it planned in advance. If he wanted to go to a store they would have to be called and shut it down for him. He was a prisoner of the hotel room, really."
Jackson compensated for this, she says, by treating himself and his entourage to special excursions. Sometimes he had theme parks closed to the public so that he and his team could enjoy them without being hounded.
"He did it first at the Tokyo Disneyland. That was just unbelievable. We would go on the rollercoaster rides and when we were done they would just ask us, 'Do you want to go around again?' We were very, very spoiled."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Bad Tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Post Bad Tour
The Bad Tour wound up in January 1989 and the group disbanded. In later years Sheryl Crow, a backing singer on the tour, would make several disparaging remarks about Jackson during interviews publicizing her own material. She said he was a diva, never bothering to learn people's names.
Batten refutes this. "I think singers in general are just nuts and ultra-sensitive. One night Michael called Sheryl 'Jennifer'," she giggles, "and I know that pissed her off. But it's like, so what? I mean, you got the biggest gig in the world and it's not like Michael was unaware of who was onstage with him. We were with him for a friggin' year and a half."
When the Bad Tour ended, Jackson retreated to the studio to begin work on the Dangerous album. Batten used this time to capitalize on the exposure that Jackson had given her, beginning work on her debut album.
Produced by Stevie Wonder alumnus Michael Sembello, 'Above, Below and Beyond' was released in 1992.
Dangerous Tour
In the same year, Batten was called back to work on Jackson's Dangerous Tour, giving her a perfect platform to market her solo work.
Despite widespread debate about his appearance and wellbeing, Batten says Jackson seemed like 'the same Michael', if slightly more fatigued.
"I noticed that he was busier and I remember that one time he came to rehearsals and just apologized for not having been there the last few days. He said, 'I was just showered with meetings' and he just repeated it with emotion, 'meeting after meeting after meeting'."
Jackson's heavy schedule dictated that he was 'limited in his rehearsal time', meaning that much of the set list was simply carried over from the Bad Tour. This was 'kind of disappointing' says Batten, because 'we all wanted to play the new stuff'. One of the few new tracks - Remember The Time - was cut from the show after a wardrobe malfunction.
"They had Egyptian costumes and the male dancers had these skirt kind of things. The first time we did it one of the dancers' costumes fell off," she cackles. "That was a little disturbing to Michael."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Dangerous Tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
The wardrobe malfunctions weren't limited to rehearsals, either. On tour Batten would appear every night wearing an enormous fibre-optic headdress. "At the end of Beat It everybody would run out on the stage," she remembers. "Invariably, I would be running at full force and somebody would step on my fibre-optic cable - it would pretty much knock my head off. That was kind of a drag."
At the end of each show, Jackson would exit the stage on a jet pack, floating over the audience's heads.
"He wanted to come out with the biggest show on earth," says Batten. "He wanted it to be like Christmas for people. His imagination was like a creative tornado. He would come up with his wildest dreams and then hire people to carry it out. It was really amazing to be a part of that."
Super Bowl performance
In January 1993 Batten accompanied Jackson for his legendary Super Bowl performance, which was watched by 1.5 billion people.
"I'll tell you, it was the only time I ever saw Michael nervous. It's live and there's only the time of a couple of potato chip commercials to get the stage out into the field. There's one scene where I'm on the corner of the stage with Michael and there's so much fog coming out that we both get lost for a second, but that's the beauty of live gigs. You never know what's going to happen. That was one of my favorite times because it was a one-off special thing that will never be repeated."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the 1993 Super Bowl performance. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Child Molestation Allegations
After the Super Bowl there was a long break before the second leg of the Dangerous Tour. Batten got antsy and left to pursue personal projects. It was during the second leg that allegations of child abuse were leveled at Jackson.
"I figured it was an extortion case, which I still figure it is," she says matter-of-factly. "Everybody was concerned about him. I think it pains all of us that he was so attacked and so unfairly. Most artists are sensitive and he was talented times ten, so ultra sensitive, and to be slung that kind of stuff... I mean, you can hear it in his lyrics. It's a real drag because you wonder what kind of music he would have come up with if people weren't attacking him like that."
The media, says Batten, has a lot to answer for over its coverage of the 1993 allegations.
"Honestly, I think it would have been considered uncool amongst the press to take Michael's side. I think it would take a brave soul to do that, which is really sad. Really pathetic. Even at the 2005 trial... I know people who were inside the courtroom and then they would watch the news at night and it was complete lies."
HIStory Tour
The case was settled in January 1994 and Jackson began work on his HIStory album. In 1996 Batten was brought back onboard for the accompanying HIStory Tour, although she recalls that it was 'very last minute':
"I got hired a week before I was supposed to start rehearsals, which was a real scramble. It was just nuts. I had to cancel some work."
The tour brought with it more costume problems for Batten, who describes her black latex get-up as 'just dreadful'.
"That mask I had to wear was just ugh... ghastly. Somebody had shown Michael an art book that was kind of S&M based and all the paintings looked really beautiful. So he had that in mind but when it came to real life it wasn't too beautiful anymore," she laughs. "I just had to remind myself that it was all about the theatre, you know? It's not just about the music."
Indeed, the tour provoked criticism from some fans who said that there was too much emphasis on theatre and not enough on the music, with much of each concert appearing to be lip-synched.
Fans' explanations have ranged from nodules to laryngitis, but while she won't be drawn on the subject of miming, Batten says she never heard anything about Jackson suffering from any throat problems.
"In fact," she adds, "every night he'd be warming up with his vocal coach. You could hear him doing arpeggios from his dressing room."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the HIStory tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Michael's on stage appearances with children
Batten says that initially she was alarmed by Jackson's decision to end each concert flanked on either side by young children.
"At the end of the show he would disappear down an elevator in the stage with a little boy and a little girl. At first I thought, 'God, because of the allegations you'd think he wouldn't do that'. But then I thought, 'You know what, he hasn't done anything wrong so why the hell should he change his life?' I think that was a little bit of giving a finger to his critics."
The HIStory Tour lasted into the Summer of 1997 and would mark the end of the pair's working relationship, but Batten says she never felt disappointed that he didn't bring her back.
"I would just go off and work on my own career. If he calls, great, and if he doesn't, great. It's been a great ride with him anyway."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the HIStory tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Michael's Death
Batten says she was out driving on June 25, 2009 when an acquaintance called to tell her about rumors of Jackson's death.
"I didn't really believe it when he told me because I had heard so many rumors about Michael over the years, false alarms about everything. I thought, 'Yea, right'. I saw it was true when I got home and I had mixed feelings. I was sad but in a way I thought power to him for going to the other side, because of all the torture that had come at him. I just can't imagine living with that."
In the weeks after Jackson's death Batten says she was unable to watch the media coverage, knowing how much of it was false.
"They were respectful for about two or three hours and then they turned it into a tabloid festival," she laments.
"I just couldn't watch it. There were a lot of specials on about him and once in a while I would turn one on and it was just sh*t. I guess it makes money to just bring up negativity and stir up controversy but it's pathetic and I just can't watch it. It's all about money now, not about truth. People can be very cold."
This Is It movie
But unlike some of Jackson's friends, Batten says she was able to bring herself to watch This Is It, even if she did have mixed feelings about it.
"I hadn't seen any video of him for years and just to see his talent, even when he wasn't going full out, the way he sang Human Nature was just chilling. The way his body moves - there was just no other dancer in the world that was like that. So I enjoyed it."
But thanks to a close friendship with Jackson's make-up artist Karen Faye, who worked with the star during his This Is It rehearsals, Batten says she's able to see the other side of the coin. Since Jackson's death Faye has written on her facebook page that Jackson was frail, cold to the touch and losing weight rapidly.
"She was closer to Michael than anyone," says Batten, "She warned people that he was not well but everybody ignored her. You didn't see it on the screen because they took every day that he rehearsed and pieced together the best bits. You didn't see him when he was struggling up a ramp because he didn't have any energy and he hadn't eaten for two days. They're not going to put that in the film. I mean, one of the songs he was wearing four different costumes. That just tells me that he never sang the song fully through."
Nowadays Batten is focusing on her own career. As well as writing new music ("I'm getting into acoustic stuff, which I haven't done since I was 14") she has spent much of 2010 touring the world with her pioneering one-woman multimedia show. Last month she performed all over the UK and she's currently on the road in Japan.
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Batten post Michael Jackson
"I've been doing a multimedia tour for a couple of years now where all of my tracks are cut to film," she explains. "I thought about what it would take to get a band together and the expense involved. I thought, 'Well, there's got to be a way I can do this myself'. So I came up with the idea of film. If people want to just watch my fingers then fine but it's not all that entertaining for 90 minutes.
"I had four filmmakers contribute films and that's it. One of them showed me how to do it myself and now most of the films are ones that I've made. So I've been really obsessed with that part of it as well."
When she's not overseas Batten has taken to exploring territory closer to home. "I bought a motor home so I can travel around America doing my show," she says. "I've got 40,000 miles on it already and it's kind of cool to see my own country for a change.
"I'm just taking things into my own hands and not waiting for the phone to ring. I'm having a ball!"
Source: http://www.sawfnews.com/Entertainment/62954.aspx
posted March 5, 2010
March 05, 2010, (Sawf News) - One year ago today Michael Jackson announced his 'This Is It' concert run in a press conference at London's O2 arena. To mark the anniversary, Charles Thomson sat down with Jackson's long-serving guitarist Jennifer Batten, who told us what it was really like behind the scenes on a Michael Jackson tour.
Jennifer Batten... It might not ring any bells at first, but you'd probably recognize her if you saw her. She's not really a household name but she's an icon nonetheless.
Throughout the eighties and nineties she played in sold out stadiums all around the world. Her image was beamed into sitting rooms to audiences totaling several billion. Young girls everywhere wanted to be Jennifer Batten.
If you ever went to a Michael Jackson concert, watched his performances on TV or bought a ticket for Moonwalker then you'll know Jennifer Batten. She's Jackson's tall, slender, arresting guitarist, perhaps best known for her enormous mane of bright white hair.
"It was Michael's idea to have my hair turned snow white and big," Batten once said. "Often all you can see in the photos is Michael Jackson and my hair!"
Batten was Jackson's lead guitarist for a decade, accompanying the star on all three of his record-breaking world tours. At 29 years old she was plucked by the King of Pop from complete obscurity. Despite announcing to her mother at age 12 that she would become a professional guitarist, before Batten joined Jackson her touring experience was limited almost exclusively to a brief spell with an Elvis impersonator.
"We played down in American Samoa of all places," she laughs. "He had a brother that was a missionary on the island, so he set up the gig. Then we did another stint in Colorado because he had a brother there too. That was it."
Inspired by blues legends like BB King and Brownie McGee, Batten began playing guitar at the tender age of eight. As a young woman she attended the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.
"I was the only woman with 60 guys," she says. "I didn't have a problem with it. I could go practice in the bathroom because you get the natural reverb in there and I knew I wouldn't be bothered."
Audition for Bad Tour
After the Elvis gigs she lived for several years in San Diego, playing in cover bands. But soon she grew restless so she upped sticks and moved to Los Angeles in search of success on the music scene. It wasn't long before she fell into teaching at her former school, the Musicians Institute, and it was there - on one fateful day in 1987 - that Michael Jackson's representatives called asking for musicians to attend tour auditions.
"They were auditioning about a hundred people so it was pretty intense," she recalls. "When I went, there was just a video camera, no band. The only guidance I was given was to play some funk rhythm stuff so I did that, then I finished off with the Beat It solo because I had been playing that for years in cover bands. I think ultimately that's what got me the gig."
Winning her place on Jackson's Bad Tour in 1987 changed her life, she says. "It was like a paid vacation. I had been teaching and gigging pretty much seven nights a week and all of a sudden I'm on the biggest tour in the world making ten times the money and only working two or three days a week!"
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Bad Tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Bad Tour Rehearsal
Rehearsals began almost immediately and they were punishing; seven days a week for two solid months. For the first month the band, singers and dancers rehearsed separately. For the second they converged in a production studio, where every element of the show came together. It was here that Batten first met Michael Jackson.
"We heard that if he liked the music he'd start dancing and he did as soon as he walked through the door. We stopped and people who hadn't met him before were introduced to him. I remember seeing his manager Frank Dileo come in with the ponytail and the cigar. It was kind of surreal seeing the two of them together. I just remember Michael looked gorgeous close up. He was just beautiful.
"He was very much hands on and he was an extremely hard worker. By the end of rehearsals we were running the show a minimum of once a day, sometimes twice. I would say that's the number one thing I learned from him: the value of rehearsing that much and that intensely, because by the time we hit the stage everybody was relaxed."
Bad Tour
Opening night in Tokyo, she says, was 'very, very exciting'. "I'd never played for that many people before. On the road Michael took it up another notch. I mean, he was pretty full out at the last rehearsals anyway but that extra excitement of knowing there are people going nuts watching you... There's an extra amount of fire that you can feel onstage with everybody doing their best and trying to give 110%."
But soon after hitting the road, Batten discovered a more sinister side to working with Michael Jackson. "I was approached in the beginning by somebody who said I could make a lot of money by talking to the National Enquirer," she reveals. "I was just appalled. I thought 'that is just sick', you know? I just got this great gig. Why would I sabotage it like that? It seemed like a really evil thing to do."
Michael Jackson's Isolation
Batten grew to feel sorry for Jackson, who she says was trapped by his celebrity.
"If he wanted to go anywhere he had to alert the security and he had to really have it planned in advance. If he wanted to go to a store they would have to be called and shut it down for him. He was a prisoner of the hotel room, really."
Jackson compensated for this, she says, by treating himself and his entourage to special excursions. Sometimes he had theme parks closed to the public so that he and his team could enjoy them without being hounded.
"He did it first at the Tokyo Disneyland. That was just unbelievable. We would go on the rollercoaster rides and when we were done they would just ask us, 'Do you want to go around again?' We were very, very spoiled."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Bad Tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Post Bad Tour
The Bad Tour wound up in January 1989 and the group disbanded. In later years Sheryl Crow, a backing singer on the tour, would make several disparaging remarks about Jackson during interviews publicizing her own material. She said he was a diva, never bothering to learn people's names.
Batten refutes this. "I think singers in general are just nuts and ultra-sensitive. One night Michael called Sheryl 'Jennifer'," she giggles, "and I know that pissed her off. But it's like, so what? I mean, you got the biggest gig in the world and it's not like Michael was unaware of who was onstage with him. We were with him for a friggin' year and a half."
When the Bad Tour ended, Jackson retreated to the studio to begin work on the Dangerous album. Batten used this time to capitalize on the exposure that Jackson had given her, beginning work on her debut album.
Produced by Stevie Wonder alumnus Michael Sembello, 'Above, Below and Beyond' was released in 1992.
Dangerous Tour
In the same year, Batten was called back to work on Jackson's Dangerous Tour, giving her a perfect platform to market her solo work.
Despite widespread debate about his appearance and wellbeing, Batten says Jackson seemed like 'the same Michael', if slightly more fatigued.
"I noticed that he was busier and I remember that one time he came to rehearsals and just apologized for not having been there the last few days. He said, 'I was just showered with meetings' and he just repeated it with emotion, 'meeting after meeting after meeting'."
Jackson's heavy schedule dictated that he was 'limited in his rehearsal time', meaning that much of the set list was simply carried over from the Bad Tour. This was 'kind of disappointing' says Batten, because 'we all wanted to play the new stuff'. One of the few new tracks - Remember The Time - was cut from the show after a wardrobe malfunction.
"They had Egyptian costumes and the male dancers had these skirt kind of things. The first time we did it one of the dancers' costumes fell off," she cackles. "That was a little disturbing to Michael."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Dangerous Tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
The wardrobe malfunctions weren't limited to rehearsals, either. On tour Batten would appear every night wearing an enormous fibre-optic headdress. "At the end of Beat It everybody would run out on the stage," she remembers. "Invariably, I would be running at full force and somebody would step on my fibre-optic cable - it would pretty much knock my head off. That was kind of a drag."
At the end of each show, Jackson would exit the stage on a jet pack, floating over the audience's heads.
"He wanted to come out with the biggest show on earth," says Batten. "He wanted it to be like Christmas for people. His imagination was like a creative tornado. He would come up with his wildest dreams and then hire people to carry it out. It was really amazing to be a part of that."
Super Bowl performance
In January 1993 Batten accompanied Jackson for his legendary Super Bowl performance, which was watched by 1.5 billion people.
"I'll tell you, it was the only time I ever saw Michael nervous. It's live and there's only the time of a couple of potato chip commercials to get the stage out into the field. There's one scene where I'm on the corner of the stage with Michael and there's so much fog coming out that we both get lost for a second, but that's the beauty of live gigs. You never know what's going to happen. That was one of my favorite times because it was a one-off special thing that will never be repeated."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the 1993 Super Bowl performance. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Child Molestation Allegations
After the Super Bowl there was a long break before the second leg of the Dangerous Tour. Batten got antsy and left to pursue personal projects. It was during the second leg that allegations of child abuse were leveled at Jackson.
"I figured it was an extortion case, which I still figure it is," she says matter-of-factly. "Everybody was concerned about him. I think it pains all of us that he was so attacked and so unfairly. Most artists are sensitive and he was talented times ten, so ultra sensitive, and to be slung that kind of stuff... I mean, you can hear it in his lyrics. It's a real drag because you wonder what kind of music he would have come up with if people weren't attacking him like that."
The media, says Batten, has a lot to answer for over its coverage of the 1993 allegations.
"Honestly, I think it would have been considered uncool amongst the press to take Michael's side. I think it would take a brave soul to do that, which is really sad. Really pathetic. Even at the 2005 trial... I know people who were inside the courtroom and then they would watch the news at night and it was complete lies."
HIStory Tour
The case was settled in January 1994 and Jackson began work on his HIStory album. In 1996 Batten was brought back onboard for the accompanying HIStory Tour, although she recalls that it was 'very last minute':
"I got hired a week before I was supposed to start rehearsals, which was a real scramble. It was just nuts. I had to cancel some work."
The tour brought with it more costume problems for Batten, who describes her black latex get-up as 'just dreadful'.
"That mask I had to wear was just ugh... ghastly. Somebody had shown Michael an art book that was kind of S&M based and all the paintings looked really beautiful. So he had that in mind but when it came to real life it wasn't too beautiful anymore," she laughs. "I just had to remind myself that it was all about the theatre, you know? It's not just about the music."
Indeed, the tour provoked criticism from some fans who said that there was too much emphasis on theatre and not enough on the music, with much of each concert appearing to be lip-synched.
Fans' explanations have ranged from nodules to laryngitis, but while she won't be drawn on the subject of miming, Batten says she never heard anything about Jackson suffering from any throat problems.
"In fact," she adds, "every night he'd be warming up with his vocal coach. You could hear him doing arpeggios from his dressing room."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the HIStory tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Michael's on stage appearances with children
Batten says that initially she was alarmed by Jackson's decision to end each concert flanked on either side by young children.
"At the end of the show he would disappear down an elevator in the stage with a little boy and a little girl. At first I thought, 'God, because of the allegations you'd think he wouldn't do that'. But then I thought, 'You know what, he hasn't done anything wrong so why the hell should he change his life?' I think that was a little bit of giving a finger to his critics."
The HIStory Tour lasted into the Summer of 1997 and would mark the end of the pair's working relationship, but Batten says she never felt disappointed that he didn't bring her back.
"I would just go off and work on my own career. If he calls, great, and if he doesn't, great. It's been a great ride with him anyway."
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the HIStory tour. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Michael's Death
Batten says she was out driving on June 25, 2009 when an acquaintance called to tell her about rumors of Jackson's death.
"I didn't really believe it when he told me because I had heard so many rumors about Michael over the years, false alarms about everything. I thought, 'Yea, right'. I saw it was true when I got home and I had mixed feelings. I was sad but in a way I thought power to him for going to the other side, because of all the torture that had come at him. I just can't imagine living with that."
In the weeks after Jackson's death Batten says she was unable to watch the media coverage, knowing how much of it was false.
"They were respectful for about two or three hours and then they turned it into a tabloid festival," she laments.
"I just couldn't watch it. There were a lot of specials on about him and once in a while I would turn one on and it was just sh*t. I guess it makes money to just bring up negativity and stir up controversy but it's pathetic and I just can't watch it. It's all about money now, not about truth. People can be very cold."
This Is It movie
But unlike some of Jackson's friends, Batten says she was able to bring herself to watch This Is It, even if she did have mixed feelings about it.
"I hadn't seen any video of him for years and just to see his talent, even when he wasn't going full out, the way he sang Human Nature was just chilling. The way his body moves - there was just no other dancer in the world that was like that. So I enjoyed it."
But thanks to a close friendship with Jackson's make-up artist Karen Faye, who worked with the star during his This Is It rehearsals, Batten says she's able to see the other side of the coin. Since Jackson's death Faye has written on her facebook page that Jackson was frail, cold to the touch and losing weight rapidly.
"She was closer to Michael than anyone," says Batten, "She warned people that he was not well but everybody ignored her. You didn't see it on the screen because they took every day that he rehearsed and pieced together the best bits. You didn't see him when he was struggling up a ramp because he didn't have any energy and he hadn't eaten for two days. They're not going to put that in the film. I mean, one of the songs he was wearing four different costumes. That just tells me that he never sang the song fully through."
Nowadays Batten is focusing on her own career. As well as writing new music ("I'm getting into acoustic stuff, which I haven't done since I was 14") she has spent much of 2010 touring the world with her pioneering one-woman multimedia show. Last month she performed all over the UK and she's currently on the road in Japan.
Michael Jackson and Jennifer Batten. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Batten post Michael Jackson
"I've been doing a multimedia tour for a couple of years now where all of my tracks are cut to film," she explains. "I thought about what it would take to get a band together and the expense involved. I thought, 'Well, there's got to be a way I can do this myself'. So I came up with the idea of film. If people want to just watch my fingers then fine but it's not all that entertaining for 90 minutes.
"I had four filmmakers contribute films and that's it. One of them showed me how to do it myself and now most of the films are ones that I've made. So I've been really obsessed with that part of it as well."
When she's not overseas Batten has taken to exploring territory closer to home. "I bought a motor home so I can travel around America doing my show," she says. "I've got 40,000 miles on it already and it's kind of cool to see my own country for a change.
"I'm just taking things into my own hands and not waiting for the phone to ring. I'm having a ball!"
Source: http://www.sawfnews.com/Entertainment/62954.aspx
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Michael Jackson and Disney
Michael Jackson Disney Adventures Magazine Cover June 1993
I'm a collector of cartoons. All the Disney stuff, Bugs Bunny, the old MGM ones. It's real escapism, it's like everything's alright. It's like the world is happening now in a far away city. Everything's fine.
- Michael Jackson
Pop star Michael Jackson (left) at Disney-MGM Studios with Macaulay Culkin on June 24, 1991.
Singer Michael Jackson pauses during a visit to Walt Disney World Epcot Center to sign an autograph for a tiny fan. Jackson was vacationing at the Disney resort complex in1983.
A setting from the Michael Jackson suite in Lake Buena Vista, FL in 1984.
The door to the Michael Jackson suite at Lake Buena Vista in 1984.
Michael Jackson arrived at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom dressed appropriately in a Mickey Mouse tee shirt. Jackson was vacationing at the Disney resort complex in 1983
Mickey Mouse welcomes Michael Jackson to the Magic Kingdom during the singer's vacation visit to Walt Disney World in Florida. 1983.
Michael Jackson visits Central florida theme parks in February, 1993.
Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...-world-pictures-062509,0,5688797.photogallery
Michael Jackson Disney Adventures Magazine Cover June 1993
I'm a collector of cartoons. All the Disney stuff, Bugs Bunny, the old MGM ones. It's real escapism, it's like everything's alright. It's like the world is happening now in a far away city. Everything's fine.
- Michael Jackson
Pop star Michael Jackson (left) at Disney-MGM Studios with Macaulay Culkin on June 24, 1991.
Singer Michael Jackson pauses during a visit to Walt Disney World Epcot Center to sign an autograph for a tiny fan. Jackson was vacationing at the Disney resort complex in1983.
A setting from the Michael Jackson suite in Lake Buena Vista, FL in 1984.
The door to the Michael Jackson suite at Lake Buena Vista in 1984.
Michael Jackson arrived at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom dressed appropriately in a Mickey Mouse tee shirt. Jackson was vacationing at the Disney resort complex in 1983
Mickey Mouse welcomes Michael Jackson to the Magic Kingdom during the singer's vacation visit to Walt Disney World in Florida. 1983.
Michael Jackson visits Central florida theme parks in February, 1993.
Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...-world-pictures-062509,0,5688797.photogallery
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