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Stranger in moscow: Two decades of memorable anguish

MJRemixed

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It's exactly 20 years since Stranger In Moscow was released worldwide as a single. I remember everything about it as if it were yesterday. It's weird the things you remember about a certain time, the feelings, the atmosphere, the weather etc. I remember it being a cold/sunny November Monday, autumn was in full mode.
No proper online community back then so the excitement of a new single and it's video was unreal. No leaked mixes etc. everything was new. The anticipation, the excitement. I remember TV stations only playing parts of the video and not the full 5+ mins. Weeks after I got to finally see the full video on MTV and it was and still is a masterpiece. One of my all time favourite MJ songs. Stirs up so many emotions and memories.

Here's a cool article I found today regarding the song:

https://annemarielatour.wordpress.c...r-in-moscow-two-decades-of-memorable-anguish/
 
Funny, it's raining here in Germany so i felt i had to listen to that song.Didn't know it turned 20.Definitely one of my favourites.
 
I was already aware of where and when "Stranger In Moscow" was created ; the significance of the circumstances of the creation of the song was what I wasn't aware of.
I love the article ; it was such a good read !
 
And yet Sony and The Estate refuse to brIng out SIM20.......the bastards.



But yes, I'd say Stranger In Moscow ranks alongside Who Is It as his most overlooked song.
 
Great article. I love Stranger In Moscow. That song has gotten me through some rocky times.
 
One of my favourite single artwork covers ever. Really sets in the "aesthetic" of the song.
 
AmiroJoe. said:
One of my favourite single artwork covers ever. Really sets in the "aesthetic" of the song.
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Absolutely agree! The single artwork is so on point as is the video, black and white really gives it a classic feel. It's all round perfection, lyrics are poetic and the music and MJ's vocal performance are unbelievable.
 

I remember listening to it the very first time on my CD-player during Christmas in 1995. I think I was tripping.

Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) made a beautiful cover.
 
wednesday said:

I remember listening to it the very first time on my CD-player during Christmas in 1995. I think I was tripping.

Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) made a beautiful cover.
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Nice, but for a song where the lyric is so imporant, shame it's got that distorted feel.

Still better than the remixes that came along at the time!

Also, Tame Impala is quite a respected artist with critics so it shows that MJs 90s work wasn't the fluffy pop that most believe.

In fact, songs like SIM, GITM, Little Susie, WII, TDCAU had as much, if not more, depth, anguish, style & substance than the majority of so-called clever and respected artists.
 
Tony R said:
Nice, but for a song where the lyric is so imporant, shame it's got that distorted feel.

Still better than the remixes that came along at the time!

Also, Tame Impala is quite a respected artist with critics so it shows that MJs 90s work wasn't the fluffy pop that most believe.

In fact, songs like SIM, GITM, Little Susie, WII, TDCAU had as much, if not more, depth, anguish, style & substance than the majority of so-called clever and respected artists.
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When it comes to music, the lyrics are always secondary to me. I do do do love the original much better, but I think Mr. Parker captured the feeling of the song perfectly.

Anyway, can you have an aural orgasm? I might have had one when I heard Stranger in Moscow for the first time...
 
20 years... How the F did I become the age that I am today??


All these anniversaries just make me feel older than my brain allows me to believe..
 
I have to say the cloud over songwriting credits on this one has spoiled it a little for me. I don't think I'll be able to hear it quite the same way.

Also criminal it was never performed live.
 
And also it is a bit unfair to base a judgement on a claim that was first made when the other party is not here any more to answer.

Also a lot of people do not seem to realize that's actually how it has always been in music - both pop and classical. A lot of famous pieces attributed to great composers had unnamed and uncredited collaborators one way or another. That doesn't make music historians question the composer's genius.

Eg. not even things like this makes anyone question someone's genius.

Brahms' famous Hungarian dance.

[video=youtube;3X9LvC9WkkQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9LvC9WkkQ[/video]

Obscure Hungarian composer Béle Keler years before Brahms (from 2:55).

[video=youtube;yerbmaG39wM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yerbmaG39wM[/video]

There are plenty of examples in pop music as well. Eg.

"Kiss" started as a short acoustic demo, about a minute in length, consisting of a single 12-bar blues verse. Prince gave the song to the funk band Mazarati for their debut album. Mazarati and producer David Z drastically reworked the song, giving it its stripped-down minimalist sound. When Mazarati delivered the song to Prince, he was amazed at their work and decided to take back the song for himself. He replaced their lead vocal, added the guitar break in the chorus and edited the song to its present form. Mazarati were credited for their backing vocals, which Prince left intact. Prince added the song at the last minute to Parade.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_(Prince_song)#Version_history.2C_development_and_release

They were credited for background vocals, but not for co-writing.
 
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MattyJam said:
Why?

Those are still Michael's words and melody lines, just because someone else came up the chord progression, it doesn't negate MJ's contributions to the track.
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Agreed.
It's quite possibly Michael's most personal song, and the lyrical content is very deep.
In SIM he pretty much poured all of the sad feelings and thoughts he had about the allegations into one song.
It's because of this that although I love the song I sometimes find my self listening to it less then some of his others.
Sometimes it simply makes me too sad to think about how such an amazing song came to be.
 
Have you guys ever listened to it as you walk in the rain on a dull, cloudy day? So, so fitting.

A very haunting and isolating song, but it's beautiful in it's own way too.
 
wednesday said:

Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) made a beautiful cover.
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I remember this from a few years back! Easily one of my most favourite MJ covers, it really feels like you're in some other dimension or something hehe
 
MattyJam said:
Why?

Those are still Michael's words and melody lines, just because someone else came up the chord progression, it doesn't negate MJ's contributions to the track.
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It doesn't. I didn't mean to infer it did.

respect77 said:
And also it is a bit unfair to base a judgement on a claim that was first made when the other party is not here any more to answer.
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I'm not basing a judgement on it. I'm saying there's a cloud of dubiety over the origins and credits of the song that have changed how I hear the song.

Also a lot of people do not seem to realize that's actually how it has always been in music - both pop and classical. A lot of famous pieces attributed to great composers had unnamed and uncredited collaborators one way or another. That doesn't make music historians question the composer's genius.
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I'm not sure if you consider me "a lot of people" but I certainly have no questions over Michael's genius.
 
ChrisC said:
I have to say the cloud over songwriting credits on this one has spoiled it a little for me. I don't think I'll be able to hear it quite the same way.

Also criminal it was never performed live.
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Eh, personally I feel its a bit hard for me to believe this man just sat willing and didn't ask for credit and just didn't care, but all of a sudden cared when Mike passed. They're is no proof that Mike didn't come up with the child progression. It sounds like more of revisionist history to me.
 
OffTheWall22 said:
Eh, personally I feel its a bit hard for me to believe this man just sat willing and didn't ask for credit and just didn't care, but all of a sudden cared when Mike passed. They're is no proof that Mike didn't come up with the child progression. It sounds like more of revisionist history to me.
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Yes but these are respected long-time collaborators who would have little to nothing to gain for making a claim like this. As was raised before, we don't get to hear Michael's side of the story - only that of respected, credible collaborators - thus sufficient doubt for me.

I mean I've heard first hand from someone who worked very closely on the project and they are nothing but clear.
 
ChrisC said:
Yes but these are respected long-time collaborators who would have little to nothing to gain for making a claim like this. As was raised before, we don't get to hear Michael's side of the story - only that of respected, credible collaborators - thus sufficient doubt for me.

I mean I've heard first hand from someone who worked very closely on the project and they are nothing but clear.
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And I find that really sad-especially when you wrote that it changed the song for you.
Even that article posted had the original Buxer version. I haven't read that book yet (but planning to get it bc of the rave reviews here) but I, for one, don't think I will ever believe this new version of the origins.
 
barbee0715 said:
And I find that really sad-especially when you wrote that it changed the song for you.
Even that article posted had the original Buxer version. I haven't read that book yet (but planning to get it bc of the rave reviews here) but I, for one, don't think I will ever believe this new version of the origins.
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Barbee please can you explain what you mean by this? I haven't read all the posts on the forum..
"original buxer version" ... which book are you referring to? and..."new version of origins" ???
 
As far as not gaining anything well they do gain a certain recognition don't they? I have the book and while I do like it I can't say it's a favorite. My favourite is still Joe Vogel's book, although I can't help but feel the definitive book hasn't been written yet. If it ever will be.
While I haven't finished it yet I have read the portion about SIM and I won't base an opinion on only one side while the other side isn't here to speak to it. I love the song and have no doubt that whatever input MJ had it wouldn't be as glorious as it is without him.
 
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