godspeed, michael jackson

Last night, I was out with some friends watching a DJ set up for his late night set. WonQ posed this question, "When will the Michael Jackson tribute be?" I had not even thought about this obvious scenario as I had skimmed a few articles regarding his death during the afternoon and quickly put it out of mind. And then the DJ began his MJ homage with "Beat It", and the news finally struck me.

I have no personal relationship with the man, but the loss of greatness impacts everyone. And he was truly great.

People seem to act most "humanly" at a time of death. With his passing, the world can now begin to resurrect his genius and properly place him in the pantheon of musical brilliance. He easily stands up there with Lennon/McCartney, Mozart...the list is pretty short. It's a shame we didn't do this while he lived. Some of that was obviously self-imposed from improper/unusual behavior, but the reverberating shock stretching across the world today is tied to the fact that we slammed the door on him and abandoned him for over a decade. Amazingly, we all were able to distinguish between the man and his music. We never stopped lauding the music. Meanwhile, we denigrated the man named Michael Jackson to nothing more than a punchline, a freakish circus sideshow. I think that ceases now.

And to quickly touch upon all the improper behavior - is it innate or learned? Is it possible that it was an unavoidable discharge to counter all of the creativity? Or is it simply an outcome of being pushed too hard early in life because the genius is spotted quickly? It might be a combination of both. Either way, the world victimized him and in turn, he did the same. There are no excuses, just a modicum of understanding that those that are truly unique have difficulty fitting in with the masses. We celebrate them, we ridicule them. We expect them to be different from us and the same as us all at once. That's just how it is.

I would never intend to underestimate the magnitude of losing a father, a son, a friend. But as fans, for those of us Jackson has entertained, we can now remember him fondly. I am looking forward to that.

Enough words. Here's my favorite MJ music video. "Thriller" may be more historically significant, but "Smooth Criminal" is easily his best video creation:



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