“Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson
(Words/music: Michael Jackson, available on Thriller, Epic 1982 / “Billie Jean” Single, Epic 1983)
The “Billie Jean” single came out about a month before I was born (and Thriller about a month before that). A few months later at the Motown 25th Anniversary Special, Jackson effortlessly unleashed his signature Moonwalk during a performance of the song. As I entered this world, Michael Jackson seized control of popular culture. He remains the biggest pop star of my lifetime, for both the positive and negative reasons. I say “pop star” because I only thought of him as a musician later on. For most of my youth, I knew Jackson through his videos – ones that seemed more like mini-musicals or really short movies to a young kid. These powerful visuals (and let’s be honest, Jackson’s shifting visage) only made Jackson seem more supernatural – more like an otherworldly character in these films rather than a real person.
Maybe it was the larger-than-life presence behind the songs, but many of Jackson’s singles had this otherworldly feeling to them. “Billie Jean” in particular still sounds eerie – not in the same prosthetic-creepiness of the “Thriller” video, but from all of the odd sounds in the recording. The synthesizer hums at an eerie pitch (in the unconventional key of F# minor) while multi-tracked vocals echo in alternating speakers. These oddities come out under this close scrutiny, yet from far away “Billie Jean” rides a flawless groove and near-perfect melody. It’s this combination of perfect pop and tortured psyche that Jackson bounced between during my lifetime – often treading too deep in either glossiness or the grotesque – that made him compelling. Let’s face it – at his highest moments as well as his lowest, it always felt like he was from some completely different realm.
(Also, I don’t usually do this, but if you’re interested in some of the more interesting trivia regarding “Billie Jean,” such as Jackson recording his backing vocals through a cardboard tube or Quincy Jones’ aversion to including it on Thriller, the Wikipedia entry on the song is a great read)
More on Michael Jackson: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
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