Be Not Always

aqwsz

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To be found on the "Victory" album written by MJ.

What are your thoughts on this? It's pretty unknown and seldom talked about in the album's reviews so I guess it's not very popular among music critics. MJ himself never performed it either, perhaps he didn't like it much himself? It's a bit mysterious.

I personally think it's brilliant and his best social commentary song although it's not quite clear what he means with the chorus to me as I'm not an English speaker by nature.
I love the sparse arrangement it's very unlike MJ and the strings coming in in the latter half are very emotive. What I like most however is the pause in the middle of the song, it gives time for thought and reflection.
 
I love the song very much. Sadly I didn't know it for a looong time.
Someone made a veeeery good touching video on youtube to the song.
But sadly it was delated in the last months.
Its an great touching MJ Humantarian song with a good, strong message. Underated.
But these are many things when it comes to Michael Jackson who is for me the " King of music".
With " Be not always" he means "Be not like everyone...) or " Do not act like you did it always in the past anymore".
 
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Great descriptions of the song, and I agree it's underrated.

I loved it immediately after hearing the first notes, still do. It's one of those songs that let's you fly into another special world. On the other hand it's very sad and fragile, and much less optimistic than other "social commentary songs".
 
It's a shame there are so few replies or discussion about his actual music on an MJ forum.
It's the same in public or on tv, the music never gets discussed...
 
music

It's a shame there are so few replies or discussion about his actual music on an MJ forum.
It's the same in public or on tv, the music never gets discussed...
I'd guess that his music was talked about more here years ago when Mike was alive. What is going to be said that hasn't been already? Most of those people are gone now, either by leaving, being banned, or just long inactive. The entire site used to be busier, including the non-Jackson sections like the general discussion and music of other artists.

Most of Mike's albums were pre-Thriller with The Jacksons/J5 which people in general ignore or don't know much about especially the Motown stuff. He released very little new material after Thriller. It's not like Mike put out stuff all the time like Prince or Madonna, where there is more to discuss. Mike is more like George Michael & Sade who hasn't released much. Sade releases an album every 10 years or so.
 
Re: music

i'm here! :)

i'm the opposite in that the first half of Michael's career is what I mainly discuss. with very few exceptions, do I go beyond 1983 - which was my favourite year of him, and reason for my username:) I agree that this period is mostly overlooked by the online community. unfortunately Michael's art in general has taken a backseat lately with the recent events. it's the reason I've been away for awhile :( I don't think we can ever run out of things to discuss about Michael's art. the jacksons variety show for example is one thing that has been largely ignored. people have the tendency to view Michael through the narrow restrictions of the albums and tours. there's so much outside of that. in order to keep the conversation going, i'll break my rule and discuss 'be not always' ('we are the world' in '85 is my absolute limit though, ha!)

'be not always' randomly came to my head a week or so ago. I decided to listen after not doing so for a long time. hands down, it has to be the saddest song he ever recorded :( he's literally singing through tears at one point! I've never heard him choke up so much. I actually read in his father joe's translated german autobiography 'die jacksons', that Michael rehearsed it for the 'victory' tour, but he couldn't get through it because he would break down each time. not in same way as 'she's out of my life' either. not sure if that's true though..

unlike the humanitarian songs that preceded it, there's no hope. it's more like defeat than victory. suitable for a funeral :( I read a review that claimed it was about the cold war. again, there's no confirmation on that. marlon is actually credited with additional words to the song. I wonder what they were because there are hardly any in general. that wouldn't be so bad if the title - which is a crucial part of the chorus, was easier to understand. portions of it seem to be written in old English I think this is also reflected in the music. apparently Michael began writing the song in 1978 (for the 'destiny' album maybe?), so it was early in his song-writing career. it shows to be honest. although I understand the feeling he's trying to convey (through his delicate vocals, sorrowful yet beautiful melody, and halting and stalling tempo) it still feels incomplete, overlong, and out of place on any album. has a similar style to 'scared of the moon' maybe? was that from '84 or '85? still, that one is far more descriptive and coherent than 'be not always'..
 
What's your favorite music overall 83magic? You look like one who analyzes music, I always find that interest.
I usually don't really pay attention to lyrics in pop music. Lyrics in music are often not important for me, trying to talk about relevant themes but it's usually just shallow because of melody/time constraints.
There are exceptions though like "what's going on" or Bob Dylan's early folk albums. One of my favorite lyricists of the last few years is Mark Kozelek (an MJ hater but I don't care :p ) that does not include his last albums though, they are dreadful. I like his very descriptive lyrics. If you don't know him his album "April" is fantastic.

I agree though I wouldn't be surprised if be not always was a demo but I really dig it. Sparse instrumentation worked well with MJ imo because of his voice. I aso loved scared of the moon and love never felt so good demo for the same reason.
It's probably partly about the Cold War because of this passage :

Mothers cry, babies die
Helplessly in arms
While rockets fly
And research lies
In progress to become
 
the lyrics you highlighted are my favourite part. they're the clearest and add context. the music behind it is somewhat of a detour - which is a good thing.

i'm glad you mentioned 'love never felt so good'! I prefer the original demo from '83 :) it manages to be upbeat despite having no beat, ha! it's the melody in Michael's voice that carries everything through. I can hear his joy :) that smooth croon. the lyrics may not be complete yet, but his background ad-libs indicate that he's towards the latter stage of achieving his overall vision. it almost doesn't sound like a demo at all. although it was always intended for johnny manthis, I really wish he kept it for himself and released it in '83. I actually think it's better than the non singles from 'thriller'.

yes, I love to analyse, but i'm far from an expert. the things I do like, I like a lot - and I tend to obsess over them. musically speaking, i'm more about the song than the artist. I prefer singles (especially radio edits) to albums. pop and dance (house, garage, disco, eurodance) music are my favourite genres, with a little dash of r&b. they have to be actual 'songs' with melody and lyrics though. I don't like instrumentals or sampled loops. lyrics are important to me. I refuse to listen to anything with profanity, that promotes violence, egotism, or dirty physical love. I like to keep it clean:) typical timeframe is no earlier than the late 80s and no later than 2002. I don't enjoy ballads, though there are very few exceptions. nothing dark, heavy, or gritty for me either. would rather read an article or listen to a lecture than to have that content dominate a track. I don't mind messages, and I love interesting topics, it just has to be presented to me in a certain way. I love colour! I love happiness! that's not say that everything has to be that way, but that is my overall preference.
 
Re: music

hands down, it has to be the saddest song he ever recorded he's literally singing through tears at one point! I've never heard him choke up so much.

unlike the humanitarian songs that preceded it, there's no hope. it's more like defeat than victory. suitable for a funeral :(

that wouldn't be so bad if the title - which is a crucial part of the chorus, was easier to understand. portions of it seem to be written in old English I think this is also reflected in the music.

although I understand the feeling he's trying to convey (through his delicate vocals, sorrowful yet beautiful melody, and halting and stalling tempo) it still feels incomplete, overlong, and out of place on any album.
These are among the reasons why I love this song.
 
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I always thought that in a live setting, songs like Be Not Always and Childhood would work good as an intro to Human Nature or Stranger In Moscow.
 
Great great song.

I do understand why it would never get radio play and why some would thing it's too sad, hauting, slow etc. - but for me that's what really makes this song so perfect.

It's a weird twist of SOML meets jam, HtW, MITM - the loneliness, sadness - but still the great message.
 
Hm.... the 50th birthday from "I Want you Back" and The Jackson5/The Jacksons should get some honar from Radio Staions this year.
They could maybe play some hits from them on the Relaseday from " I want you back" (Oktober 7th) and some rarer not so famous songs from them like "Be not always".
Yeah I think some radio stations should dedicate them some specials on that day.
(Maybe where so people can make wishes what they should play.)
They really deserves that.
 
I've been thinking about this. What if BNA hadn't been released in 1984, and Michael had released this on his History album.

Would its outcome being any different? Would he have rendered it with a more aggressive voice?
 
Would its outcome being any different? Would he have rendered it with a more aggressive voice?

I can't see it changing myself, take little susie for example.. I love his raspy vocals but certain songs are destined to take a particular path
 
DuranDuran;4242404 said:
I'd guess that his music was talked about more here years ago when Mike was alive. What is going to be said that hasn't been already? Most of those people are gone now, either by leaving, being banned, or just long inactive. The entire site used to be busier, including the non-Jackson sections like the general discussion and music of other artists.

Most of Mike's albums were pre-Thriller with The Jacksons/J5 which people in general ignore or don't know much about especially the Motown stuff. He released very little new material after Thriller. It's not like Mike put out stuff all the time like Prince or Madonna, where there is more to discuss. Mike is more like George Michael & Sade who hasn't released much. Sade releases an album every 10 years or so.

New, posthumous album releases of previously unheard material can easily generate new discussions here, for example.

Just like the release of the ‘Xscape’ album (in 2014), or like the release of the ‘BAD 25’ anniversary album (in 2012) which included few new songs from the ‘BAD’ era that his fans never knew that these songs even existed.

Also, although his studio, solo albums were few (after ‘Thriller’), Michael Jackson left also many unreleased tracks generally (in various stages of completion), and when some of these tracks now leak, or get stand-alone official releases as new posthumous singles, this can also boost discussions about his music here.

On such occasions, many of these members (that are presumably gone by leaving, or just long inactive) return back to MJJCommunity and become active again.
 
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