07-03-09
Top 10 Favorite Michael Jackson Songs
Before Biggie and Pac or Nas and Jay-Z or, uh, Lupe Fiasco and the Internets, there was Prince and Michael Jackson. Contemporaries who were both far more extraordinary than anyone else in their orbit; so naturally they clashed.
I don’t think they ever made nice and got along. (So if it ever comes down to it, know that I ride or die with Prince.) Nevertheless, I am also a MJ fan, I think I just forgot. It’s only last week that I decided to revisit his music, and it made me wonder why I had been away for so long. It’s honestly harder than I thought it would be to listen to his music – no matter how happy it all sounds, it still feels a little sad.
So, since I recently did a Top 10 Prince list, it’s only right…
One caveat: I’m using any song where Mike sang lead vocals, so that includes songs with the Jackson 5/Jacksons.
In descending order (scroll to the bottom for an imeem.com playlist, if you have an imeem account, you can hear every song.):
10. She’s Out of My Life (1979)
OK, so I’m going to start this list talking about Prince, but I’m not trying to be tacky. I think what always appealed to me about Prince was how nakedly he bared himself in music. Michael felt to me the opposite, that he was an amazing songwriter, but that his songs were not all autobiographies of pieces of his soul. That may be unfair, but that’s how he felt to me.
But this song came early in his solo career, maybe before he became more guarded about his privacy. And the connection between the song and the voice – and the specificity, like saying “2 years” – manifests itself in dude obviously crying at the end, you can hear it as he sings. So…yeah, I always give props to songs that feature crying.
9. Rock With You (1979)
I love the way this joint starts, that little tingly googly sounding note that slithers up and down. Don’t that sound like a musical representation of closing your eyes and throwing your head to the side? And in case you don’t think so, Michael tells you in the first line: girl, close your eyes…
8. Billie Jean (1982)
At the time, I had absolutely no idea that this song was about denying fathering a groupie’s baby. Crazy! How come parents didn’t make a big deal about this? And I didn’t fully grasp the story until probably a couple years ago, because of the multiple meanings of the word “baby.” It’s pretty scandalous!
Even though he was already a star, why do I feel like this was when he started to become Michael Jackson, you know? The vocal style, the fashion sense, and the dance style started to become really specifically him.
7. The Way You Make Me Feel (1987)
I remember watching this video and thinking that girl he was harassing on the street was gorgeous. I also remember thinking he should not be harassing her in the street. I also remember thinking that he was not very threatening, so maybe that was cool.
But that beat was hot, it kept ambling steadily forward as if chased by the vocals. Mad 80s but mad futuristic. I wished I was a grown-up so I could jack Michael’s swagger and kick it to ladies. I had outlandish goals.
6. Remember the Time (1992)
This song is called new jack swing all the time, and I guess that’s technically correct isn’t it? But this isht is inherently Michael. It feels like Teddy Riley channeled Thriller rather than MJ conforming to the trend of the day. At the time it just felt like another “love’s been lost” song – but when I listen to it now, it sounds so incredibly desperate. It sounds like it might be taking place only in his head, that she’s never going to hear this.
5. Thriller (1982)
This scared the isht out of me. I don’t think I appreciated it until I was in high school, when the concept seemed ingenious. Like it’s classic American cliche to take your date to a horror movie so she would jump into your arms. So MJ turned it into, not just a song, but an entire album. You listen to this album, and your date will jump into your arms and whatever else you imagine.
Vincent Price was the creepy dude on in that Brady Bunch Hawaii episodes. And somehow that still worked.
4. All I Do Is Think of You (1975)
I can’t wait to get to school each day and wait for you to pass my way. I heard TROOP’s version before I heard the J5, and most recently I saw the homie Kevin So’s version when he was an innocent teenager who held a mic as if praying.
There’s something about Michael’s voice as a child that is more mature than his voice as an adult. Day and night that’s all I do… If this song was a child, I’d snap a picture of him to show him when he grows up so he could see how precious he once was.
3. Never Can Say Goodbye (1971)
Unnnnnnh! It drops you right in the middle of pain on this one. Starts with that sweet little tune, and then it goes all the sudden into that buildup that starts with “Even though the pain and heartache…” and ends with “always have to say no!” So gangsta. Then it slows down for a little before he’s on his knees screaming “NO!” over and over. Oh my god. He was a baby. How could he muster that?
2. P.Y.T. (1982)
The crazy thing about this song to me is that I don’t think it’s that great written. It’s clearly not one of the best songs he ever wrote. He pulls it off with the performance. He floats in and out of the music, like “Rock With You” after a few vodka-based cocktails. This is as close as Michael ever got to smutty I think, which is to say, not close at all. This is still fine for like 6 year-olds and stuff to get down to.
And it shifts gears via vocals or music seemingly every few seconds. It’s so frantically soothing, it’s just overflowing with schoolboy charm.
1. I Want You Back (1969)
This may be the absolute most perfect pop song ever. I’m guessing Tito and Jermaine didn’t lay down those bass and guitar riffs themselves in the studio, they probably had older dudes handling that business because good lord it bangs. Of course the bassline has gotta be a top 3 of all time, and that little pre-funk funk guitar is so beautifully bright and energetic, you can’t help but throw down that stankface.
And you nerds may or may not have noticed when that drummer comes in after the first verse, it’s like OH! I had forgotten drums existed, but now the world is complete!
Then no question Mike on the lead vocals is just absolutely perfect – and props go to Jermaine for doing that amazing call-and-response with his baby brother, during which Michael falls just short of hitting the right note on his second “BABY!” which works out better than if he had hit it straight on because it is exactly where it needs to be leaving your ear longing for resolution, and then he caps it off with that “OH!” right on target. DAMN.
During this song, there’s nothing wrong in the world.
Rest in peace Michael. You’re out of our lives.
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