“But man, and I feel guilty saying this, there’s also just the slightest bit of relief: that a life that had always seemed like a lonely, twisted nightmare filled with suffering had finally come to end. What were the chances of him finding perspective after all this time? And, after chasing Thriller’s sales records for so long, making that his artistic and creative aim, what were the chances of him making music he was happy with again? How does a guy who wants to remain a kid forever, who started an endless course of plastic surgeries while still in his twenties, find a way to be a reasonably happy old man? (…) Take away the music, and Michael Jackson’s life is just too sad to contemplate. Which is a very good argument for not taking away the music, ever. We’re all going to die someday, too. So let’s live. You start with “I Want You Back” and “ABC” and “I’ll Be There”. You go through the Jacksons years with “Dancing Machine” and “Can You Feel It”, and then a long stop at the incomparable Off the Wall. Jackson sang a small handful of tunes with a legitimate claim as the best pop song of the past 40 years, and “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” is one of them. Then it’s on to “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” and “Thriller” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”, and on through later hits: “Bad”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Man in the Mirror”, “Black or White”, “Will You Be There”, and sure, why not, “Gone Too Soon”. Michael Jackson— superhero, cartoon, singer, dancer, supremely troubled dude— made all this music, and it’s amazing.”
— Pitchfork: Michael Jackson, R.I.P. (via ljm) (via antoinetta)
Posted July 05, 2009
