Interesting thread, here. I would say that there are quite a few songs of Michael’s * in which he sang with an “angelic”-sounding voice (*that he either had recorded, sung or performed LIVE —— no matter how old he was or at which stage of his life and career he was, when he had first sung, recorded and performed them —— whether or not he had anything else to do with them besides the singing, recording and performance, as the songs will forever be associated with him, regardless. . . .which we should keep in mind).
When one refers to an “angelic”-sounding or “heavenly” voice, I strongly believe that the words “light-timbred,” “soft,” “delicate,” “ethereal”° (°“ethereal,” coincidentally, having been one of the words that even Michael, himself, had used in explaining his demonstration of how such a voice would sound, in the “out-takes” of the rehearsals for his “This Is It” shows) are immediately thought of. And yes, of course. . . .my most favorite word to describe this type of voice —— BEAUTIFUL —— would be apt to describe how the tone of his voice sounded on certain particular songs. Especially, when he also used the highest Upper Registers of his voice extensively, not counting the use of “exclamations”• (•such as “Whoo-Hoo!!!,” “Hee-Hee!!!” and “Aoww!!!” in almost every other line/lyric of a fast-paced song, which can get really annoying to constantly hear, at times, when you just would much rather have heard him singing the lyrics of a song straight through).
With that being said, the songs which have this “heavenly”/“angelic”/“ethereal” tone are a lot of the slower-paced ballads, rather than the much-faster-paced material. From his lead vocals on “Maybe Tomorrow” to early “Motown” solo songs like the theme from the movie, “BEN”; From “Push Me Away,” “Your Ways” —— not exactly a ballad, but still. . . . —— “Give It Up,” “Be Not Always” and “Time Waits for No One” with his brothers, to solo adult songs like “It’s the Falling in Love,” “I Can’t Help It,” “Human Nature,” “Scared of the Moon,” “Someone in the Dark,” the “W.A.T.W.” Demo (previously unreleased, but this song is part of the “T.U.C.” [“The Ultimate Collection”] boxed-set that came out in 2004) and the song’s more than ten-minutes-long solo “U.S.A. for Africa” rehearsal footage since uploaded and posted on “YouTube,”® all the way up to the 2001 LIVE “30th Anniversary Celebration” version of “I’ll Be There” (during the final reunion of the Jackson brothers), “Butterflies,” “Best of Joy,” the original boxed-set Demo version of “The Way You Love Me” (not the one on the “MICHAEL” album, I don’t really like it) and the last duet of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” from “This Is It,” my most favorite song in the entire film. Are any of these songs good examples of what was being sung in the type of voice discussed in this thread? I would like to know if they are.
(Was thinking of Ain’t No Sunshine!)
