Bae Soontak’s “Michael” — Anticipating Him, Part ② I’ll Clear Up Every Misconception About Michael Jackson!

I have to write about the representative track, “Billie Jean.” They say it was made after inspiration suddenly struck while he was driving. “Billie Jean” refers to a group of stalker-like fans who pursued him. Here is what Michael Jackson said about it: “This girl in the song is really a way of expressing all the girls who bothered our brothers, together in one. I couldn’t understand how they could tell such lies, even though it wasn’t true. Even now, I still can’t understand.”

“Billie Jean” is a song that symbolizes Michael Jackson’s perfectionism. According to the records, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones went through a total of 91 mixes. A mix is the process of combining individual recorded tracks—vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and so on—into one cohesive whole. We also hear testimony from Bruce Swedien, who was considered the best engineer in the history of popular music. “Some days, Michael would come by and ask me to raise the bass just a little. Other days, Quincy would come and ask for a little seasoning on the drums… In the end, we did only mixes—91 times. While all that was going on, Quincy Jones made a puzzling face, and then said, ‘Let’s listen to the mixes we did at the beginning.’” In the end, what Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones chose was the second mix. “Hallelujah! That’s it—exactly this!”

Whenever I think about this episode, I picture 〈The Wizard of Oz〉. I’m sure you already know the gist. Dorothy, who wants to go back home, finally realizes that the shoes she’s been wearing are the key to getting back. The scarecrow, who wants a brain, helps the group with wisdom, and the tin woodsman—who has no heart—breaks down in tears. The lion, craving courage, defeats a terrifying enemy, and Dorothy, as mentioned, is already wearing the shoes.

Yes, that’s right. We always dream of “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” but the point is that it already exists within me. Still, it’s important to understand that discovering this truth requires going through certain experiences. Just like how, after 91 attempts, Michael Jackson realized that the treasure they were looking for was hidden in the second try, human beings end up wandering as long as they keep trying. You have to be able to endure the tedious process and turn it into a leap forward for your thinking. In short, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Michael Jackson prepared the music video just as thoroughly. This was to match the MTV era, when the channel launched in August 1981. However, at that time, MTV did not play music videos by Black artists. The savior who stepped in was Bill Paley, the head of CBS, the biggest power in the record industry. “If we don’t play the music video for ‘Billie Jean,’ we won’t provide every music video coming out from CBS in the future.” And on that very day, MTV aired the “Billie Jean” music video.

The musical core of 〈Thriller〉, including this track, was the combination of black and white. Michael Jackson is rooted in Black music, but he sparked a worldwide craze with crossover music that blended rock favored by white audiences with disco, soul, and R&B—Black genres. You can be sure of this: if it weren’t for this album, there wouldn’t have been the nickname “King of Pop,” either.

The song that shook the world wasn’t only “Billie Jean.” You also have to mention the popularity of “Beat It,” in which Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo. When translated, “Beat It” means “(Don’t get tainted by violence—) just get out of here instead!” The guitar solo was played by Eddie Van Halen, and the part he handled was only the solo. The lead guitar was played by Steve Lukather, and the rhythm guitar was played by Paul Jackson, Jr.

In 1987, Michael Jackson released 〈Bad〉, which was the first pop album of my life, and he tried to recreate the mythology of his previous work. 〈Bad〉 was also loved just as much as 〈Thriller〉. After the release of this album in particular, Michael Jackson went on a world tour—an unprecedented scale: 123 performances across four continents and 15 countries. The audience totaled about 4.4 million people. In the end, Michael Jackson earned more than $125 million in revenue with the 〈Bad〉 tour. It was the first world tour in the truest sense—on a different level from any musician before him.

I’ll wrap up this piece by clearing up misconceptions about Michael Jackson. Did he undergo surgery to become white? Not at all. The fact is that his vitiligo worsened because his lupus deteriorated. It had a big impact from an accident during filming a Cola commercial in 1984—he was on stage when an explosion happened. They say the lupus worsened because, as a fire lit up his entire head, he suffered severe burns on the back of his head. Lupus patients are especially vulnerable to ultraviolet light. That’s why he always had to wear gloves and carry an umbrella.

Rumors about him involving children are also not true. No evidence has been found, and the child who had filed a lawsuit later revealed the truth. “Michael didn’t do anything strange to us.” On top of that, the child’s parents were people with a criminal history for fraud. Even though everyone involved was cleared of wrongdoing, many people still don’t know.

During his lifetime, Michael Jackson left these words: “If you want to understand me, please listen to this song.”

And that’s where I end the article—with the lyrics of that song, “Childhood.”

No one understands me

No one understands me

They view it as such strange eccentricities...

People just see it as weird, odd behavior

People say I'm not okay

People say I’m not normal

'Cause I love such elementary things...

Because I love things that are so childish…

It's been my fate to compensate

It was my fate to make up for it

For the Childhood I've never known...

For the childhood I never knew…