Wanted to post this essay I'd written previously (thought I had posted but couldn't find it), especially after seeing Smile score low in the 'Best & Worst of each album' thread.
The Importance of Smile
Michael Jackson's Smile has always been one of my favourite records. Like many of my favourite MJ songs, I can remember hearing it for the first time, on the day HIStory was released when I ran to my room to play the album in its entirety.
To put Smile into perspective, you need to put the HIStory album into perspective. After the 1993 allegations, nothing about Michael Jackson would ever be the same, and that includes his music. Dangerous had already seen Michael move into darker territory; from light, pop melodies to a more sinister, anguished, socially conscious terrain.
With HIStory Michael went into full victim mentality, I've said before that if you want to know exactly how he felt following the occurrences of 1993, just listen to this album, it's the most auto-biographical he's ever been. In essence, it's a concept album with at least 8 of the tracks dealing directly with the allegations.
As such, it's a brilliant but very angry album. It's filled with hurt, hate, anguish, defiance and distress. Press play and after the initial distortion the first sound you hear is Michael Jackson screaming, setting the scene for songs like Scream, They Don't Care About Us, the beautiful but haunting Stranger in Moscow, D.S. This Time Around, 2 Bad – all songs answering his critics but all following the same themes. Only 'You Are Not Alone' provides the listener with a respite from the album's theme, even songs not dealing directly with 1993 still show Michael's anger & feelings about the state of the world; Earth Song, Childhood & Little Susie.
Then we come to Smile, notable in itself being a cover version which up until Come Together had been absent on an adult Michael Jackson album, but also a song that the vast majority of listeners will not have heard.
After 70 minutes of Michael revealing himself to be tormented, lonely, fragile and hurt, he tells us that actually, life ain't so bad. The theme of anger is replaced by beauty. Beauty in the instrumentation, production and that sweet, sweet voice.
Lyrically, it's painfully obvious why Michael finally chose to record Smile for HIStory. He's telling us, and reminding himself, that despite all that's happened to him, he's the eternal optimist.
"Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...
If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile"
Michael sings the song like his life depends on it; he brings out the optimism and the beauty of the lyric whilst revealing a melancholy that can only be shown when the song means the world to you and resonates in your very soul.
The song ends by showing Michael's more playful side, as previously seen on songs such as The Girl is Mine, P.Y.T and The Way You Make Me Feel. He whistles and hums and then finally as the album's final seconds die out, Michael laughs.
The listener finishes the album smiling, I must have heard the song a thousand times since 1995 and I smile every time I hear the end of the song. It brings the album full circle. Yes, Michael has been treated abominably and the world is a messed up crazy place, but you know what? – we'll get there, it's not so bad.
Smile serves to remind us that no matter how bad life can get, even in it's darkest moments, we should find something to smile at, some light at the end of the tunnel. If Michael could do it after being slandered and having a terrible fall from grace, then we all can.
The first sound you hear on HIStory is Michael screaming and the last sound is him laughing, and its beautiful.
The Importance of Smile
Michael Jackson's Smile has always been one of my favourite records. Like many of my favourite MJ songs, I can remember hearing it for the first time, on the day HIStory was released when I ran to my room to play the album in its entirety.
To put Smile into perspective, you need to put the HIStory album into perspective. After the 1993 allegations, nothing about Michael Jackson would ever be the same, and that includes his music. Dangerous had already seen Michael move into darker territory; from light, pop melodies to a more sinister, anguished, socially conscious terrain.
With HIStory Michael went into full victim mentality, I've said before that if you want to know exactly how he felt following the occurrences of 1993, just listen to this album, it's the most auto-biographical he's ever been. In essence, it's a concept album with at least 8 of the tracks dealing directly with the allegations.
As such, it's a brilliant but very angry album. It's filled with hurt, hate, anguish, defiance and distress. Press play and after the initial distortion the first sound you hear is Michael Jackson screaming, setting the scene for songs like Scream, They Don't Care About Us, the beautiful but haunting Stranger in Moscow, D.S. This Time Around, 2 Bad – all songs answering his critics but all following the same themes. Only 'You Are Not Alone' provides the listener with a respite from the album's theme, even songs not dealing directly with 1993 still show Michael's anger & feelings about the state of the world; Earth Song, Childhood & Little Susie.
Then we come to Smile, notable in itself being a cover version which up until Come Together had been absent on an adult Michael Jackson album, but also a song that the vast majority of listeners will not have heard.
After 70 minutes of Michael revealing himself to be tormented, lonely, fragile and hurt, he tells us that actually, life ain't so bad. The theme of anger is replaced by beauty. Beauty in the instrumentation, production and that sweet, sweet voice.
Lyrically, it's painfully obvious why Michael finally chose to record Smile for HIStory. He's telling us, and reminding himself, that despite all that's happened to him, he's the eternal optimist.
"Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...
If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile"
Michael sings the song like his life depends on it; he brings out the optimism and the beauty of the lyric whilst revealing a melancholy that can only be shown when the song means the world to you and resonates in your very soul.
The song ends by showing Michael's more playful side, as previously seen on songs such as The Girl is Mine, P.Y.T and The Way You Make Me Feel. He whistles and hums and then finally as the album's final seconds die out, Michael laughs.
The listener finishes the album smiling, I must have heard the song a thousand times since 1995 and I smile every time I hear the end of the song. It brings the album full circle. Yes, Michael has been treated abominably and the world is a messed up crazy place, but you know what? – we'll get there, it's not so bad.
Smile serves to remind us that no matter how bad life can get, even in it's darkest moments, we should find something to smile at, some light at the end of the tunnel. If Michael could do it after being slandered and having a terrible fall from grace, then we all can.
The first sound you hear on HIStory is Michael screaming and the last sound is him laughing, and its beautiful.
I had been listening to Nat King Cole's version all my life so to be honest, I had to get used to Michael's version in the beginning. But I love it for all the reasons you mentioned :yes: