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Theme's in MJ's songs

Psychoniff

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Michael Jackson's Themes

So I had this idea of organising all the themes into one place. Please help complete the list suggestions of other themes or songs to go here.

Protest, Political, Socially-conscious:
Jam
Why You Wanna Trip On Me
They Don't Care About Us
Earth Song
Do You Know Where Your Children Are
Song Groove (Abortion Papers)
We've Had Enough
Shout
Be Not Always
Little Susie
Be Not Always
Money

Autobiographical:
Things I Do For You
Bless His Soul
That's What You Get
Childhood
Destiny
Bless His Soul
Stranger In Moscow

Unity, Peace:
Can You Feel It
Another Part of Me
Black or White
Man in the Mirror
We Are the World
Heal the World
We're Here To Change The World
Jam

Polemic:
Leave Me Alone
D.S.
Tabloid Junkie
Scream
Why You Wanna Trip On Me

Romance, Relationships, Intimacy:
Loving You
The Way You Make Me Feel
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Rock With You
Give In To Me
Cheetah
Streetwalker
Can't Let Her Get Away
Superfly Sister
Behind The Mask

Dark imagery, Fear, Horror motifs:
Thriller
Is It Scary
Ghosts
Threatened
Morphine
This Place Hotel
Smooth Criminal
Little Susie

Paranoia:
Who Is It
Billie Jean
This Place Hotel
Dirty Diana

Femme Fatale:
This Place Hotel
Billie Jean
Dirty Diana
Dangerous
Blood On the Dancefloor
Blue Gangsta


Ambiguous, Genre-non-specific, multiple categories, undecided:
Wanna' Be Startin' Somethin'
Sunset Driver
Human Nature
Al Capone

lyrical Dissonance:
Jam
Another Part of Me
Smooth Criminal
 
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I think a lot of those songs can be placed in several categories.

D.S., Tabloid Junkie, Scream, Is It Scary, Threatened are autobiographical too.

I see nothing parnoid in Stranger In Moscow. That is a very autobiographical song more about loneliness than about paranoia. I don't really see Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' as paranoid either. Actually I see it more socially conscious or inspirational but that's again a song that could be in more than one categories. Who Is It isn't paranoid to me either.
 
respect77 said:
I don't really see Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' as paranoid either. Actually I see it more socially conscious or inspirational but that's again a song that could be in more than one categories. Who Is It isn't paranoid to me either.
Click to expand...
WBSS is interesting to me because it's a bit of a jack of all trades. The first three verses and the bridge do sound kinda paranoid (e.g. "Someone's always trying to start my baby crying, talking squealing lying..") and deal with people gossiping and using and abusing you ("they eat off of you, you're a vegetable"), then the fourth verse is more socially conscious ("if you can't feed your baby, then don't have a baby..") and then the fifth verse and breakdown till the end turn it into an inspirational anthem. And all this set to a funky, highly danceable backing track.
 
SoCav said:
WBSS is interesting to me because it's a bit of a jack of all trades. The first three verses and the bridge do sound kinda paranoid (e.g. "Someone's always trying to start my baby crying, talking squealing lying..") and deal with people gossiping and using and abusing you ("they eat off of you, you're a vegetable"), then the fourth verse is more socially conscious ("if you can't feed your baby, then don't have a baby..") and then the fifth verse and breakdown till the end turn it into an inspirational anthem. And all this set to a funky, highly danceable backing track.
Click to expand...

Exactly!
 
I think that your categorization may not reflect the reality because there are songs that can be interpreted in more than one ways or belong to another category.

I will you give two examples:

“Leave Me alone” is not necessarily a polemic song:

“I’m sending a simple message here: Leave me alone! The song is about a relationship between a guy and a
girl, but what I’m really saying to people who are bothering me is: Leave me alone!”
(Michael Jackson)

“Stranger in Moscow” is without a doubt an autobiographical song (instead of a paranoid one):

‘The lyrics are totally autobiographical. When you hear lines like “here abandoned in my fame, Armageddon of the brain” – at the time, on the last tour when we were in Moscow, that’s really how I felt… just all alone in my hotel, and it was raining – and I just started writing it.”
(Michael Jackson)
 
mj_frenzy;4087977 said:
I think that your categorization may not reflect the reality because there are songs that can be interpreted in more than one ways or belong to another category.

I will you give two examples:

“Leave Me alone” is not necessarily a polemic song:

“I’m sending a simple message here: Leave me alone! The song is about a relationship between a guy and a
girl, but what I’m really saying to people who are bothering me is: Leave me alone!”
(Michael Jackson)

“Stranger in Moscow” is without a doubt an autobiographical song (instead of a paranoid one):

‘The lyrics are totally autobiographical. When you hear lines like “here abandoned in my fame, Armageddon of the brain” – at the time, on the last tour when we were in Moscow, that’s really how I felt… just all alone in my hotel, and it was raining – and I just started writing it.”
(Michael Jackson)
Click to expand...

The video for the song paints and entirely different picture.
 
respect77 said:
I think a lot of those songs can be placed in several categories.

D.S., Tabloid Junkie, Scream, Is It Scary, Threatened are autobiographical too.

I see nothing parnoid in Stranger In Moscow. That is a very autobiographical song more about loneliness than about paranoia. I don't really see Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' as paranoid either. Actually I see it more socially conscious or inspirational but that's again a song that could be in more than one categories. Who Is It isn't paranoid to me either.
Click to expand...

But what image do they conjure up in your head, the man is clearly worried about other peoples opinions and how that reflects upon him (Tabloid Junkie, Sream)
 
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