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MJ’s signature ballad

mj_frenzy

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I am referring to that ballad that MJ is best known for, regardless of its theme.

In other words, I am referring to that ballad that MJ is easiest identified with, both to fans & general audience.

Of course, it could be more than one ballad, & not necessarily his most successful one(s).

For example:

- ‘I Just Can’t Stop Lovin’ You’ ?

- ‘One Day In Your Life’ ?

- ‘You Are Not Alone’ ?

- ‘Music & Me’ ?

- ‘The Lady In My Life’ ?

- ‘Gone Too Soon’ ?

- ‘Ben’ ?

- ‘Liberian Girl’ ?

- ‘The Lost Children’ ?

- ‘She’s Out Of My Life’ ?

- etc.

(any officially released ballad that MJ recorded, written or not-written by him)
 
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For the general audience, You Are Not Alone is definitely the one and not necessarily because they like it. I think they kind of find it annoying, as a sort of earworm :)

As a fan, I would go with IJCSLY.
 
I Just Can't Stop Lovin' You or You Are Not Alone. I think those are his most famous ballads.
 
Erandi said:
For the general audience, You Are Not Alone is definitely the one and not necessarily because they like it. I think they kind of find it annoying, as a sort of earworm :)
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It's probably one of my least favourite songs on HIStory tbh and I often skip it (iTunes says I've only played it in full twice since 2011, with the last time being in 2013). I'm gonna take cover for what I'm about to say, but I actually prefer the remix of it on the BOTDF album. That has 15 listens :lol:

I'm not much of a ballad guy admittedly, I'll take a more uptempo, head-banging track any day. That's not to say I dislike the ballads though! I really only play them when I feel they're appropriate, whereas more uptempo music is something I play whenever really. Also, I don't think Lady in my Life is a signature MJ ballad (to the general public anyway) but I actually really enjoy it, it's the perfect song to play at night with the rain in the background and I think I might go play it now :D
 
HIStoric;4117272 said:
I'm not much of a ballad guy admittedly, I'll take a more uptempo, head-banging track any day. That's not to say I dislike the ballads though! I really only play them when I feel they're appropriate, whereas more uptempo music is something I play whenever really. Also, I don't think Lady in my Life is a signature MJ ballad (to the general public anyway) but I actually really enjoy it, it's the perfect song to play at night with the rain in the background and I think I might go play it now :D
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It seems to me that you are particularly fond of production-wise, roughed-up tracks (with a futuristic sound also).

This is probably the reason why ‘Threatened’ is your most favorite track from ‘Invincible’ (or even your most favorite track from his entire music catalogue).

I can understand that &, of course, there is nothing wrong with that.

But at the same time I am really glad to hear that you appreciate the value of a beautiful ballad like ‘The Lady In My Life’.
 
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Public: She's Out Of My Life, Ben, Gone Too Soon

Me: I Just Can't Stop Loving You,
Lady In My Life,
One Day In Your Life
 
in my experience, general public: Heal The World, Main In The Mirror, We Are The World, I'll Be There, Ben
 
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Erandi;4117260 said:
For the general audience, You Are Not Alone is definitely the one and not necessarily because they like it. I think they kind of find it annoying, as a sort of earworm :)

As a fan, I would go with IJCSLY.
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Themidwestcowboy;4117298 said:
Public: You Are Not Alone

Me: For All Time & Someone Put Your Hand Out
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‘You Are Not alone’ always has my vote, although I am not included in the general audience category.

barbee0715;4117293 said:
Public: She's Out Of My Life, Ben, Gone Too Soon

Me: I Just Can't Stop Loving You,
Lady In My Life,
One Day In Your Life
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I would like to know why ‘Gone Too Soon’ is considered his signature ballad to the general audience.

All I can think is this specific ballad always must have struck a cord when it was performed live even before MJ (for example, when it was performed by Dionne Warwick in 1983) & mostly because of its theme.

Of course, it was due to MJ that it garnered greater success but at the same time I am not really sure if this ballad is his most famous one to the general audience (or, at least, among his three most famous ones).

MattyJam;4117296 said:
My personal favourites:


1. Speechless
2. One Day In Your Life
3. You Are There
4. Push Me Away
5. You Are My Life
6. Music & Me
7. The Lost Children
8. Little Susie
9. You Are Not Alone
10. Much Too Soon


I love a good ballad.
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Interesting list, with the ballad ‘Speechless’ at the top of it (assuming, of course, the ballads are in priority order).
 
mj_frenzy;4117347 said:
‘You Are Not alone’ always has my vote, although I am not included in the general audience category.



I would like to know why ‘Gone Too Soon’ is considered his signature ballad to the general audience.

All I can think is this specific ballad always must have struck a cord when it was performed live even before MJ (for example, when it was performed by Dionne Warwick in 1983) & mostly because of its theme.

Of course, it was due to MJ that it garnered greater success but at the same time I am not really sure if this ballad is his most famous one to the general audience (or, at least, among his three most famous ones).
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I listed Gone Too Soon only because three different very NON-fans asked me about the song after they saw his memorial and they remembered it from the Clinton inauguration. Said they thought it was beautiful then. Also seems to be one of the last times they remember Michael performing.

And I've read a couple of articles just this week that reference the song-people cut down in their youth.

I was a little surprised by these different friends-so the song made an impression in the US that I didn't realize.
Of course, we had mutual friends dying of AIDs at that time so it could be the association with Ryan White.

Speaking of, has anyone seen a video of Dionne singing it for Karen Carpenter? I would love to see that. I'm surprised that I didn't remember the song from that bc I rarely missed any award shows-especially not back then.
 
Man In The Mirror. People associate it with MJ just like people associate Imagine with John Lennon. It's Michael's signature and most recognized (and played) ballad.
 
YANA is annoying, the "Let It Go" of its time (I was surprised R. Kelly composed it.) He had signature ballads throughout his career, so it's hard to narrow it down to a few. For me it's Ben, GTBT, Dear Michael, PMA, SOOML, ICHI, LIML, Human Nature, Liberian Girl, Break of Dawn, Stranger in Moscow and Smile. That's just a few rattled off the top of my head that I play the most.
 
barbee0715;4117366 said:
I listed Gone Too Soon only because three different very NON-fans asked me about the song after they saw his memorial and they remembered it from the Clinton inauguration. Said they thought it was beautiful then. Also seems to be one of the last times they remember Michael performing.

And I've read a couple of articles just this week that reference the song-people cut down in their youth.

I was a little surprised by these different friends-so the song made an impression in the US that I didn't realize.
Of course, we had mutual friends dying of AIDs at that time so it could be the association with Ryan White.

Speaking of, has anyone seen a video of Dionne singing it for Karen Carpenter? I would love to see that. I'm surprised that I didn't remember the song from that bc I rarely missed any award shows-especially not back then.
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It seems that ‘Gone Too Soon’ is very popular to the general public/non-fans for a number of different reasons (like the ones you noted).

Of course, for many people (fans/non-fans) this ballad is also linked to the MJ's live performance at Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Gala (1993). We should not forget that MJ at that time was probably at the height of his success, thus that particular live performance boosted even further the popularity of ‘Gone Too Soon’.

Dionne Warwick performed this ballad live during a TV special called ‘Here's Television Entertainment’ in 1983. She dedicated the song to various artists who died too young (including also Karen Carpenter):

[video=youtube;XCXon4CH06A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCXon4CH06A[/video]
 
R. Kelly plagiarized YANA, I read while ago it was banned from Belgium because the composer who won the lawsuit against Kelly is from that country.

Mexican non fans know Human Nature but they think it's called Why. Personally I love that one, One Day In Your Life, Smile, Stranger In Moscow, Music And Me.
 
"One Day in your life is very beautiful", its in my top 5.

Number one just has to be "I Just can't stop loving you", (Find it hard 2 type the whole song name at times, given eye am so w1 ova by Princebonics, Prince fams will no what eye mean). The iconic love and passion in that song and the warmth in his vocals.

My top 5

1. IJCSLY
2. You are not Alone (So beautiful, sincere and loving)
3. Man in the Mirror (Here MJ speaks on loving the world and yourself too)
4. One day in your life
5. Human Nature

Best Jacksons
1. I'll be there
 
Prince Of Pop;4117374 said:
Man In The Mirror. People associate it with MJ just like people associate Imagine with John Lennon. It's Michael's signature and most recognized (and played) ballad.
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I can understand this association (in terms of popularity) regarding these two songs.

But for me, ‘Man in the Mirror’ goes one step further, both lyrically & musically (as compared to ‘Imagine’).

Although MJ did not write it, he presents a more powerful result as compared to ‘Imagine’. To be more specific, ‘Imagine’ only refers to an idealistic world & how it would have been a lot better (in many ways) if people lived in an utopia. Not only is ‘Imagine’ an unrealistic song but also it sounds overly wishful (if not passive) both lyrically & musically.

On the other hand, ‘Man In The Mirror’ is a straightforward, direct song while it interacts with the listener on a more personal level. It goes beyond dreams/imaginations & demands from the listener to take an active, energetic & realistic role for the sake of both his personal life & society. Also, musically, ‘Man In The Mirror’ takes advantage of a very powerful production so as to get its message across in a more powerful, effective &, more importantly, urgent way.

mjprince1976;4117505 said:
"One Day in your life is very beautiful", its in my top 5.

Number one just has to be "I Just can't stop loving you", (Find it hard 2 type the whole song name at times, given eye am so w1 ova by Princebonics, Prince fams will no what eye mean). The iconic love and passion in that song and the warmth in his vocals.

My top 5

1. IJCSLY
2. You are not Alone (So beautiful, sincere and loving)
3. Man in the Mirror (Here MJ speaks on loving the world and yourself too)
4. One day in your life
5. Human Nature

Best Jacksons
1. I'll be there
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Nice to see ‘You Are Not Alone’ in the second position of your top 5 list!
 
I think it is 'She's Out Of My Life'.
It has timeless appeal and it is from my personal favorite Michael Jackson album, Off the Wall (1979).
But according to Billboard, his most successful ballad on the charts was 'I Just Can't Stop Lovin' You'. I like that song but I do think it sounds like a product of the 1980s.
 
SheilaMJFan4Ever;4117411 said:
YANA is annoying, the "Let It Go" of its time (I was surprised R. Kelly composed it.) He had signature ballads throughout his career, so it's hard to narrow it down to a few. For me it's Ben, GTBT, Dear Michael, PMA, SOOML, ICHI, LIML, Human Nature, Liberian Girl, Break of Dawn, Stranger in Moscow and Smile. That's just a few rattled off the top of my head that I play the most.
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For me, ‘Break Of Dawn’ & ‘Liberian Girl’ are two of the greatest ballads he has ever recorded.

I wish MJ had recorded more songs like these.

Snow White luvs Peter Pan;4117504 said:
R. Kelly plagiarized YANA, I read while ago it was banned from Belgium because the composer who won the lawsuit against Kelly is from that country.

Mexican non fans know Human Nature but they think it's called Why. Personally I love that one, One Day In Your Life, Smile, Stranger In Moscow, Music And Me.
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The legal matter concerning the melodic structure (rhythm) of ‘You Are Not Alone’ has been documented well. But the whole story should be mentioned, which means that in 2003 the Belgian court (the one located in Leuven) had rejected the Van Passels’ initial claim of plagiarism. That initial judgment was based primarily on inadequate melodic similarities between these two compositions. Of course, four years later an appeal to that court’s decision led to an unfavorable (for R Kelly) judgment that is only applicable to the Belgian territory.

In any case, any legal issue in relation to ‘You Are Not Alone’ does not diminish MJ’s vocal performance in the slightest.

Finally, I find it very strange that these two songs (‘Human Nature’ & ‘Why’) confuse Mexican people.
 
mj_frenzy;4117637 said:
For me, ‘Break Of Dawn’ & ‘Liberian Girl’ are two of the greatest ballads he has ever recorded.

Finally, I find it very strange that these two songs (‘Human Nature’ & ‘Why’) confuse Mexican people.
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I think Liberian Girl and Break of Dawn are both gorgeous songs. Love them.

I think Snow meant that Mexico audience call HN 'Why' because of Michael wailing "why" in the song. They think that is the title.

I think that's sweet-that plaintive 'cry' makes the song even more beautiful.
 
I think Fall Again deserves to be mentioned here, even if it's just a demo. I just can't stop listening to both that one and Little Susie. And also the one and only Man in the mirror, which I think might be one of the best song from Michael in my opinion.
 
barbee0715;4117677 said:
I think Liberian Girl and Break of Dawn are both gorgeous songs. Love them.

I think Snow meant that Mexico audience call HN 'Why' because of Michael wailing "why" in the song. They think that is the title.

I think that's sweet-that plaintive 'cry' makes the song even more beautiful.
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You are right.

The extensive use of the word ‘why’ (in ‘Human Nature’) is to blame for the title’s confusion among Mexican people.

In fact, I realized that after a while when I recalled the lyrics of ‘Human Nature’.
 
I want the multitracks to that & who is it & this place hotel. Maaaaan I'd kill for those
 
I think my favorite ballads at this moment are Human Nature and You Are Not Alone. Break Of Dawn is great too :)
 
Lady In My Life was the MJ ballad that received constant radio airplay well into the early 90s,

She's Out of My Life was the ballad MJ always performed during his tours

Break of Dawn was one of his greatest moments as a recording artist

Liberian Girl was favorite song on BAD when it was released along with Another Part of Me

You Are Not Alone proved to be MJ's last #1 song in America and I enjoyed listening to it all the time

Someone Put Your Hand Out was a very beautiful song

so many great songs
 
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