He missed his childhood and now he’s gonna miss his old age.<\/p>\n
How fucked up is that?<\/p>\n
Michael Jackson never had a chance.\u00c2\u00a0 He had to succeed for his family, his parents’ dreams were dependent upon him.<\/p>\n
And a boy with that much pressure delivers.\u00c2\u00a0 He works truly hard, so he will be loved.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s all Michael Jackson was looking for, love.<\/p>\n
He wanted to be accepted.\u00c2\u00a0 Wanted to be so good that he couldn’t be denied.\u00c2\u00a0 But you can’t change family history, and the public no longer treats you as human, as an equal, once you break through.\u00c2\u00a0 People want to rip you off or tear you down, or shower you in faux love that’s more about their unfulfilled desires than yours.\u00c2\u00a0 It gets so confusing that you retreat.<\/p>\n
The Jackson 5 broke through at the tail end of the sixties.\u00c2\u00a0 When both Motown and\u00c2\u00a0 Top Forty radio were in decline.\u00c2\u00a0 But the burst of energy known as "I Want You Back" could not be denied.\u00c2\u00a0 And the continuous singles made Michael Jackson a star.<\/p>\n
He sang a horror movie theme.\u00c2\u00a0 He endured puberty.\u00c2\u00a0 He was a faded child star.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, suddenly, he released a dance floor epic.\u00c2\u00a0 When disco was supposedly dead, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones concocted a synthesis of rock and beats that could not be denied.\u00c2\u00a0 Few were paying attention when "Off The Wall" was released.\u00c2\u00a0 But over the course of two years, word spread.\u00c2\u00a0 This was an album that could be played endlessly, that made you feel exuberant, totally alive.\u00c2\u00a0 We didn’t stop listening because we could never get enough.<\/p>\n
Then came "Thriller".<\/p>\n
There are indelible television moments.\u00c2\u00a0 When there’s only before and after.\u00c2\u00a0 Michael Jackson’s "Motown 25" moonwalk was one of those events.\u00c2\u00a0 Akin to the landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon over a decade before.\u00c2\u00a0 MTV was AOR.\u00c2\u00a0 Dancing was something you saw on Broadway.\u00c2\u00a0 Give Walter Yetnikoff credit, he forced MTV to play Michael Jackson and not only was the color barrier broken, not only did videos turn into extravaganzas, the biggest star since the Beatles was hatched, fifteen years after Michael had first gained public notoriety, years after he’d started performing.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s "Outliers" in action.\u00c2\u00a0 Michael Jackson made it look easy.\u00c2\u00a0 But there were far in excess of 10,000 hours involved.\u00c2\u00a0 When everybody was finally paying attention, no one else was close.\u00c2\u00a0 You had newbie bands from the U.K. who could barely sing, never mind play.\u00c2\u00a0 And you had this phenomenon prancing on screen fully realized.\u00c2\u00a0 It was like the 1927 Yankees playing a Little League team.<\/p>\n
And then it was over.<\/p>\n
There was another album with Q, but it was a step down.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s nowhere to go from the top but down.\u00c2\u00a0 But Michael Jackson couldn’t accept this.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything had to be bigger and better.\u00c2\u00a0 A musician’s career can last forever.\u00c2\u00a0 But to have those legs, you’ve got to have perspective.\u00c2\u00a0 Existing at the center of the hurricane, unable to step outside the maelstrom, means that you have no frame of reference.<\/p>\n
Not that you can’t buy one.\u00c2\u00a0 Or that hucksters and shysters don’t try to give you one.\u00c2\u00a0 You trust everyone but know you can trust no one.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re a party of one.\u00c2\u00a0 What means so much to everybody else means almost nothing to you.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t want to give up your money and fame, but they don’t buy you peace of mind, they don’t buy you love, they don’t keep you warm at night.<\/p>\n
It’s been a sad movie that’s been unspooling.\u00c2\u00a0 We can delineate the low points.\u00c2\u00a0 But let’s just say it started with plastic surgery and it ended with court cases.\u00c2\u00a0 Michael Jackson just didn’t think he was good enough.\u00c2\u00a0 And when he tried to explain, when he showed up in court in his pajamas, we didn’t want to listen, we didn’t want to give him a break, we just wanted to make fun of him, deride him.<\/p>\n
Michael Jackson was an entertainer until the very end.<\/p>\n
It’s just that his latest gigs were not inside theatres, but played out on "investigative" television shows and gossip Websites.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody was living off Michael Jackson.\u00c2\u00a0 He gave good ratings.\u00c2\u00a0 He rescued the hoi polloi from a life of drudgery.<\/p>\n
But that’s all over now.<\/p>\n
Sony can be thrilled that the digital marketplace insures there’s endless inventory for those sitting shiva to buy.\u00c2\u00a0 And they’re going to end up with the Beatles catalog too.\u00c2\u00a0 But we’ve lost something with the passing of Michael Jackson.\u00c2\u00a0 A belief that America is a good-hearted place, a supportive place, where we want everybody to have a good life and be happy.<\/p>\n
Wonder about the price of fame?\u00c2\u00a0 Just look at the miserable Jon & Kate.\u00c2\u00a0 Never mind their eight children.<\/p>\n
We did this to Michael Jackson.\u00c2\u00a0 And there wasn’t a single person who could save him.\u00c2\u00a0 He was too isolated.<\/p>\n
We’ll remember where we were when we heard the news.\u00c2\u00a0 But I’d rather remember that explosion emanating from the radio back in ’69.<\/p>\n
Michael, we want you back!\u00c2\u00a0 We want to see you moonwalk one more time!\u00c2\u00a0 We want you to sing "Billie Jean"!<\/p>\n
Alas, that’s impossible.<\/p>\n
As he once sang, "now it’s much too late for me to take a second look."<\/p>\n
The king is dead.<\/p>\n
Long live the king.<\/p>\n