MJ mayhem...
If anyone aged 35 or younger hasn't ever heard a song by the recently departed king of pop, now is their chance.
The past weekend has been an overdose of Michael Jackson tributes and trivia. News channels and newspapers are probably only too pleased to fill their news space and up their ratings with tit bits of MJ's all time top hits, facts about his complicated life and everything in between.
It is enough to make even the most stubborn of music lovers shrug in disgust. Everyone patronising the singer now that he is no more.
Is it too early for us to ignore all the suspicious behaviour this larger-than-life star, possessed? Too rude to suggest that we too orchestrated his deranged recent behaviour by accepting a piece of him through never-ending media reports or outrageous interviews?
While most of us 'oooh-ed' and 'aah-ed' at his trademark Moonwalk routine, we also 'tch-ed, tch-ed' over his antics of dangling an infant from a high rise hotel building. So who are we kidding? We never really wanted to openly declare our love for him in recent times. Perhaps a few million fans who bought all the tickets from an upcoming, but never to be, 50-day concert will disagree.
It has become impossible for a music video generation such as my own to separate the musician from his music. Kurt Cobain may have been a very good singer but he also died of a drug overdose as did Janis Joplin and that never stopped them from becoming legends of their time. We aren’t satisfied with the music alone. We must know where the artist eats, who he or she sleeps with and how they treat their children. You can’t appreciate Amy Winehouse because she ought to be in rehab instead of on stage. The price of fame maybe but that spotlight should go off at some point, right?
Like him or loathe him there’s nothing that’s going to stop Michael Jackson from being put up on a pedestal for his musical contribution. For 'The way he made you feel' when you listened to his music and tapped your feet to ‘Beat it,’ ‘Billy Jean’ or ‘Smooth Criminal.’
His fans will forgive his misdemeanors, his shortcomings and his final abrupt goodbye and hold on to images of a happier boy who never really grew up and probably sang his heart out till it could sing no more.
The past weekend has been an overdose of Michael Jackson tributes and trivia. News channels and newspapers are probably only too pleased to fill their news space and up their ratings with tit bits of MJ's all time top hits, facts about his complicated life and everything in between.
It is enough to make even the most stubborn of music lovers shrug in disgust. Everyone patronising the singer now that he is no more.
Is it too early for us to ignore all the suspicious behaviour this larger-than-life star, possessed? Too rude to suggest that we too orchestrated his deranged recent behaviour by accepting a piece of him through never-ending media reports or outrageous interviews?
While most of us 'oooh-ed' and 'aah-ed' at his trademark Moonwalk routine, we also 'tch-ed, tch-ed' over his antics of dangling an infant from a high rise hotel building. So who are we kidding? We never really wanted to openly declare our love for him in recent times. Perhaps a few million fans who bought all the tickets from an upcoming, but never to be, 50-day concert will disagree.
It has become impossible for a music video generation such as my own to separate the musician from his music. Kurt Cobain may have been a very good singer but he also died of a drug overdose as did Janis Joplin and that never stopped them from becoming legends of their time. We aren’t satisfied with the music alone. We must know where the artist eats, who he or she sleeps with and how they treat their children. You can’t appreciate Amy Winehouse because she ought to be in rehab instead of on stage. The price of fame maybe but that spotlight should go off at some point, right?
Like him or loathe him there’s nothing that’s going to stop Michael Jackson from being put up on a pedestal for his musical contribution. For 'The way he made you feel' when you listened to his music and tapped your feet to ‘Beat it,’ ‘Billy Jean’ or ‘Smooth Criminal.’
His fans will forgive his misdemeanors, his shortcomings and his final abrupt goodbye and hold on to images of a happier boy who never really grew up and probably sang his heart out till it could sing no more.
I agree- I have swung the spectrum from being broken hearted on the day he died to pure indifference over the last few days.
ReplyDeleteHow bad is too bad- its ones own private scale of judgement that defines it. If at all.
Till we can figure that one out- we just remember and enjoy his music.
Well put Dev. Dislike the fact that everyone is pouncing on ur Facebook status, almost as if its not permissible to have an opinion:)
ReplyDeleteHmmm - I never thought I would be so moved after he passed away due to his recent image. You were constantly posed the dilemma on how you should judge him. Do you judge him as an individual or as an artist? He was aquitted and yet the scars remain as you always wondered what if there was any truth behind all the allegations. Even when he looked odd with all his plastic surgery, he seemed so liberated and happy when he performed just like the kid singing ABC - 123. Such tragedy for a person who created so much joy, dance and entertainment with his music!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a sad way to go...The music will certainly connect a multitude of international fans to the one voice that transcended his controversial life. Take care Y, and thanks for writing in.
ReplyDeletevery nice, exactly how i feel! can we stop being hypocritical for chrissakes?? we dissect them to insanity, then ridicule them, and as soon as they die we do a volte face and deify them!! dont know who's sicker, them or us!
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb...guess the singer was right when he asked the Man in the Mirror to change our ways! Cheesy but true.
ReplyDeleteVery well written , Abi !! You have communicated exactly what his die-hard fans believe. I hope after his death, they will all remember him for the music he created rather than the controversies.
ReplyDeleteTks Glenn.
ReplyDelete