A few years ago I wrote an article titled “My Top 10 80’s Songs That Aren’t By Michael Jackson.” That article was written with the intention that I would do a top 10 Michael Jackson song list, and as you can tell from the title, this is that article.
Today, June 25th 2019, marks 10 years since the death of the “King of Pop.” For much of the 80’s and into the 90’s Michael Jackson was considered the greatest entertainer alive, full stop. An inescapable fixture of the pop music scene, to say the very least.
I remember growing up during the tail end of this time period — the early 90’s. My mother was (and still is) a huge fan, so I grew up constantly hearing his music. Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, I knew the albums very well even as a young child. I vaguely recall the release of Dangerous, even less on the 1993 allegations, but I do heavily recall the release of HIStory which, for me at that time, was probably the greatest thing ever — I got to be around for a new Michael Jackson release, and was old enough to really understand it! It was pretty awesome!
When I began collection records in 2009 I started off with a copy of Thriller. This was a time, after many years where I otherwise didn’t think much about Michael Jackson that I would grow to begin listening to his music again heavily. Indeed, I would later grow to have a near complete set of his later works on vinyl (including Dangerous and HIStory, both 3 record sets that are somewhat rare) and would even get a copy of his 1972 album Ben with the “rat” cover – a less common release of the album which was recalled as being a bit scary for children. I had grown older, and better able to appreciate much of his work and was becoming a fan all over again.
Naturally, his death on June 25th 2009 was shocking. I was at work at the time and a friend who I was regularly talking about MJ with (I was on a big Michael Jackson kick at the time) broke the news to me just minutes after I had heard some customers talking about someone “just planning new concerts” dying. I was aware of the This is It concert series coming up, and didn’t put two and two together until she told me he had died.
Since that time, many of his unreleased songs have seen the light of day. Many of these help paint a better perspective on what Michael was feeling over the years, if the idea that personal experience fuels art is valid, as it would seem to be in many of his previously released songs.
With that back story covered, let’s get into it — My personal picks for the top 10 Michael Jackson songs. Again, these are just my picks for the best of the best of the best – the ones that speak to me in a way that others may not.
Let’s begin.
10: Ben
Ah, Ben. The 1st cut from Michael’s 1972 album of the same name. The title song was used in the film of the same name, and as such art depicting rats which was used on the movie poster was put below Michael on original pressings of the album which, needless to say, would have been quite terrifying, especially for younger audiences in 1972. Hell, the fact that this song, sung by a then 13-14 year old Michael, was used as a title track for a horror film but that’s how things were at that time — indeed, it shows how early he had begun to rise in popularity.
The song itself is a simple enough, rather touching tune of a lone individual finding friendship in Ben. Michael shows in this song, even relatively young, an ability to express deep emotion in his performance that many artists never seem to quite master, capturing the way someone loves a pet well, especially if it was their only “friend,” and while the darker aspects of the song (and thus the films premise) lie just below the surface of the song, it’s still incredibly touching for one about a fictional friendship. As someone who used to have a pet rat it hurts that bit more, since rats do make for very interesting little companions.
Of course, when you think about it given the films perspective, where the protagonist finds Ben to be a his best friend, the song makes perfect sense…
No “official” upload for this one, so I’ll present you this quality fan upload.
9: Al Capone
Now we hit our first “obscure” cut, Al Capone. This song is one of the many unreleased songs planned for a previous album which would be properly released following the artists death. In this case, Al Capone was released on the 2012 25th anniversary release of the Bad album (originally released in 1987).
The song itself carries strong similarities to Smooth Criminal for reasons that aren’t coincidental — Smooth Criminal directly evolved from Al Capone, and as such both share many similar elements.
This results in Al Capone having the same catchy nature that Smooth Criminal has but also, due to its earlier production, has a certain raw sound that fits in more with other songs from the Bad album and is a sound that I really like. Seriously, it’s musically quite a dynamic piece, given how oddly simple it is at the same time. Lyrically it’s catchy, if a little dry in some aspects, but then again so was Smooth Criminal. Really, that’s all there is to it – it’s like Smooth Criminal but different, and I’ve really grown to love it for what it is, so similar yet oh so different from what was, as a child, my favorite MJ song.
Again, a fan upload here, but one worth sharing. Enjoy.
8: Off The Wall
Ah, here we hit a more mainstream track — the title single off of Jackson’s 1979 album Off The Wall. At its core a song about relaxing and shrugging off the stresses of the day to day world, Off The Wall was one of those songs that I heard somewhat by accident and just loved it. From that strange laugh in the beginning and that incredibly driving bass line to the rather positive message (basically that you need to relax and have some fun) Off The Wall is just a joy to listen to.
I really don’t have more to say. It’s late era disco-style perfection, and gives us a great sample of what’s to come in the 80’s with Thriller and Bad.
Again, another fan upload for this one.
7: Earth Song
Jumping ahead to 1995 and the HIStory album, we have Earth Song, a somewhat over the top song speaking out against war, pollution, trophy hunting and so much more. Given the songs release when I was all of 10 years old, it stuck with me through the years — I liked it then, and I like it now. That’s kind of odd, given the gospel nature of it, but the emotion is strong, I generally agree with the sentiments in the song (some more than others) and the structure of the music video which is certainly excessive but does show real issues left a mark on me that I can’t quite ignore — especially one clip in the middle showing the Canadian Seal “Hunt” — that stuck with me strongest of all.
I don’t know why I enjoy the song as much as I do, but well, here it is on our list. It’s the first one with a proper music video as well so, enjoy!
6: Morphine
Here we have another track which would have flown under the radar of many. This song comes off of Michael’s relatively unknown 1997 album Blood on the Dance Floor, an EP consisting of a few newer songs alongside mixes of previous tracks from HIStory.
This is a rather dark track, to say the least. It has an incredibly industrial sound that I absolutely love. This is contrasted well with an interlude in the middle which puts a very human touch on the otherwise incredibly mechanical (artificial, one could say) sound of the rest of the song.
Indeed, matching the shift in the nature of the song comes a shift in the lyrics. The intense industrial section consists of a storm of insults, a sense of worthlessness being shoved onto others leads to a very natural and personal interaction, resulting in another person becoming an addict.
Honestly, I could have this mixed up. It’s an incredibly odd song, but one I love. It is, however, a bit of a strange track to listen to after the way Jackson died. In retrospect it makes me question how autobiographical this song may have been, given the rumors that Jackson was regularly on paid medications since the late 80’s. That, if all true, makes the song more haunting than it already was, and to me increases its importance in his artistry.
We have an official VEVO audio upload for this one. Enjoy.
5: Stranger In Moscow
Another cut off of HIStory, Stranger in Moscow was a song that, without any doubt was inspired by actual events — Michael was in Moscow at the time the 1993 abuse allegations came to light, and the song was written as a way for him to express how he felt during this event.
It’s funny, as a kid I didn’t like this song much, but as I grew older I began to understand it more, lyrically, and grow to appreciate the soft sound of it. As an adult I could really appreciate it, and the music video for how they convey that cold sensation that is the shock of any kind of horrific news. It’s hard to describe. The song somehow is incredibly pleasant, yet describes one of the worst feelings one can experience.
This one has a proper video which, of course, is presented here.
4: They Don’t Care About Us
Yet another cut from HIStory, They Don’t Care About Us was Michael’s take on racial injustice in the United States. It’s a relatively simple song — a marching beat, a very sing-song vocal pattern. Nothing too exciting until you really get into the lyrics – they don’t sugar coat things, yet still have a somewhat approachable quality to them.
In fact, I actually first heard this song on the radio, before we got a copy of the HIStory album and was surprised by it. I rather enjoyed the sound, and could get the lyrics enough to know what it was about. Even at 10, I wasn’t ignorant of social issues like those featured in the song, but still, being a kid, I took the message of the song and internalized it to be anyone “different,” even in a schoolyard sense. Maybe, though, that works given the way our youth influences our adult lives, and how people who are at all different — be it race, religion, or just personality, can become outcasts to a point of active hostility against them… well, it makes ya think.
The song is interesting, as it’s one of a very few (if not the only) MJ songs to have actually been censored — two words in a line early on in the song are distorted in later releases, but are intact on early releases, including my vinyl copy from 1995. The fact the line is in the song as released actually makes me surprised that it had radio play, but, well, that was the power Michael Jackson had in 1995.
This song is also interesting in that it had 2 different videos made – one, the “Prison” video, was simply too intense for most television airplay as it featured actual footage of various hate crimes and atrocities in recent history, and so a more tame “Brazil” video was produced.
I could go on and on studying this track, and may do so in the future, but I’ve spent enough time on this one. For now, here are both videos. I’ll admit, as good as the Prison video is, it’s still a little bit, well, MJ focused, as is the Brazil video, of course. It’s just interesting the contrast, Michal Jackson and the horrors of war, poverty, and hatred.
3: Who Is It
Who Is It is a slightly deeper cut from Jackson’s 1991 album Dangerous. It’s a song with a very straightforward premise — the woman he (Michael) is in love with, whom he’s spent money, time, energy, and emotions on, seems to have completely abandoned him, having cheated on him with another man who he now simply wants to know the identity of (hence the songs title). Much like previous tracks Michael has done involving loss such as “She’s Out Of My Life,” emotion carries strong here, and while many other tracks are musically quite nice, Who Is It has what has to be some of the best music of damn near any MJ song, which is saying a lot.
I can’t quite put my finger on it — the orchestral flow, the absolutely incredible bass line (I’m really a sucker for such) or just how it all matches with Michael’s delivery, I don’t know, but what I do know is I absolutely love this song.
This is another song which actually did get a music video – two, apparently, although one was just previous concert footage clips spliced together. That version, however, got air time.
The other video is a bit of cinematic work telling a story that begins following the flow of the song but turns out to have a bit of a twist to it. I won’t spoil it here, as that’s the video I’ll be sharing and seeing as most will have not seen it, well, I don’t want to ruin the fun.
I don’t know what else to say — I just really enjoy this song.
2: Price Of Fame
We now return to about where we started in this list with another unreleased track from the Bad sessions. This one has a bit of quirky story about it, but also, when you really look into it, may damn well be the most honest (and dark) song the man ever made.
Price of Fame talks about exactly what the title says – the price of being famous. Not monetarily, of course, but in the way ones life is once they become a celebrity, and the nature of stardom.
Originally the song was planned to be a promotion for Pepsi, and was composed around the drink. Strange to think today, certainly, that a whole song and music video would be made for such, but that was what Pepsi was doing in the 80’s and Michael was their big star, so, that’s what happened.
This song, however would go unused, although a complete commercial was filmed using it. The song would be reworked and eventually become the composition it would get released as for the Bad 25 album.
What I find amazing about the song is just how open it is. I truly feel like Michael is talking about his own life experience here, which may be why the song was never properly released in his lifetime. It was just too damned intense, and way too personal.
I, of course, can’t speak on this from any kind of experience, but the song says what it says and if one can take from other songs Michael had done elements of his life experience, then it paints a very dark picture of the conditions which drove Michael to become who he was in entertainment; not just his upbringing but every aspect of being famous.
For video, I’ll provide a fan video with lyrics and then as a bonus the unreleased “Pepsi” video.
1: Leave Me Alone
Here we have it, my personal favorite Michael Jackson song. Amazingly it’s one of the few high profile tracks on this list, but for good reason — we know it’s a serious statement on his life and public perception.
The song, at a listen, speaks more of a woman taking all of his time, money, and energy, with Michael demanding that she simply “leave (him) alone.” It’s only when you watch the video that you get an understanding on what is really meant — Jackson’s demand is for the media to leave him alone after a string of rumors began circulating through the late 80’s.
The music video pokes fun at this in every way you can imagine, and honestly is kind of an incredible trip, in a way. I recall seeing it once as a child and being freaked out by it, as much of it is a little crazy and creepy, but in retrospect I just love the stop motion / claymation style so much of it is in, and all the little references — including at the end where Jackson is dancing with the bones of an “Elephant Man,” a section which I also found creepy as a child and still do somewhat to this day!
The video is simply a work of art, how things sync up, the subtle elements, ah, I could go on and on about how awesome it is.
For someone like me, though, that somewhat loves being “left alone” to my work, hobbies, and interests, the song speaks to me and is always something I love to listen to when I’m feeling like I need a break from everyone and everything, much like most of MJ’s music. It’s an escape for me, one that I just love.
Of course, I’ll finish this off with the music video, and then some final thoughts. One last thing worth mentioning, I actually have the 12 inch single for this song autographed by Michael Jackson (along side Smooth Criminal.) It’s certainly a prize in my collection, to say the least.
So, that’s it. That’s my top 10 Michael Jackson song list. Not what you were expecting, eh? The reason is simple — I wanted to list the songs which really spoke to me personally. I’ve never had a “Bille Jean” moment; never had to “beat it” from a bad scene. I’m not “Bad” nor do I wish to “Remember The Time” I spent with some previous loves. That’s not to say in any way those songs aren’t good or I don’t like them. Far from it!
I actually group songs from people like Jackson together, so that a song like “Who Is It” is just as amazing to me as, let’s say, “Beat It.” “Another Part of Me” might rank as high as Morphine, and another track like “Human Nature” might be another I love but still only be grouped as high as “Ben” was on this list. It’s more of a thing about picking what I think best represents what I personally love in his music, and those songs that I feel were important (or I place importance in) for more than just their musical value.
Some, like “Who Is It” are truly just pieces of music I enjoy, but others, like “Price of Fame” I feel are so much more, while still being songs I like.
I hope you enjoyed, and thank you very much for at least skimming this list. Michael Jackson was an incredible creative talent, and while I’ll say he was certainly an eccentric person, at the core I think he was a good human who created an incredible amount of material for us to enjoy. That’s what I wish to focus on, and nothing more.
Michael Joseph Jackson
1958-2009
