What does "BATOW!" mean?

JM77

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I've always wondered, what does Michael mean whilst he's performing 'Rock With You' live during the Bad Tour and he suddenly says, 'Batow!' out of the blue, which he says a few times throughout the song. (I don't know if I have spelt/said it right) I know that others have been confused by this too in the youtube comments based on spelling/what it means.

he says it at 2:31:

Does anyone actually know what it means?
 
Huh, whaaaa? Excuse me while I fangirl to the MAX over his electrifying hotness... :heat: :blush: :girl_dance:

I don't know what it means, don't know what or why he said it and that's alright with me, LMAO! He could have been yelling "COW PIES" and I would have swooned...
 
Maybe it was a feeling Michael was having and the word came out. Good question.


So true Michael could have yelled anything and we would still have love it.:)
 
Huh, whaaaa? Excuse me while I fangirl to the MAX over his electrifying hotness... :heat: :blush: :girl_dance:

I don't know what it means, don't know what or why he said it and that's alright with me, LMAO! He could have been yelling "COW PIES"and I would have swooned...

Hahaha :rofl:
 
Huh, whaaaa? Excuse me while I fangirl to the MAX over his electrifying hotness... :heat: :blush: :girl_dance:

I don't know what it means, don't know what or why he said it and that's alright with me, LMAO! He could have been yelling "COW PIES" and I would have swooned...

hahahaha :lol:

Indeed, swoon or :wild: is the right way to look at that video. It could have been an 'adlib' or 'Michael slang' :D

I love it really. Thx for sharing!
 
You guys are definitely cracking me up-but is this the best perfomance of all time or what???????????? The best song of all time??????The most gorgeous singer of all time????????????? Jeez Louise. Love how that clip ended with "AMEN!" Beat me to it! LOL.

Yeah-I've seen some hilarious debates on YouTube about "Batow". :rofl:
 
I can't help it (song title drop pun intended)! One can not blind me with Mike science and expect me to THINK, lol! Ok, you can't expect me to think rated PG... ;)
 
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I can't help it (song title drop pun intended)! One can not blind me with Mike science and expect me to THINK, lol! Ok, you can't expect me to think rated PG... ;)

I even had it tough :busted: to exactly concentrate and listen to hear him say 'BATOW'.
Yep, you're right :agree:One can ONLY think Rated 18+ watching a video like that :unsure:

It's BATOW indeed :D
 
Ah the infamous Batow thread that pops up every now and again. In my opinion, it's gibberish, Mike talk, his way of getting people to be like "duh fuq he say?" almost 30 years later ( ... it worked ;) )
 
When I was young I always thought he was talking about a musician who was playing or something along those lines hahaha, he also says it looking at his right and not at the audience so maybe that's why I imagined that
 
When I was young I always thought he was talking about a musician who was playing or something along those lines hahaha, he also says it looking at his right and not at the audience so maybe that's why I imagined that
That's actually a good theory-I've looked at names on production staff and crew to see if I could find anything that sounds like that. LOL. Like when he yells "Peckie" and he's calling to the camera guy to get the audience response-or when he yells "Eddie" in this-I think Eddie is a sound guy or maybe a security guy since it's right before that girl goes jumping on the stage to get him. :)

 
People hear him say all kinds of things, I remember someone saying they'd always thought he was just randomly yelling 'MY TOE!':rofl: All I hear is 'mantow' lol, to me it just sounds like another one of his made up words but then someone mentioned it might have been a cue for his band or crew.. I think I heard him yell for 'pecky' (his photographer) once too, so who knows! This is probably just gonna continue to be a mystery forever, I'm sure Michael will be pleased :')

But.. this performance tho, LAWD!
tumblr_inline_nsw5rrce8m1qc1q51_500.gif


ETA: lol barbee, we were thinking the same thing! :lol:
 
It may be a cue for his bass player. "Bartow" may actually be him saying "bottom" which means baseline.
 
It may be a cue for his bass player. "Bartow" may actually be him saying "bottom" which means baseline. The reason he pronounced it that way was well.....MJ being MJ....bending, stretching, and contorting words so they are left barely decipherable.
 
It's just random jibberish words. He'd shout stuff like that more often than the typical "everybody! move! yeah! alright!"
 
It means "everybody". It evolved over the years. He actually said "everybato" in the earlier days a few times. "Bato" is just an easier way for him to say "everybody".
 
I always thought he said "my toe!" But I've also heard "shake your bato"
 
I have wondered about that "word" for years! lol

It is probably Mike talk, yes.

Batow!
Acha Ooo!
Shamone!
Sh sh!
...



But maybe it is a cue for one of the musicians OR he is adressing one of the musicians.

:rollin: @"my toe" > "I wanna Rock With You, My Toe"
 
My buddy and I have always jokingly assumed he was saying "PART TWO!" Part Two of what, we have no idea.

But yeah, I love this little adlib. It rules.
 
I have wondered about that "word" for years! lol

It is probably Mike talk, yes.

Batow!
Acha Ooo!
Shamone!
Sh sh!
...



But maybe it is a cue for one of the musicians OR he is adressing one of the musicians.

:rollin: @"my toe" > "I wanna Rock With You, My Toe"
Kmsl no...after the beat drops after "i think i wanna rock" burrrmp burrrdunnn dunnn dunnn burrrmp bmpp bumm buddaah MY TOE! & i always thought he said my toe because when he holds the mic down to his shoe to start the bass drum,i thoughy he just did it really hard to the point where he hurt his foot & instead of a lyric he just yelled MY TOE!
 
Notice Michael say this after he say i think i want to rock so that would me everybody rock with me . He open his arms so that mean everybody.

Michael say Batow again after he say Rock with me Maybe that is what Batow mean rock with me. On the part where he say shake your thang he say it again (Batow) right before this.
 
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It's okay I've figured it out
Breaking
All
The
Outrageous(I couldn't think of a positive adjective that starts with O haha don't hate me)
Women's hearts
(y)
 
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:laughingv6: this thread is hilarious. God I miss barbee0715 and SheilaMJFan4Ever so much :cryv1:
 
I always thought he said ‘matow’ I have seen him laugh and look at someone when he says that, it maybe aimed at someone. But ALSO have you guys seen the victory tour where he says ‘peki’ but then he says ‘peki ri ri ri ri’ and then says ‘ri ri ri ri’ and laughs after HAHA
 
If I had the chance to interview Mike, I swear this would be one of the questions I'd ask him haha. He'd probably shrug his shoulders and say he was just feeling it

I read somebody say they thought it could have been him saying "band talk", because right after he does it in say Rock With You, the back up singers come in. Which isn't a bad guess I thought
 
I've always been curious! What does he say and what does it mean?

EDIT:
So that everyone gets it...
This is what I'm referring to (2:18):
 
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