Michael Jackson had a huge impact on me throughout my entire life. From my childhood, I remember he sang the soundtrack to the first movie I had ever seen in my life, Free Willy. I tried to mimic his moon walk, as every young kid did. In my adolescence years, I began to listen to Michael more and more. I love all of his songs! Smooth Criminal is my favorite. The way he moved, the suits he wore, i found his whole demeanor fascinating. I liked his flashiness, his style, but I never really grasped the words and the message of the songs until later when I actually understood what he meant. As an adult, I truly take every word of every song he ever wrote to heart.
Some of my favorite Michael Jackson songs (In no particular order):
- Smooth Criminal
- Thriller
- Beat It
- Billy Jean
- Man In The Mirror
- Human Nature
- ABC
- Don't Stop Until You Get Enough
- You Wanna Be Starting Somethin'
- Black or White
- Childhood
- Ben
This is the song that Michael said was the most personal he EVER wrote. I hope it makes some of you understand him as a person, and a philosopher a little better. Pay attention to the words because he is explaining his life -- past, present, and future.
As time went on, the media and tabloids portrayed him as a child molester. I admit, I questioned the allegations as well, but regardless, he was a great entertainer. Michael admitted to having an abusive father, this deeply scarred him for life. He once said in an interview that he was changing his appearance more and more because every time he looked in a mirror, he saw his father. Michael was a philosopher, a philanthropist, a child stuck in a man's body. He loved children, simply put. I believe Neverland Ranch was a symbolic piece of evidence pertaining to "neverland" in the Peter Pan story - where the children never grew up. "Its been my fate to compensate... for the child I've never known..." from the song, Childhood. He was not all those things the tabloids made him out to be, it was meant to be an innocent gesture, but the world has lost all innocence...
We will never know the pain Michael felt from an abusive childhood, the accusations of child molestation, and perhaps the most painful -- the lost faith from his fans. We all have demons we struggle to fight within, as did Michael Jackson. I only wish I could have seen him perform live. Its so sad because he did not intend to go out like that. He scheduled a tour of 50 farewell concerts in London. This was not the farewell he wanted...
Michael Jackson wanted all of us to change the world.
Rest Easy Michael Jackson. You will greatly be missed, but your words will continue to live through others.
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