I was speechless riding home on the Metro train last night. It was somewhere around the Pentagon stop that I received the text I was hoping I wouldn't get: "He died."
I didn't know what to say at all ... anyone who knows me personally knows I'm usually ready with some kind of off-hand remark, but when I heard Michael Jackson had died, I was completely heartbroken.
Like so many others, I grew up listening to Michael. My parents played their "Thriller" record in the house; I later supplemented their collection with just about every tape Michael was on. I wore loafers around to dance in, I practiced my kicks, I learned to moonwalk.
When I was maybe 7, I vividly remember going to the local Blockbuster to rent "Moonwalker" and a collection of Alvin and the Chipmunks music videos featuring a high-pitched version of "Beat It." I would play basketball in my driveway with "Jam" playing on the boombox.
I met a girl once at a summer camp who went to a nearby elementary school. She had heard through mutual friends about me, because I had the moves from "Dangerous" and "Thriller" locked. Fuck, I wish I still did.
I watched for him on TV. Hell, I sat through an N*Sync performance just because Michael was supposed to perform with them. He danced for a few seconds, to a standing ovation. It was worth it. (clips on
MTV.com)
I remember he had a TV special, during which he performed and, as best I could tell, lip-synced every word. He didn't look well, his face was skeletal. He might not have been able to sing the way he could 10 years earlier, but holy shit, that guy was still dancing. If my memory serves me, he debuted a sideways moonwalk that night.
I could go on for days, recounting every memory of Michael Jackson I have. Make-outs to MJ? Check. Drunken dance parties? By the boatload.
The point is, what really made Michael amazing was how he affected people. I don't think there's a person alive today who doesn't know Michael's music. You'll just as soon find "Thriller" at your grandmothers house as you will on a DJ's playlist at the club. "Billie Jean" still sets off the dance floor, and nobody's touched the standard Michael set for music videos.
Any one of his albums could come out today and be just as relevant. The man isn't timeless, but his work is. It's an awful tragedy that he passed on so shortly before the string of shows that could have brought him back to center stage, but it's been a blessing to the world, especially the world of music, that we had him in the first place.
Thank you, Michael. Rest in peace, gloved one.
Posts
