My work colleagues and I stood around the ‘water cooler’ (in our case an old drafting table in the hallway by the kitchen) discussing Michael Jackson’s sudden death.
Most of us remember loving his songs when we were kids; a colleague recalls his Bad album being the first ‘tape’ he ever bought with his allowance. I had the Bad album too; my brother Paul got it for me when he went away to school in California. I knew the words to all the songs.
It’s incredible how one person’s music has affected so many lives, that’s the Michael Jackson phenomenon and hopefully his legacy lives on.
People often ask me why I moved to Canada and specifically Vancouver – I have several reasons, all valid but there’s a one that’s very old and impulsive that I don’t talk about often.
When I a ten year old living in central Freetown I watched a short clip of Michael Jackson (Jackson Five) on tour in Vancouver, BC. I think that was the very first time I heard of the city. It was an old video, probably from a special on his 1984 Victory tour; it had clips from other cities as well. The clip included shots of Vancouver, it’s not anything like I remembered now but the views of the water and mountains were still pretty amazing back then.
Years later when we were presented with the opportunity to live in Canada, I chose Vancouver remembering that video, and was pleasantly pleased after a little research into the city.
By the time I got to my teens, I’d gone from living with my mom, dad and siblings to living with my dad, his new wife and a bunch of strangers. My mom and siblings had all but disappeared from my life, and these new folks were not very nice people.
Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone†helped me through some very turbulent times. I used to play the song over and over again. I still get misty eyed when I hear that song sometimes. Before then, my ‘woe is me’ song used to be Madonna’s “Oh Father†but I could only play that on my Walkman.
If I were to make a compilation of the soundtrack to my life, it’ll include a Michael Jackson song.
2 Comments
Very well said, I totally feel what you are saying here. I too would have much of my younger life paired with a soundtrack with MJ songs. It is strange to think how someone can affect one's life in such a way. I quess I say strange because it just does not come around very often to this degree. It seriously is like loosing a friend in some sort of strange way. I have thought a bit about this and I think the last time the general public was able to identify with such a multi-level artist was probably Elvis or maybe Frank Sinatra, maybe. I think perhaps Michael was sent to this planet to teach us all about how love works. It (love)does transend time and space, perhaps in the end we will be more understanding of others and the challenges that we all face in our lives. I think his message here was clear, and it has left an impression on me. I still hate it that he and the music had to go.
4 July, 2009 at 1:49 pmVery well said, I totally feel what you are saying here. I too would have much of my younger life paired with a soundtrack with MJ songs. It is strange to think how someone can affect one's life in such a way. I quess I say strange because it just does not come around very often to this degree. It seriously is like loosing a friend in some sort of strange way. I have thought a bit about this and I think the last time the general public was able to identify with such a multi-level artist was probably Elvis or maybe Frank Sinatra, maybe. I think perhaps Michael was sent to this planet to teach us all about how love works. It (love)does transend time and space, perhaps in the end we will be more understanding of others and the challenges that we all face in our lives. I think his message here was clear, and it has left an impression on me. I still hate it that he and the music had to go.
4 July, 2009 at 5:49 pm