Thesis:
Michael Jackson had a wonderful career that was filled with stardom, wealth, and power. The music he created brought in new ideas into the music industry, and according to britannica.com “by 1984 Jackson was renowned worldwide as the “King of Pop.”” Without Michael Jackson, some of the things that we might appreciate today would have not been brought to existence without his help, such as music videos, breaking down racial barriers and finally celebrity advertisement.
Music Videos:
Music videos were created well before the rise of the great late Michael Jackson, but not really did you see so much interest in watching such videos until 1983 when Michael Jackson’s song “Thriller” hit the world by storm, which according to highsnobiety.com “cost over $500,000 to make at a time when most videos cost in the tens of thousands to produce.” In my opinion the 13 minute video which I have provided below was more like a short film, but extremely entertaining, and fun to watch. Michael Jackson paved the way for what the current standard for music videos now, which is high production values. According to theguardian.com “Thriller sealed MTV’s reputation as a new cultural force; dissolved racial barriers in the station’s treatment of music (though MTV has always denied they existed); revolutionized music video production; spawned the “making of” genre of documentary (“The Making of Filler,” as Landis said at the time); helped create a market for VHS rentals and sales, because fans were desperate to see it when they wanted, rather than at the will of TV stations; and, in 2009, became the first music video to be inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.” In the video itself you can see lots of examples in which the timbre changes such as when he sings the word “thriller” which is sung at a much higher tone, and my in opinion it really goes well with the music video. The lyrics for the song reminds me of scary story, or in other words has that Halloween spirit within the song. For example in one of his lines he sings “Creatures crawl in search of blood,” and in another line he sings “As horror looks you right between your eyes,” definitely phrases that can resemble a scary story. The tempo is nice and steady during the verses, while during the chorus it starts to pick up in the 1984 version, when the song came out as a single.
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This video was published on Oct 2, 2009 on YouTube by Michael Jackson, but was made in 1983. “Thriller” was recorded by Michael Jackson, composed by Rod Temperton, produced by Quincy Jones and released by Epic Records.
Breaking Down Racial Barriers:
According to theguardian.com “as the first breakthrough black performer to grace the screens of MTV in any regular fashion, he continued breaking barriers long after the official word was that there were no barriers left. “Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama,” said Sharpton.” Also before Michael Jackson was famous for his music videos he needed to be accepted by MTV first as an article by articles.sun-sentinel.com states “it’s one of the great tales of culture clash: The young, rock-oriented MTV refused to play black music, including the moody video for “Billie Jean”. Jackson’s label, CBS, threatened to pull all of its artists from circulation. MTV relented. “Billie Jean”, the first MTV-aired video by a black artist, became a smash.” “Billie Jean” is played at a fast tempo, and after listening to the song I found it playing at a 4/4 time, and the smooth beat helped me identify this. According to genius.com the lyrics for the song are about a “tale of a young girl who claims to be the mother of Jackson’s alleged son.” According to the same website Michael Jackson stated “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.” The song contains a much softer and serious tone during the chorus, and during some parts where the singer exaggerates his voice on some notes.
- This video was published on YouTube on October 2nd, 2009 by Michael Jackson, but was made in 1983. “Billie Jean” was written and composed by Michael Jackson, produced by Quincy Jones, and released by Epic Records.
Celebrity Advertisement:
According to billboard.com “Coca-Cola offered a $1 million deal that was rejected and the Jacksons moved on to PepsiCo, where then-CEO Roger Enrico was looking for a big idea to launch his youth-targeted “New Generation” campaign for the brand. “The goal was to make Pepsi look young and Coke look old, and Michael Jackson was in fact the choice of that generation” when Jackson suggested using his song “Billie Jean” as the jingle (with the rewritten chorus, “You’re the Pepsi generation/Guzzle down and taste the thrill of the day/And feel the Pepsi way”), Pepsi was sold.” As you can see this iconic deal was great for both parties, maybe better for Pepsi as they made huge profits that year, but either way this deal created new paths for future artists, and celebrities to be used in advertising. According to billboard.com “the trend of Pepsi signing music stars as spokespeople has continued into the present day, with Lionel Richie, Madonna, Beyoncé and Britney Spears all lending their name to the brand. Corporations of all stripes now align themselves frequently with pop artists, but with music and advertising becoming increasingly fragmented, Jackson’s deals with Pepsi will likely remain the industry standard-bearer.” The melody of the song comes from Michael Jackson’s original single “Billie Jean” but with a new twist in the lyrics. For the lyrics of this song, instead of talking about a young girl who claims to be the mother of Jackson’s alleged son in “Billie Jean” this little jingle is about drinking Pepsi and making this choice for being “a whole new generation.” The first two verses in the little jingle are sung with a more serious tone trying to sound more influential, which from the whole idea of having the commercial was his job. After the the two verses the remaining lyrics are sung at a much softer tone, which really brings out the same melody as “Billie Jean.” The song is once again follows the same meter as the original song “Billie Jean” which is a 4/4 time.
- This video was published on YouTube onApril 29th, 2009 by Modegy. However the song was created in 1984 for a Pepsi commercial. The director of this commercial was Bob Giraldi, and the lyrics were made by Michael Jackson.
In the end, the power that Michael Jackson had through the creation of his music allowed him to change our society in my opinion for the better. Even though this blog post does not cover all of the influential things that Michael Jackson has contributed to our society like his iconic dance moves, his contribution through music videos, racial barriers, and celebrity commercial have developed to what it is now with his help.
Sources:
6.) “Michael Jackson – Billie Jean.” Genius, 2 Jan. 1983, genius.com/Michael-jackson-billie-jean-lyrics.
New Relationship With Music:
This course has helped me understand the analytical side behind music such as, form, timbre, melody, lyrics, tempo, beat, meter, and etc. Before taking the class I really had no background on how one should be able to comment on a piece of music other than just talking about the lyrics, the singer, and beat. I have also started to listen to more instrumental music after finding out more information about The Piano Guys in my blog post about The Role of the Performer. I also got to learn more about my Korean culture with understanding how two traditional instruments the P’iri, and kayagŭm are played in my blog post on Taking a Musical Trip. Overall, this class was one of my more interesting classes I have taken for my Civil Engineering degree, and would highly recommend it for any university student to enroll in.