Michael Jackson is a legendary idol remembered by many and has been given the title as the king of pop. He was born in the city of Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958. When he turned five years old, he joined his family band The Jackson Five. The Jackson Five was created by no other than Michael Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson.
His father trained all his brothers including himself to be an asset in the band and consumed most of his children unoccupied time. Michael Jackson was unfortunately physically punished by his father whenever he made any mistakes during practice which in the long run mentally affected him. Even though he endured such harsh and rash treatment, he still loved to perform and sing.
From an early age, Michael Jackson was sought to be the most talented between his siblings and debut as a soloist first. Many people pointed out Michael Jackson’s ability to convey his emotions within the songs he sang. Due to this, he became a solo artist in 1972 with the song Ben from the American horror film Ben.
Jackson later released his first music video in 1979 for Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough which was also from his first solo album Off the Wall. In his Thriller album, the Billie Jean music video sparked a petition to play on MTV. Since there were high demands, MTV was forced to play Billie Jean on May 10, 1883. Michael Jackson became the first African American artist to get his video aired. He became the gateway to black artists, and MTV aired black music more frequently.
During a Pepsi commercial in 1984, he suffered 2nd-degree and 3rd-degree burns in his scalp after fireworks set his hair on fire. Michael Jackson confirmed that this accident was the cause of the start of his addiction to opioids. The moonwalk, a white glove in one hand, and a hat was his signature look, but after the release of the album Bad, he changed his image from suit like style to a leather jacket. His family members also noticed a personality change.
At the age of twenty-five, he got the title as the music phenomenon. Michael Jackson has been admitted twice in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1997 with The Jackson Five, and then as a soloist in 2002. He also holds a total of thirty-nine Guinness Record and has a star in Hollywood Boulevard. He also owned about three thousand acres where he added a zoo, amusement park rides, and other attractions including his home which is known as Neverland.
On the month of May in 1994, he married Leslie Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, but got divorced two years after. He then got married to Deborah Rowe, a surrogate nurse whom he had two children with; Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (February 13, 1997) and daughter Paris Jackson on April 3, 1998. He later divorced Rowe in 1999 and on February 21, 2002, his last child, Prince Jackson was born. The origins of his mother remain unknown to the public.
In 2003 he was accused and sent to trial by a charge of sexually assault on a minor. Throughout the hearing, Neverland was closed to collect any evidence for the case. No evidence found, and he was found not guilty in 2005. Neverland remained closed and sold in 2009 before he died.
On the morning of June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson was found lifelessly lying on his bed. His doctor and paramedics gave him CPR and were unsuccessful to resuscitate him back to life. After the autopsy, they discovered that Michael Jackson suffered from vitiligo, a skin pigmentation disease, and calmed all the rumors of him bleaching his skin.
There was also a high amount of opioids and propofol, a sedative stringently used for hospital usage, in his blood. The original claim that Michael Jackson suicide himself didn’t add up, and a trial began to find answers. The use of propofol pointed to all of Michael Jackson’s doctors to enter the case. In the end, his doctor Murray was charged with homicide by involuntary manslaughter and negligence.
Billie Jean remains as Michael Jacksons top 10 known music and has a significance in the history of African American music. The storyline of the song Billie Jean is about a woman who is claiming that the singer, Michael Jackson, is the father of her son. The song first introduces a woman and describes her as a ‘beauty queen from a movie scene,’ which describes her as an actress who looks goddess like. The song takes place where you can ‘dance on the floor in the round,’ most likely a club. She immediately points at Michael Jackson that he’s ‘the one who will dance’ with her within the first verse.
She then introduces herself as ‘Billie Jean’ and ’caused a scene’ to draw attention making ‘every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one.’ So far the first verse allows us to know the encounter between Billie Jean and Michael Jackson and the envy of the surrounding audience.
In the first pre-chorus, he reminds himself to ‘be careful of what’ he does and to not ‘go around breaking young girls’ hearts.’ He also recalls his mother’s words to ‘be careful of who you love’ and ‘do, ’cause the lie becomes the truth.’ The pre-chorus includes advice toward the singer and almost serves as a foreshadow that something serious might happen.
The chorus is the singers stand on the situation. He claims that ‘Billie Jean is not’ his ‘lover’ and that ‘she’s just a girl who claims that’ he’s ‘the one.’ He yet again claims that ‘the kid is not’ his ‘son’ and then Jean claims again, and then Jackson.
The second verse Billie Jean takes Michael Jackson to court where she ‘schemes and plans’ to profit money from her lies. ‘For forty days and for forty nights, the law was on her side.’ It took forty days to realize that Billie Jean’s claims were false, it could also mean lent, which people fast, pray and give for forty days.
Michael Jackson lent meanwhile the court tested for a DNA test. The average DNA tests take to get results is about 3 to 12 weeks. The verse also illustrates a situation where there’s a devil like choice telling him ‘don’t think twice,’ but he overlooks the option by declaring ‘do think twice.’
When he says ‘do think twice’ it is his conscious that can tell between the good and bad. ‘She told my baby we’d danced till three, then she looked at me. Then showed a photo of a baby crying, his eyes were like mine (oh no). ‘Cause we danced on the floor in the round, baby.’ Michael Jackson is beginning to believe that Billie Jean claims might be true because of the lie repetiveness. A lie can often become the truth if you accept it; hence, the advice his mother gave him turned out to be true.
In the second pre-chorus, he has a flashback that reminds him of the night he met her. He remembers ‘the smell of sweet perfume’ and that it ‘happened much too soon.’ Since Michael has no good judgment running through his mind its safe to assume he was drunk when this all happened. ‘She called’ him ‘to her room,’ where she could of easily trick him into believing the son was his.
He yet again claims ‘Billie Jean is not’ his ‘lover’ and that ‘the kid is not’ his ‘son’ repeatedly. ‘You know what you did’ is directly thrown to Billie Jean since they both know that nothing happened that night even though Michael Jackson is still in doubt. Finally, the outro kicks in with an almost celebrating mood that ‘Billie Jean is not my lover’ chant.
Billy Jean can either be taken literally word by word or metaphorically speaking by underlying messages. It all depends on the listener and feelings toward the artist.
