Line Out Music & Nightlife

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Dust Bin My Dreams for Michael Jackson

Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 8:23 PM

"Of course, it's like he's been dead for years," said a friend discussing Michael Jackson. I got her point, but, um, NOW HE'S DEAD, and any latent dreams of Jackson executing some miraculous third-act comeback (in my dreams, this always involved Rick Rubin, ala Johnny Cash) die with him.

The period has been placed at the end of the sentence. His art will not redeem him. He's a one-of-a-kind musical genius who went crazy, played with morphing his race and gender, slept with children, was repeatedly acquitted of child-molestation charges, and then died, alone and broke.

It's enough to make you cry.

Here's one of the many great songs off Michael's underrated Dangerous.

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Comments (8) RSS

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smade 1
If only OJ could break off one more 70 yard touchdown run. Then when he dies we'll all remember him for the amazing thrills he gave football fans in the 1970s. What a poor misunderstood acquitted hero.
Posted by smade on June 25, 2009 at 9:18 PM
2
This is well said, David.

I had an unspoken wish that Michael would someday achieve redemption. It's silly, really. Redemption is never truly achievable. I think what I really wanted was to go back in time and re-live some lost piece of my childhood. As a kid growing up in California, I worshipped Michael. His superstardom coincided with my entry into adolescence and his eventual fall from grace coincided with my own loss of innocence. His redemption may have meant my own, I suppose.

But really, who wouldn't want to be like Michael? He saved the girl by commanding the UNDEAD with an amazing voice and killer moves. He made them dance for crying out loud!

And all without a trace of irony.
Posted by R_M_H on June 25, 2009 at 9:19 PM
3
1 proves my point. Such snarky comments will and should be part of Michael Jackson's legacy.
Posted by David Schmader on June 25, 2009 at 9:37 PM
4
Ladies and gentlemen, we have entered David Schmader's No-Snark-Zone.
Posted by Meatbot 3000 on June 25, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Violet_DaGrinder 5
Nicely said.

And yeah, Dangerous is a really wonderful album, and I've always fucking loved that video. It DEFINED male and female beauty for me when I was a young teenager. I still think he was gorgeous then.
Posted by Violet_DaGrinder http://www.imeem.com/jukeboxmusic51/music/y1malqpG/prince-the-new-power-generation-featuring-eric-leeds-on-f/ on June 25, 2009 at 10:33 PM
Estey 6
Looking at younger photos of Michael, I have this strange urge to write a French science fiction style alternate history of his career, with him collaborating with Betty Davis, Gil Scott Heron, and eventually Dave Allen from Gang of Four. Doing an album with Negativland. Producing a Run DMC album.

Unfortunately, David, you can't have your Jackson/Rick Rubin fantasy, as I was saving that for Frank Sinatra.
Posted by Estey on June 26, 2009 at 7:04 AM
eric (the other one) 7
I try to imagine an alternate timeline in which he had someone--one person!--who cared about him as a human being as opposed to a revenue source, and might have stepped in before he became a crazy child-raping white woman.
Posted by eric (the other one) on June 26, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Estey 8
Well, hey, I sort of meant that too. But you're right, that would be the more important focus of an alternate history.
Posted by Estey on June 26, 2009 at 11:55 AM

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