"I've Been a Victim of a Selfish Kind of Love"

June 25, 2009 11:36 PM

remember this one time in high school. Me and some friends were in my friend's car. My friend's brother was also there. He was listening to HIStory on his Walkman. I made fun of him for it. I made fun of him for it because I was weak and stupid and because I was more concerned with being perceived as cool than I was with being honest. Because, although I railed against Michael Jackson, the truth was that I loved Michael Jackson.

I remember being ten years old and buying Dangerous on tape. It was the first album I remember buying (though not the first CD--that was Green Day's Dookie). I remember listening to all of the songs and being blown away, but also feeling like it was vaguely too adult for me. Still, I loved it.

After that, I started listening to all his older stuff. Thriller and Bad were friggin' mind-blowing. It was like every song on those albums was a perfect little piece of infectious earwormory. I loved the spoken-word part in "Thriller," the innuendo of "Dirty Diana," and the energy of "Smooth Criminal." And I didn't mind the preachiness of "Man in the Mirror" one bit. In fact, that remains one of my favorite songs.

I listened to Michael Jackson before I listened to rock music. I loved Michael Jackson long before I had any idea who Billy Corgan or Kurt Cobain were. Michael Jackson was the first musical figure outside of the Smurfs or the Chipmunks that I listened to over and over again. My appreciation for whatever sort of music I listen to now starts, on some level, with Michael Jackson.

The man was probably crazy, and he may have been a horrible sexual deviant, but he was undeniably an amazing singer and an unparalleled performer.

I might be in the minority, but I, for one, think that the musical world has suffered a loss. And I'm sorry that we won't get to see what the Moonwalker had in store for us in the future.

1 Comments

The Reeg said:

D. called me last night the second he found out about it. He was more upset about it than I've seen him be over the death of a celebrity, which makes sense--he grew up entering raffles to win the white gloves and tickets to Michael Jackson concerts and stuff. Part of me is glad that there's one less kid diddler on the planet, and the other part recognizes he was an amazing artist and it's sad that his days are over.

June 26, 2009 5:04 PM

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