R.I.P. Michael Jackson: 1958 – 2009
Photo Credit: Celebrity & World.Com
I’m a 80’s baby. I was fortunate enough to grow up and witness Michael Jackson at the height of his fame and celebrity. The songs from his Thriller album roll easily off of my tongue. Billie Jean. Beat it. Bad. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’. (a song that I sang for my highschool talent show which I MC’d) I remember not being able to watch the full length Thriller music video on television by myself at night because of fear, but forcing myself to at least listen….until it got to the scary voice and the girl running from “monster Mike.”
I wasn’t necessarily shocked when I heard the news. I think members of the clergy have a heightened awareness of our mortality in the flesh. We’re constantly walking behind or hurrying in front of death helping to prepare people for the inevitability of our end. (Health practitioners and morticians probably have this same sensitivity) I was saddened though. Michael Jackson made an impact the world over. The talking heads on TV have already gone down the list of those artists who in their own way pay homage to Mr. Jackson via the display of their art whether it be dance, song, or fashion.
However, the tragedy of his death is palpable. Fifty years old? “Tomorrow’s not promised“, the grandmother’s of my culture would say. The tragedy of his somewhat tarnished legacy is also saddening. The constant rehearsing of the scandals that peppered his latter days, I’ll leave for others to do, but I guess it’s my sympathy for the “underdog” that wishes that he were able to complete his 50 performance tour in London. Go out on top and close the curtain.
However, it would not be so. In the words of Immortal Technique, “reality is nourishment, but people don’t believe it.”
Death has a tendency to catch us by surprise from time to time and perhaps it’s because we gravitate toward the fantasy that there are some who will escape it’s grasp. Surely, the Left Behind movies would suggest that, but I tend to believe that the majority of us will have to march down our own road to and through the grave.
So perhaps the nourishing reality in this is that we have very limited time to make an impact whether positive or negative and that impact – that legacy and its interpretation will tell our story when we can no longer live it.
Rest In Peace – “King of Pop” – Michael Jackson.
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