Monday, June 29, 2009

Thanks For The Music MJ



I was sitting in the back row of a crowded auditorium waiting for my brother’s graduation ceremony to start when it was announced that Michael Jackson had died. Immediately the noise died down, people couldn’t believe it. Judging from the crowd’s reaction it was obvious that he had touched all of us with his music.


I was six or seven years old when my mom came home one day with MJ’s then latest album. One song on the album stuck with me. “Man in the Mirror" touched me on a level I can’t even begin to adequately describe. At the time NYC was grappling with a huge homeless situation. Programs that are in place now didn’t exist then on the level that they do now. It wasn’t uncommon for me to see dozens of homeless people in the course of one day. Like the adults on the streets around me I pretended not to notice them. I’d actually get embarrassed whenever my parents would walk up to the homeless and place a freshly brought meal or a couple of dollars in their hands.

When I heard the song a second time that day I got the feeling that I was supposed to do more than just listen. I had the feeling that there was a lesson in there for me waiting to be learned. Listening to the MJ sing about the man in the mirror made me realize that I had the power to make a change in the world, well at least my world. I was a very mature kid. The very next day I began making changes. My mom has often said that the song pointed me in the direction of helping others. I don’t know if that’s true but I do know that the song had a huge impact on the way a kid looked at the world around her.


Say what you will about Michael Jackson but the man was a musical genius and his impact on the world of music and dance can’t ever be denied. How many of us didn’t try to moonwalk? I still get the creeps when ever I see the Thriller video and I still sing along anytime I hear a Jackson 5 tune. I know there’s a lot of talk about his personal life but you know what right now I don’t want to hear that. Let’s turn down the chatter and pump up the music. Music was his gift to the world everything else in between is between him and his god. I hope he finds peace at last. I for one will be eternally grateful for the gift of his music.

Labels: man in the mirror, michael jackson, music

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