Funkystrong
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This is a great discussion.
Morphine, while I agree that it is definitely very autobiographical and revealing, I wouldn't call depressing. It doesn't make me feel sad listening to it. I feel energized and angry, usually. Frustrated. He was really good about communicating the stress and mental anguish of addiction in that song. It is really hard to think about after he died, but it was always a thought provoking piece to me even before then. IMO it's one of the absolutely best things he ever created, and I wish I could have asked him about it. I have several family members who are addicts and it hits a soft spot for me in that way.
I Am A Loser, I guess in terms of content is a good choice and shouldn't be ignored. I guess the only reason I'd disagree with it being the "most depressing" is that we don't have the finished product. It comes across much more hopeful. In the end, Michael was an optimist, and wrote that way. He even talked about the coda in Heartbreak Hotel - he wanted to leave the listener reassured and feeling same. He wanted to end on a good note and not actually terrorize or depress others.
Little Susie and Be Not Always are fantastic examples. BNA always wows me. I listened to it over and over and over and over. It's so unlike anything else Michael recorded (Randy wrote it, right? Sorry if my brain is fuzzy). And he absolutely nailed it. I love that it feels like a secret among us - fans know, real fans know, and when we go to listen to it, it takes us somewhere that only we would really understand.
Little Susie is more eye-opening than depressing - it makes me want to stop things. It makes me want to mobilize. This poor child; abused, neglected, and murdered by what little family she knows? That wees me off, big time. It makes me want to go out and protect every child the same way Michael wanted to do, but it doesn't make me sad in the heart for longer than it takes to want to do justice by Susie (and all the Susies in the world that suffered the same fate).
So when it comes down to it - Be Not Always wins. I think it always will. Such a unique and beautiful work of art. It really is astounding, and does its job well.
No, MJ -co-wrote it with Marlon.