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 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
Got to be part of something, You got to be part of something…
June 30, 2009
Don’t we all…
June 30, 2009
Perhaps I should put my Micheal Jackson songs in my mp3 player. Right now I just have i’ll be there.
June 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
I always thought girl was a bit of a PYT, myself.
June 30, 2009
“But the kid is not my son” are the correct lyrics to Billie Jean, you Philistine.
June 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
I think that is the main reason everyone is upset about his death in the first place
June 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
now can you do one for billy mays?
June 30, 2009
I tried running around yelling and selling cleaning products but noone seemed to realize it was a tribute to Billy Mays.
June 30, 2009
haha! all that and he’s still soooo dead!
June 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
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 30, 2009
I feel you, Boy. =/
July 1, 2009
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 1, 2009
Michael Jackson is dead?
July 1, 2009
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 6, 2009
Ha Ha. Im glad he’s dead.
grrr
February 6, 2010
@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.