That’s the thing with Michael, though — love him or hate him, everyone knew of him, knew all about him, and his music. Where’s no one like that now, and never will be again.
I concur with the other Oliver. It is sad that often only tragedy will remind us of the joys available to us. Michael war larger than life and the first thing on my mind when he passed away was “I thought he would live forever”. Whatever one’s personal ideas about him, the degree of open disrespect and vulturism observable in the last days, before the body was even cold, was sickening. He was by no means a perfect human being, but as perfect an artist as it gets. Maybe it is impossible to leave someone alone once he reaches so many.
i flew into paris last week and everyone kept talking about michael jackson, drunk people asking me my favorite songs, etc. and i couldn’t figure out why the fuck parisians were so obsessed with michael jackson. and then three days later i figured out he died.
Say what you will about his personal life, he was…well, the King of Pop. That’s going to be big shoes to fill…and IMHO, none of the newer pop artists are capable (the male ones, at least).
Still, he was going to die eventually anyway. For all he was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson was still human, and humans die. At least he was still fairly well-liked when it happened.
The king of pop has passed on from the physical world, and while his own music shall eventually be limited to elevators and retro clubs, his influence shall extend over the future of pop music itself, one of many invisible idols in the temple of music.
Time to stop drinking.
You’re dead on, Dorothy. At least, I *hope* this will be the death of monoculture. Though I’m not really sure what that death buys us. What do we get if we don’t have monoculture? Things can’t really go back to the way they were before mass media, can they? Will we have such tribalism that warfare, civil and otherwise, will be inevitable?
@Tanja this is way late, but over the summer I stayed in Germany for a foreign exchange things. The day everyone heard that Micheal Jackson had died was the day that my group was giving presentations to students about life in America. Everyone asked us if we missed Micheal Jackson.
It was the first thing my host mother told me when I woke up that morning.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:46 am
I went into five stores in a row that were all playing “Billie Jean” and thought “Why does somebody have to die for this to happen?”.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:00 am
That’s the thing with Michael, though — love him or hate him, everyone knew of him, knew all about him, and his music. Where’s no one like that now, and never will be again.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:59 am
Got to be part of something, You got to be part of something…
June 30th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Don’t we all…
June 30th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Perhaps I should put my Micheal Jackson songs in my mp3 player. Right now I just have i’ll be there.
June 30th, 2009 at 6:27 am
We all do, it’s ok.
I concur with the other Oliver. It is sad that often only tragedy will remind us of the joys available to us. Michael war larger than life and the first thing on my mind when he passed away was “I thought he would live forever”. Whatever one’s personal ideas about him, the degree of open disrespect and vulturism observable in the last days, before the body was even cold, was sickening. He was by no means a perfect human being, but as perfect an artist as it gets. Maybe it is impossible to leave someone alone once he reaches so many.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:56 am
I always thought girl was a bit of a PYT, myself.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:36 am
“But the kid is not my son” are the correct lyrics to Billie Jean, you Philistine.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:39 am
i flew into paris last week and everyone kept talking about michael jackson, drunk people asking me my favorite songs, etc. and i couldn’t figure out why the fuck parisians were so obsessed with michael jackson. and then three days later i figured out he died.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I think that is the main reason everyone is upset about his death in the first place
June 30th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Say what you will about his personal life, he was…well, the King of Pop. That’s going to be big shoes to fill…and IMHO, none of the newer pop artists are capable (the male ones, at least).
Still, he was going to die eventually anyway. For all he was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson was still human, and humans die. At least he was still fairly well-liked when it happened.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
now can you do one for billy mays?
June 30th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I tried running around yelling and selling cleaning products but noone seemed to realize it was a tribute to Billy Mays.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
haha! all that and he’s still soooo dead!
June 30th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
i meant that for all the people playing nothing but michael jackson now but it goes for that last comment about billy mays too
June 30th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
The king of pop has passed on from the physical world, and while his own music shall eventually be limited to elevators and retro clubs, his influence shall extend over the future of pop music itself, one of many invisible idols in the temple of music.
Time to stop drinking.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I feel you, Boy. =/
July 1st, 2009 at 12:52 am
You’re dead on, Dorothy. At least, I *hope* this will be the death of monoculture. Though I’m not really sure what that death buys us. What do we get if we don’t have monoculture? Things can’t really go back to the way they were before mass media, can they? Will we have such tribalism that warfare, civil and otherwise, will be inevitable?
Sal, btw, I LOLed.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:27 am
Michael Jackson is dead?
July 1st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Speaking of monoculture, did you notice how everybody’s all into David Foster Wallace all of a sudden? http://acephalous.typepad.com/acephalous/2009/06/infinite-summer-morbid-culturally-imperial-morbidly-culturally-imperial.html
July 6th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Ha Ha. Im glad he’s dead.
grrr
February 6th, 2010 at 12:14 am
@Tanja this is way late, but over the summer I stayed in Germany for a foreign exchange things. The day everyone heard that Micheal Jackson had died was the day that my group was giving presentations to students about life in America. Everyone asked us if we missed Micheal Jackson.
It was the first thing my host mother told me when I woke up that morning.