Drugs, Meaning of Morphine/Is it scary...

[Jan]

I remembered when i was like 12 years old, we read quotes of different famous celebrities in one of our english teaching books...
I have never forgotten Michaels, it went:
'I hate tobacco, drugs and alcohol. I have never tried any of these.',
bellow it was a picture of him from the bad era. Then we also listened to this same statement from audio tape.
Well, I have no idea what was reaction of other classmates at school…but what i do remember is that this statement was a completely bullshit for me, something he would say as MJ, the performer.

At let's say 13 years old I discovered two songs, Morphine and Is it scary, both of them i liked very much at that time, though i now see that the point is in their lyrics but i never give much of attention on the lyric, because i was quite bad at english and i stil am…
however, i liked this songs, thinking the first one was about drug addiction, while the other one was about how he never got a chance to really socialize…

Few years later I read that he sampled a clip from The elephant man (what clip?) and that 'she' in Morphine might refer to Lisa M. Presley…um…so..



Do you know anything more about these two songs, what is your lyric explanation,…?
How much influence do co-authors usually leave on the song?
Umm…were lyrics written by himself?


Is it scary…is a song with probably one of best lyrics (like We've had enough, For all time,..).



I'm gonna be
Exactly what you wanna see
It's you whose haunting me
Your warning me
To be the stranger
In your life


Am I amusing you
Or just confusing you

Am I the beast
You visualised
And if you wanna to see
Eccentrialities
I'll be grotesque
Before your eyes

[Remington Steele]

Very interesting... I never thought about the IIS lyrics... so it is really about problem of socializing?

And did Michael mean Lisa in Morphine?

[MJ~And~Me]

I know what you mean i think there are some secrets about Michael but we will never know

[Severus Snape]

Morphine was exclusively written by Michael. There is already another thread on that, in which I have posted. You can go read what people have said about this song over there.

"Is it Scary" is obviously about the media/some idiot people's perception of him, since it can be paralleled to "Ghosts," the short film in which he stars as a Maestro who is being run out of town by a major (who can be paralleled to District Attorney Tom Sneddon) for being "weird." If a bunch of people stigmatized you and judged you for being different, I can guarantee you would have "socialization problems" as well. I speak from personal experience.

Moreover, I have reason to believe he was honest in saying he's never tried tobacco in his life, and that at that point in his life, he hadn't tried alcohol. I also believe he was referring to recreational drugs (i.e. cocaine, marijuana, heroin, etc.) when he said "drugs," and that he hasn't tried any of them at any point in his life. You can hardly blame him for his 1993 addiction to painkillers--you say the pamphlet was from the BAD era, so that would have been prior to that, and painkillers are usually given by a doctor and highly addictive by nature, which is why doctors are hesitant to prescribe them, so it wasn't his fault and he wasn't at any point in his life an "addict", in the way the media wishes to portray him.

[Themidwestcowboy]

I Can say that Is It Scary is probably my favourite MJ Tune ever! The whole song is a masterpiece, all from the instrumentation to the lyrics are just divine. I Have actully tried to break down this songs alot of times.

As many people say that this song is about the media and how they viewed him as a freak i beg to differ. I Believe this song have two messages, the one that he is obviously talking about how the media views him of eccentric and wierd, and another message, that he is talking to someone who broke his heart. If we take a look at the lyrics ''Jan'' poster above me.

I'm gonna be
Exactly what you wanna see
It's you whose haunting me
becasue your wanting me
To be the stranger
In the night

Am I amusing you
Or just confusing you
Am I the beast
You visualised
And if you wanna to see
Eccentrialities
I'll be grotesque
Before your eyes

I always interpret that part like he was saying to someone that the person have to accept him (MJ) the way he is.


But if you came to see
The truth of purity
It's here inside
A lonely heart

Here he is saying that he feels alone, that his heart is lonley almost as if he feels that someone (Mabye a specific person?) should have stuck up for him while the media/news or whatever wanted to scrutinze him, '' but if you came to see the truth of purity ''.

Masquerade the heart
Is the height of hurting souls

This really says alot! First he said that his heart felt lonliness then he said masqurade it, as an escape not to feel hurt. As a saying goes, '' you cant get hurt if you dont care ''. Even thou he is able to masquerade the heart it still hurts, '' its the height of hurting souls '', and then he continues with, '' Just not what you seek of me ''.


In Conclusion, i may be waay off here but i really believe that this song is about more than just a letter to the media/news/whatever, i think it has a deeper meaning. Somethin interesting is that this song was first called '' Is This Scary '' and was for the Adams Family II Soundtrack in 1993. All in all, its a hell of a song!

[Severus Snape]

^That's a great insight, and I agree, that perhaps those lines were addressed at a certain someone.

However, the OP tried to say "Is it Scary" was about socialization problems, something I don't see at all.

I see "Is it Scary" as largely paralleled to "Ghosts" in its broader message, but I don't think it out of the question that the lines you have cited were meant to be heard by someone he thought had betrayed him, or not stood up for him, as you say.

[TheChosenOne]

I agree that Is It Scary is about the media and the general public's perception of him. Much like the Ghosts short film. Michael was more aware of things than alot of people gave him credit for.

[Remington Steele]

@Themidwestcowboy - great post

[Arklove]

Oh, I love these types of threads....!

[betseyby67]

To me Morphine is a cry for help. It was well known that he had become dependent on pain medication and maybe this was his way of conveying that message of helplessness, especially with the words "Demerol, Demerol, oh God he's taking Demerol." I felt he was singing about himself.

[PoP]

"Morphine" to me is about what he's gone through addicition during the Dangerous Tour because of the allegations that stresses him out and that he need help, Elizabeth Taylorr, Elton John and his manager helped him get through the addiction. I always find that song very powerful and I don't understand why the media find the lyrics on the song disturbing, it pisses me off when they find this way.

[Alma]

Right. When it's actually the opposite: Michael being brave and man enough to admit to being overcome by pain and seeking help for it. He's describing the horrendous world revolving around him with the break-out of those sick allegations and he's unleashing his anger at both the foes out there and the painkiller itself. So disturbing, right?.. Those people hate being described what reality really is like.

[MechaJackson]

Morphine was exclusively written by Michael. There is already another thread on that, in which I have posted. You can go read what people have said about this song over there.

"Is it Scary" is obviously about the media/some idiot people's perception of him, since it can be paralleled to "Ghosts," the short film in which he stars as a Maestro who is being run out of town by a major (who can be paralleled to District Attorney Tom Sneddon) for being "weird." If a bunch of people stigmatized you and judged you for being different, I can guarantee you would have "socialization problems" as well. I speak from personal experience.

Moreover, I have reason to believe he was honest in saying he's never tried tobacco in his life, and that at that point in his life, he hadn't tried alcohol. I also believe he was referring to recreational drugs (i.e. cocaine, marijuana, heroin, etc.) when he said "drugs," and that he hasn't tried any of them at any point in his life. You can hardly blame him for his 1993 addiction to painkillers--you say the pamphlet was from the BAD era, so that would have been prior to that, and painkillers are usually given by a doctor and highly addictive by nature, which is why doctors are hesitant to prescribe them, so it wasn't his fault and he wasn't at any point in his life an "addict", in the way the media wishes to portray him.

Well he lied when he said he had never tried alcohol XD

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