MJ: Still can’t believe it
26 06 2009
It’s been just over 24 hours since he died, and I’m still kinda hoping it’s not true. I didn’t know the man personally, so I cannot vouch for his character, but I can say with sincerity that it was a pleasure to have shared the Earth with Michael Joseph Jackson. I don’t believe in idol worship, and I don’t espouse to zealousness either. I don’t plan on building a shrine, simply admiring a talent so unique that it may never been seen again in my lifetime. That’s Michael Jackson. He was timeless BEFORE he died. His music endured his tribulations. Even HE could not undo that.
There is a piece on the LA Times Web site, written by Robert Hilburn, a reporter who covered and knew Michael, that is very telling. A quote:
In the 1981 interview, he told me, “My real goal is to fulfill God’s purpose. I didn’t choose to sing or dance. But that’s my role, and I want to do it better than anybody else. I still remember the first time I sang in kindergarten class. I sang ‘Climb Every Mountain,’ and everyone got so excited.
“It’s beautiful at the shows when people join together. It’s our own little world. For that hour and a half, we try to show there is hope and goodness. It’s only when you step back outside the building that you see all the craziness.”
Michael likely fought with the success he reaped. In the LA Times piece, he says the album after Thriller would sell twice as many, even though Thriller was the top-selling album of all time. And what must life be like when it’s apparent that you’ve already done the greatest thing you’ll ever do?
He was a lonely, and stressed man. I believe in the end, all the effort to be the best, all the internalizing and pain, loneliness and pull from those around him who existed only to feed off him, all these things conspired to claim his life energy, then finally his life.
Rest easy, Michael, your fight is over.
