QotD: RIP MJ

What's your favorite Michael Jackson song? Bonus points if you share the video.

Hands down, "Beat It" (though "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is a close second).  It's just an amazing song, and how can you go wrong with the Eddie Van Halen guitar solo?  I'm trying to learn the choreography at the end of the video because I think it's badass, and I was only able to do a sad imitation of a couple of the moves at the 80s party.  (The thing about Michael Jackson's video choreographies is that he makes them look really easy, and when you try them yourself, they are SO HARD. I learned this last year when we did the "Thriller" choreography). 

Michael Jackson - Beat It

I've been thinking of an entry for a couple of days, but my thoughts were so scattered that I couldn't just sit and put them down. I'm not going to pretend to be an ardent Michael Jackson fan.  I love his music from the 80s and early 90s; my parents have been playing Thriller since I could remember, so it's no surprise that most of my favorite songs of his are from that album.  But the past 15 years or so, I've been quite critical of him and his  controversies.  Even more, I was just saddened at his obvious decline and personal problems.  Maybe some people enjoy watching celebrities fade into obscurity and become trainwrecks, but I never did.  I think it was hard to be a fan in the past decade, though I never let his notoriety get in the way of enjoying his earlier music.  It was just hard to take him seriously anymore. 

I went through a phase at the beginning of this year where I listened to his old hits and watched his videos.  It saddened me to see him so full of talent and youth in the earlier videos.  It made me wonder what his legacy would be when he died.  Would he be remembered for his incredible musical legacy, or for his personal tragedies?  I didn't expect to see an answer to my question so soon.  I always assumed Michael Jackson would be one of those reclusive old celebrities, where I would reminsice about his glory days with my children.  I found out about his death via Twitter, and my stomach churned when I read he was dead.  I was just in shock.  Despite everything, he's a musical icon; he's the Elvis Presley of the 80s generation (sadly, in more ways than one.)  How can icons die so young, at only 50?  I obsessively refreshed cnn.com, because it just didn't seem real unless they said so (of course, CNN ended up being one of the last major media outlets to confirm his death). 

Like many people from Gen X and Gen Y, I grew up with Michael Jackson.  He literally was always THERE.  Thriller was released two years before I was born, so even though he was very popular when I was growing up, I wasn't alive to see him at his peak.  My mother was pregnant with me when his revolutionary video "Thriller" was released.  I can only remember his videos from the Dangerous album being released, not Bad because I was still too young.  Luckily, I am old enough to remember when Michael Jackson was still considered a true pop idol-sure, there were questions on why his skin was so white, but no one ever considered him a pedophile back then.  Sadly, along with his hits, I also remember every crazy story - the shock of hearing that Michael Jackson may have molested a child, seeing his tearful plea of innocence on TV, the interviews with Lisa Marie Presley and their kiss on MTV. 

After the party was finished on early Sunday morning, my friends and I watched a tribute to Michael Jackson performed by the Phillipine prisoners, and it was then that I felt really sad, for the first time.  I mourned that the sweet little boy singing "I'll Be There" would grow up to have so much material wealth, but so little of what really matters in life - love, friendship, happiness. I am so glad to see that Michael Jackson is rightfully being remembered for his musical genius and influence. But I think in many ways, the real Michael Jackson died a long time ago, perhaps even before my birth.  I hope that he's in a better place. And now, all his personal, publicized tragedies are no longer relevant.  I'll continue to remember him for his wonderful music and for the joy I feel when I hear it, just like it should be.