Never Can Say Goodbye

Like a lot of people of my generation, I grew up enamored with Michael Jackson. Quality time with my family meant renting Michael Jackson’s HIStory on VHS, a tape with his ten best music videos. Or Moonwalker. Or The Wiz. The soundtrack to our road trips was Off The Wall or Thriller. My sister was Michael Jackson for Halloween once (I just went to her Facebook to grab the pic– and it was already her default picture).

As I grew older, I remained a loyal fan. I have drunk moonwalked more times than I care to remember. I have led troves of bar patrons in half-assed renditions of Thriller. One night, Ashley, our friend Will, and I sat in the dark of my kitchen while we watched the first moonwalk video on YouTube (Motown’s 25th Anniversary). Before we knew it, it was 12 AM and we were still googly-eyed in front of the computer screen arguing over which music video we should watch next.

Between his medical conditions and his psychological conditions, it was a safe bet that Michael Jackson would not live forever– but I don’t think I’m alone here when I say that yesterday was still pretty shocking. Michael Jackson was an unmatched talent who changed the face of music AND dance as we know it. He made the music video into the mini-film. He perfected the Moonwalk. Put him in any country in the WORLD, and he could sell out a concert there. Michael Jackson was the definition of a superstar.

Each album of his solo career so clearly marks the emergence of a new Michael– Off The Wall showed the beginnings of a promising solo career. It was an album created by the Michael Jackson most of us like to remember– one that was still young and vibrant and striving to be the best. Some of my favorite songs, like Workin’ Day and Night, Off The Wall, and the obvious Rock With You and Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough, debuted on that album. Thriller was the apex. It was just monstrous. 7 of the 9 songs on the album were released as singles, which is unheard of now. Thriller is still the best selling album of all time. This was the time of the mini-film and the Moonwalk. During those years, everything Michael Jackson touched turned to gold. He was just completely epic.

Much like the title track, things got Bad after that. The chronic mental and physical illness, the tabloid scrutiny, the pressure to produce an album that could compete with Thriller– things started to go belly up from there on out. Of course, there were still a ton of bad ass singles to come on Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory– but Michael Jackson continued to regress and became less and less of the incomparable performer we once embraced.

Usually, I do the celeb thing all snarky-like, but yesterday was a really sad day for me. It was sad the way Michael Jackson’s whole life has been sad. Abused by his father as a child, overworked like a mule, adored by the public, then ridiculed by the tabloids– did he ever have a chance at having a normal life? Can you imagine what it must be like to wake up one day and be 40 years old? Never going to school? Did he ever have a friendship or relationship that wasn’t scrutinized and examined to death by everyone with eyes and ears? For whatever reason, it seems not one person had his best interest at heart. His doctors didn’t, his label didn’t, his accountants didn’t. His own damn sister tried to sell him out because she wasn’t talented enough to make anything of herself off of her own merit. Michael Jackson was just a cash cow, and everyone was drinking from the teat until there was nothing left but the carcass of what used to be the world’s most poignant performer.

Personally, I hope this teaches us all a lesson. No one should be in the public eye for 40 of their 50 years. This whole tragic situation makes me thankful that I am talentless and can never be exploited the way Michael was. Michael Jackson may have been eccentric, and you may not understand what motivated many, if not all, of his actions. I get that. But the man made irreplaceable contributions to our culture and all he got in return was a lonely, sad life that spiraled out of control a long, long time ago. He churned out hit after hit and video after video because after awhile, performing was the only thing he knew how to do. His shy demeanor turned passive, then it turned helpless. I find that Childhood song creepy, but he wasn’t making weird songs like that to freak us out– he was making them because he didn’t have any other way of expressing himself. He was a brand, then he was a headline– but one thing is for sure, no one ever treated him like an actual person. He may have died from cardiac arrest yesterday, but really, it was America that killed Michael Jackson.

No matter what your opinion of the man may be, I think we can all agree on one thing: 10-year-old Michael from Gary, Indiana, lead singer of the Jackson 5, deserved better.