Latest on MJJC

songs of being controlled

Hot_Street

Hot_Street

Burnin' it up!
Joined
May 17, 2022
Messages
5,867
Points
113
In the biopic, Michael says: I love my family, but I want to do my own thing. We know that he suffered not only from the control exerted by Motown, but also by Joseph. In which songs, regardless of who wrote them, does this feeling of being controlled best come across? The first one that comes to mind is Working Day and Night. What do you think?

and also Destiny:

I want destiny
it's the place for me
give me the simple life
I'm getting away from here
let me be free, let me be me
 
Last edited:
Everywhere I turn, no matter where I look
The system's in control, it's all run by the book
I gotta get away so I can free my mind
Escape is (what I need) from the (electric eyes)
No matter where I am, I see my face around
They pin lies on my name then push from town to town
Don't have a place to run but there's no need to hide
I gotta find a place, but I won't hide away
 
Maybe in a broad sense, with variations to the meaning of being controlled, or answering/reacting to it to it, or thought about it, I would consider: Things I Do For You, Bless His Soul, Price of Fame, Xscape, Get Your Weight Off Of Me, Somebody's Watching Me (though I think it was said that it's actually a song about paranoia), This Time Around, Stranger in Moscow?, Ghost?, Unbreakable, Privacy, Childhood, TJ, Leave Me Alone, You Can't Win(?), ... Does D.S. include some notion of control? ..., edit: Scream, TDCAU...

(And a bonus one would be Mama I Gotr A Brand New Thing Don't Say No , where the main character is obviously controlled by their mother.)

I would actually not count Workin' Day and Night as it's more of a couple relationship song... Unless some gets a double reading of it.

Now, when I think of songs about control, I don't think of MJ.
 
Last edited:
She speaks the lines that can control my mind
- Heartbreaker

Everyone's taking control of me
Seems that the world's got a role for me
- Will You Be There
 
Hot_Street said:
- Heartbreaker
Click to expand...
I don't really know the lyrics to Heartbreaker. I expect it to be a love song. If all love songs potentially turn into control songs... there's gonna be a lot .... You Really Got A Hold On Me, I Wanna Be Where You Are , I'll (always) Come Home To You, Chained, ...
 
Talking about Motown era songs, "To make my father proud" comes instantly to mind.
 
Maxym said:
I don't really know the lyrics to Heartbreaker. I expect it to be a love song. If all love songs potentially turn into control songs... there's gonna be a lot .... You Really Got A Hold On Me, I Wanna Be Where You Are , I'll (always) Come Home To You ...
Click to expand...
There's also Give in to me which can be about control in a relationship
 
Fuzball said:
Talking about Motown era songs, "To make my father proud" comes instantly to mind.
Click to expand...

I hesitated including this one... I shows a sense of strong parental (and religious) authority, but yet the main characters is saying those things willingly and the only contains his side of things... so I wouldn't count it as control.
 
Maxym said:
I hesitated including this one... I shows a sense of strong parental (and religious) authority, but yet the main characters is saying those things willingly and the only contains his side of things... so I wouldn't count it as control.
Click to expand...
It feels like the singer, in this case Michael, has the urge to constantly please his father - so, it's imho some way of exposure to control.
 
Whatever You Got, I Want
Slave to the Rhythm
Do You Know Where Your Children Are
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top