Thru it all ... the music

You can hate what the media and the District Attorneys accuse him of, but Michael Jackson is true to the music.

"We Are the World" was made during the Grammy Awards Ceremony, and Michael Jackson was up for some awards, but he wasn't there. As TV followed the aritists walking out of the ceremony over to the studio my husband commented "There go the only white people in that room that can carry a tune." Michael Jackson had already gone. He was already in studio working in the control room, honing the orchestration, checking the sound, creating the vision of what that song could be. Michael Jackson was the one who identified a clinking sound as Cyndi Lauper'sGammy finery-- criss-crossed chains she could not eaily undo. I felt tender towards an embarrassed Cyndi, who was very young in that company, and also saw Michael Jackson use it as another chance tomake the music better. Later shots of Cyndi show her stripped down to a white T-shirt, tired but steadfast in perfecting still another musical phrase. I hope she got some sleep that night. Michael Jackson probably did not. He stayed, laid donwbackup tracks,tried to perfect the sound, and he made We Are The World the incredible piece of music it is.

His movie was a total bomb, but a friend was a fan and we watched it at home. In the movie he turned into a car, a plan, a rocket and a star, but he had trouble turning the phenomenon that is Michael Jackson into a person. The movie includes a chronological slide show of pictures. The show begins well with the small boy who first electrified the Jackson Five, continues thru school and stuff, but there is one very clear shot that shows he had lost his innocence. And no, I am not talking about his virginity. However it happened, whenever it happened (the photos are not dated). I know that he lost some essential joy in living at that moment in time. But his music still sings.