Long live the king

That’s the first thing that comes to my mind when you say “Michael Jackson“. The moment I turned the volume to max. It was such a huge joy. And I wasn’t even the biggest fan. But it was that thing about his music that made you want to live. That thing that turns all your feelings inside out and makes you believe you can rule the world. I was 10, you see.

Then there were other albums, remixes and covers. But none of them ever sounded like the original. And that’s one thing that makes Michael Jackson unique. Then there’s this thing about “Thriller”, the 1982 album that still rules the charts of best selling albums all times. In almost 30 years, no one could ever beat that.

The genius

I’m just some guy who has never seen Michael Jackson on stage, never touched him, never talked to him. And I guess that’s what makes me able to write these lines. I never cared about the people, but I cared for their music. That’s what counts in the end. Just like Syd Barrett, just like David Gilmour, just like all the guys of Pink Floyd. And just like Michael Jackson. This is the people you’ll never care what newspapers write about if their music changed your life.

Michael Jackson is one of the few that are synonims to “music revolution”. Basically, he reinvented the music. He’s not just the king of pop, he’s the father of pop music. He represents the moment where music stopped. After Michael Jackson, no other could reinvent music. No one can beat that. Not only he is the father of pop music, he’s the father of hip-hop dancing, breakdancing and the godfather of a lot other dancing styles.

Changing the world has a price

Listening to a few of his tracks earlier today, I learned that being the king has a price. If you care to listen some of his best tunes, you’ll manage to understand his frustrations, his needs, you can feel what he actually means. It’s that 10 years old inside you that can understand the 10 years old Michael, his hopes and expectations.

Some say it was his career that made things go wrong. Starting as a kid, not having a real childhood. I’m not a psychologist, but they may be right. But I don’t really care. For me, Michael Jackson is that black (or white) guy that changed the world. It’s that track that made me want to rule the world. It’s that “Turn it off!” that made me turn it to “Are you nuts?“. That’s what Michael Jackson means to me. The music that changed the world, the music that reinvented the music.

I don’t want to talk about marketing

I was reading the news and I couldn’t stop noticing: “After finding out about MJ’s death, the sales encreased dramatically“. You might have expected that. But I don’t want to write about marketing. I don’t want to talk about sales. I don’t want to talk about his financial problems or about his debts. I want to talk about greatness. And greatness is immortal.