Don't Walk Away is a beautiful song

[MacMandy90]

Love it too, but the song always makes me cry. More than sadness, I think it expresses conflicting emotions. We don't know where we are going, I have to let you go - that's the right thing to do ... but still I don't want to walk away. I will never forget you .... even though I have to let you go. That is a classic relationship conflict, expresses so beautifully in a beautiful voice.

I agree, it is very relatable on a very emotional level, you can really feel the sadness but yet his vocals are so beautiful you can't help but to cry.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Hm, interesting. YANA doesn't really move me all that much and I can't say I've really heard the 'trembling' voice in it. Also not sure about him being in a weak and vulnerable position in the song. Is he? Pretty much never listen to it but think I'm gonna give it another go, pause and reflect. Maybe I've forgotten the details, it is a really long time since I listened to it.

DWA, I adore. Just love it so much. Definitely can hear the trembling voice in this one and, yes, 'really sad confession' just about sums it up. So moving. Sometimes when Michael does an emotional song he gets it slightly wrong, imo. He'll go a bit too far with the 'trembling' voice thing. I'm thinking of 'She's out of my life' and 'You were there' (although with that one I think there were mitigating circumstances and, of course, it's not a 'heartbreak' song, as such). But DWA is perfectly judged. Just beautiful. Fabulous example of Michael making a song so much his own it's impossible to remember that someone else wrote it. He does that a lot. Some people complain about him recording songs written by other people. Always find that hard to understand.

Also yes to the 'despondency' in his vocals in DWA. Of course, there's resignation in the actual lyrics but also, as you say, in his voice as he sings. I think 'sad despondency' sums it up a bit better, maybe, than 'heartbreak'.

In 'You Are Not Alone', Michael Jackson sings certain parts with a trembling voice.

Like, "alone" (from "I'm still all alone"), or "away" (from "How did love slip away?"), or "says" (from "something whispers in my ear and says"), or "stay" (from "I am here to stay"), etc.

But 'You Are Not Alone' generally does not get enough appreciation from his fans, which is understandable because it plagiarized the 'If We Can Start All Over' melody (1993) written by the Belgian songwriters Edgard Van Passel and Daniel Van Passel.

The melody of 'If We Can Start All Over' is so similar to the point where one can say that it is the instrumental version of the 'You Are Not Alone' song.

That is why 'You Are Not Alone' was banned from broadcast and it cannot be played for commercial purposes in Belgium.

 

[zinniabooklover]

In 'You Are Not Alone', Michael Jackson sings certain parts with a trembling voice.

Like, "alone" (from "I'm still all alone"), or "away" (from "How did love slip away?"), or "says" (from "something whispers in my ear and says"), or "stay" (from "I am here to stay"), etc.

But 'You Are Not Alone' generally does not get enough appreciation from his fans, which is understandable because it plagiarized the 'If We Can Start All Over' melody (1993) written by the Belgian songwriters Edgard Van Passel and Daniel Van Passel.

The melody of 'If We Can Start All Over' is so similar to the point where one can say that it is the instrumental version of the 'You Are Not Alone' song.

That is why 'You Are Not Alone' was banned from broadcast and it cannot be played for commercial purposes in Belgium.

Yes to all of this. After your comment up-thread I went straight off to listen to YANA. Every point you made, I was literally ticking them off in my head as I listened. I haven't heard the song for, I dunno, 10 years.

I think I'm having a bit of a moment with YANA. I was always so lukewarm about it. I don't think it helped that the first few times I heard it I was seeing the video which I dislike so much. Also, weirdly, cannot cope with hearing it on the radio. Sounds all wrong for some reason. And just generally wasn't blown away by it. Listening to it now I'm hearing stuff that I'm absolutely familiar with and yet it's just landing differently.

That plagiarism story was weird. I listened to the van Passel thing. Sounds like hotel muzak but, yes, I can hear the similarity. OTOH, if it existed only as sheet music ...

Weird story.

 

[SeriousEffect.]

If you go, I won't forget you girl.

 

[Agonum]

Indeed. I love that song. Though I understand people's criticism about the song being a tad bland. It's a pretty straightforward song, maybe if he threw in some more vocal runs, falsetto and other stuff it would have made the song more interesting.but hey I'm not complaining

Nah, those things should come naturally. I agree about the song itself being somewhat average. What makes it a standout is Michael’s vocals.