The Meaning Behind One Of Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits, "Billie Jeans"

Written by Jackson himself and produced alongside Grammy-award winner Quincy Jones, “Billie Jean” tackles the “groupie culture” Michael and his brothers experienced while on tour as the Jackson 5.

The song went on to reach the No.1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson’s fastest rising single since “ABC” and “Say You’ll Be There” in 1970.

Meaning Behind the Lyrics

While the meaning behind the famous story of an obsessed woman stalking the “King of Pop,” calling him out as the father of her son, has floated around since the song’s release, Jackson continually denied the story before his death in 2009. Instead, he says “Billie Jean” is more of a character representing the many groupies he and his brothers were “plagued” with over the years.

In his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, Jackson says, “There never was a real Billie Jean. The girl in the song is a composite of people my brothers have been plagued with over the years. I could never understand how these girls could say they were carrying someone’s child when it wasn’t true.”

Billie Jean is not my lover

She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one

But the kid is not my son

She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son

Jackson’s biographer told a different story in his 1991 book, The Magic and the Madness. In it, he says that Billie Jean was inspired by real letters the singer received in 1981 from a woman claiming he was the father of her twins. Despite no reaction from Jackson, the woman continually sent letters before eventually escalating to sending a gun and a murder threat – talk about a die-hard fan.

But who can stand when she’s in demand

Her schemes and plans

‘Cause we danced on the floor in the round

So take my strong advice, just remember to always think twice

Breaking the MTV Color Barrier

The accompanying video for the song is often credited with breaking the color barrier on MTV. While a clip from reggae band Musical Youth for “Pass The Dutchie” was the first video from a Black act to make waves on the network, they were largely considered a novelty, with no member being older than 16.

After the oh-so-’80s video for “Billie Jean” debuted and was well-received, more Black artists began appearing on the network soon after—most notably Prince.

MTV was widely accused of racism during the era after Rick James’ funky hit “Super Freak” was rejected. With the added barrier of record companies not investing in videos for Black artists, thinking MTV wouldn’t play them, many Black musicians struggled to gain air time.

All of that went out the window with “Billie Jean,” as Jackson paved the way for more Black artists to be featured on the taste-making network.

“Compared to Michael, MTV staples like REO Speedwagon and Journey suddenly looked even more boring,” Rob Tannenbaum, co-author of I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution said. “When Michael’s videos created higher ratings for MTV, network executives claimed they’d ‘learned a lesson’ and tentatively embraced the softer side of black pop music, especially Lionel Richie.”

Moonwalk

Jackson’s 1983 Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever performance, marked the first time “Billie Jean” was performed live. The performance also marked the first time Jackson appeared to walk on air in his, now signature, moonwalk. The unsuspected move wowed the audience and lead to its use in almost all future performances. Adding to the image-making performance, it was also the first time Jackson donned his ubiquitous one-handed glove.

Thriller

While disco was steadily dying, Jackson moved in a new musical direction, opting for a mix of pop, rock, and funk on his sixth studio album, Thriller. He also moved towards darker themes in his music, like the paranoia and obsession motifs in “Billie Jean.”

Thriller was Jackson’s first number one on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs and Tapes chart, where he spent 37 non-consecutive weeks at the top sport.

Along with “Billie Jean,” seven other singles from the album reached the top ten including “The Girl Is Mine,” “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” “Human Nature,” “P.Y.T,” and “Thriller.”

After his performance at Motown 25, sales for the album skyrocketed, selling one million copies worldwide per week. By the end of 1983, 32 million copies of Thriller were sold, making it the best-selling album of all time.

Credits: Alex Hopper

The Truth About Michael Jackson's Stranger In Moscow

A ballad about a man merely trying to have his voice heard while by being crucified by the press.

“Stranger in Moscow” exemplifies Michael Jackson not as ‘The King of Pop,’ but simply as a man in a foreign land disconnected from the world.

“Stranger in Moscow” was written in a hotel room in Moscow, possibly between September 13–16, 1993, while Michael was on his Dangerous World Tour. The song would be released as the final single off the HIStory album in November, 1996. It is perhaps Michael’s most personal song, as his lyrics are direct and in the first person.

“Stranger in Moscow”

“I was wandering in the rain

Mask of life, feelin’ insane

Swift and sudden fall from grace

Sunny days seem far away

Kremlin’s shadow belittlin’ me

Stalin’s tomb won’t let me be

On and on and on it came

Wish the rain would just let me”

The opening verse speaks of a “mask of life,” a clear reference to isolation and despair which so often accompanies fame and fortune. Michael’s “fall from grace” refers to how the pop-star would be ridiculed, victimized and deemed a criminal by the press once the allegations of child abuse broke in 1993.

Up until this point, Michael was at the height of his success and in the midst of his record-breaking Dangerous World Tour. In response to the allegations, Michael recorded a statement from his Neverland Ranch which was televised worldwide on December 22, 1993. Of the media’s damaging treatment Jackson stated:

“I will say I am particularly upset by the handling of this mass matter by the incredible, terrible mass media. At every opportunity, the media has dissected and manipulated these allegations to reach their own conclusions. I ask all of you to wait to hear the truth before you label or condemn me. Don’t treat me like a criminal, because I am innocent.”

Michael has always had an indifferent relationship with the media. As he would suggest later in his career, “The bigger the star, the bigger the target.”

In an interview with Barbara Walters in Paris, 1997, Michael declared he disliked the name ‘Wacko Jacko’ — a name the mainstream and tabloid press often used from the mid 1980s:

Wacko Jacko — where’d that come from? Some English tabloid. I have a heart and I have feelings. I feel that when you do that to me. It’s not nice. Don’t do it. I’m not a wacko.

However, with the allegations directed at Michael in the summer of 1993, the media now had ammunition for a full character assassination despite the fact a police officer stated to the LA Times:

“No evidence (medical, photographic or video) could be found that would support a criminal filing.”

The media before 1993, were already invasive of Michael’s privacy, relationships and his changing physical appearance, as Michael suggested in “Leave me Alone”, but once the allegations were in the public domain, the mainstream and tabloid media went on the attack:

The New York Post on its front-page declared, Peter Pan or Pervert? August 23, 1993.

Newsweek on its cover page questioned of Michael, Is He Dangerous or Off the Wall? September 6, 1993.

Time stated, Michael Jackson: Who’s Bad? September 6, 1993.

As the remainder of the Dangerous World Tour was canceled, Michael retreated from the public eye in late November of 1993, in an attempt to end his drug dependency. Michael released an audio statement to the press:

“I was humiliated, embarrassed, hurt and suffering great pain in my heart. The pressure resulting from these false allegations, coupled with the incredible energy necessary for me to perform caused so much distress that it left me physically and emotionally exhausted. I became increasingly more dependent to the painkillers to get me through the days of the tour."

However, the media gave no sympathy to Michael whose emotional and physical health was at risk. Instead, the embattled star became the subject of taunts and ridicule:

The Daily Mirror held a “Spot the Jacko” contest which offered readers a vacation to Disney World. News of the World ran the headline, Hunt for Jacko the Fugitive. The Sunday Express headline read, Drug Treatment Star Faces Life on the Run.

How Does ‘It’ Feel?

In the chorus of “Stranger in Moscow,” Michael repeatedly asked the listener, “How does it feel?” What Michael is referring to is a question he has been asked so many times:

How does it feel to have the biggest selling album of all time? How does it feel to be admired by so many? How does it feel to be wealthy and famous? How does it feel to be so talented? How does to feel, Michael asks, “When you’re alone and you’re cold inside.”

“Here abandoned in my fame

Armageddon of the brain

KGB was doggin’ me

Take my name and just let me be

Then a begger boy called my name

Happy days will drown the pain

On and on and on it came

And again, and again, and again…

Take my name and just let me be”

Michael suggests it all means nothing when you feel isolated, disconnected and alone.

“Just Let Me Be”

Deemed a criminal, a forsaken man, Michael repeatedly asks the media to separate his celebrity persona from his true self. Michael is asking for privacy and for the public and media to understand that behind his image he is a man.

“Stranger in Moscow” concludes with lyrics spoken in Russian. The lyrics spoken by an unnamed individual lend to the feeling of paranoia, despair, fear and isolation of “Stranger in Moscow”, a ballad about a man merely trying to have his voice heard while by being crucified by the press.

Credits: MJ Beats

Rich Knight: 5 Reasons Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Was A Childhood Horror

A lot of people talk about how that boat scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or the Wheelers in Return to Oz, really messed them up as children. And most of the time, those people are joking. Yes, those scenes and characters were bizarre and didn’t really fit in a “kid’s movie.” But they didn’t really mess anybody up, either. They were just creepy. Well, I’m here to tell you that the Michael Jackson movie, Moonwalker, which came out in 1988, and pretty much consisted of a few music videos strung together, legitimately did mess me up as a child.

And it’s because it slipped into my subconscious. Growing up, there are a lot of things connected to Moonwalker that I didn’t even realize were from this film that seriously freaked me out as a child, and I didn’t even know why. You might be wondering how this happened, and I can tell you. But do I want to? Yes. Yes, I do. Because it will be therapeutic for me, and I have to start somewhere, right? Annie, am I okay?

I Used To Think I Dreamt This Movie

There are two movies that I thought I dreamt but could have sworn were real. One was a sequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that actually turned out to be a live-action version of The Little Prince, starring Gene Wilder. And the other was Moonwalker . Strangely enough, I was more convinced that the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory sequel was real since there is actually a sequel to the book called, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

But Moonwalker was the movie that was too weird to be real. In my dream of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sequel, Willy Wonka and Charlie land in a forest with their elevator, and these little creatures pop out behind trees. That’s all that I “remembered”. But in Moonwalker, I could have sworn I remembered these clay figures chasing Michael, and him turning into a robot. Obviously, that was all just a dream…wasn’t it?

Segments In The Movie Became Actual Music Videos

And here’s why my lizard brain almost believed it was all just a dream. It’s because many of the segments in the movie actually became music videos. This is because Moonwalker isn’t really a movie, per se, as it is just a bunch of music videos that are loosely strung together. “Man in the Mirror,” “Speed Demon,” “Leave Me Alone,” and of course, “Smooth Criminal,” are all featured in this film.

And it’s weird that I didn’t believe this was a movie since I had the Michael Jackson Moonwalker video game for my Sega Master System. I played the hell out of that game, and I loved it. It was a platformer (of sorts) where you had to rescue children by opening doors. It was really fun, but something didn’t quite sit well with me when it came to a trench-coat-wearing bad guy with sunglasses. There was nothing really scary about this character. But then I saw the movie…

Joe Pesci Always Scared Me As A Child And I Didn’t Know Why

I found out that Moonwalker was a movie while watching an episode of The Angry Video Game Nerd . In the episode, which was about the Moonwalker game, the Nerd briefly mentioned that the game was based off of a movie, which made my heart leap into my throat. All those years where I just thought I imagined the movie finally came crashing home. I got goosebumps and had to see if it was real. When I found out that it was, I watched it and finally understood why I had an irrational fear of Joe Pesci growing up.

Because while most kids of a certain age found Joe Pesci to be funny as the short-tempered thief, Harry, in Home Alone, I always found him terrifying. For some reason, I thought he was either going to kill Kevin, or take him hostage and pump him full of drugs, which didn’t make any sense. Why would he give Kevin drugs? Well, it turns out that Joe Pesci plays a character named Mr. Big in Moonwalker, and he’s the main antagonist. And get this. He wants to make all the kids in America drug addicts, and even kidnaps a child. It gets worse…

I Had An Irrational Fear Of Being Kidnapped When I Was Growing Up

Parents always try to scare their children when they tell them about strangers so their kids don’t get kidnapped. So of course I had a fear of being taken. But my fear of being kidnapped was really bad. So much so that I had several nightmares about being taken to a lair where armed guards stood watch while my captor lurked in the shadows. Well, I now realize it was all because of this stupid movie that I was so afraid of being kidnapped.

In the film, there’s a segment that eventually became the video “Smooth Criminal.” I’m sure you’ve seen it—the white suit, the bending forward, the pool hall. All that good stuff. Well, in the movie, after the big music number, Mr. Big (Joe Pesci) kidnaps an orphan child and ties her up, threatening to inject her with drugs. And after I saw that, it all made sense to me why movies like Goodfellas and even My Cousin Vinny always gave me intense anxiety. But that wasn’t even the worst part…

Robot Michael Jackson Is Nightmare Fuel

No, the worst part, and the part that actually made me scream as a grown ass man, was when Michael Jackson turns into a robot. It was something of a primordial, distant memory that struck me right in my heart when I saw him transform into a robot and shoot down people dead. Dead!

And what’s really strange is that this scene is also in the video game, but my mind didn’t make the mental leap. Seeing it on the screen just cleared up so many holes for me as to why I always loved MJ growing up, but was also really, intrinsically frightened by him. So much so that I couldn’t look at his picture for too long or I would feel really unsettled. I always thought it was because of his “Thriller" video, but no. It was Moonwalker and Robot Michael Jackson. 100% Robot Michael Jackson . That scene is terrifying. And those are my 5 reasons.