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Motown planted the seeds

Hot_Street

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Motown planted the seeds for the topics, Michael would return to in his solo works.
Topics like peace, changing the world and loneliness.
Here are some examples:

Maybe you and I can't do great things
We may not change the world in one day
But we still can change some things today
In our small way
In Our Small Way, 1972

Ben, you're always running here and there
You feel you're not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind
And don't like what you find
There's something you should know
You've got a place to go
Ben, 1972

Someday at Christmas, there'll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on Earth
Someday at Christmas, 1970
 
Childhood, being childlike and resilience play a part in this song from his 1973 solo album Music & Me

With a child's heart
Go face the worries of the day
With a child's heart
Turn each problem into play
No need to worry no need to fear
Just being alive makes it all so very clear

With a child's heart
Nothing can ever get you down
With a child's heart
You've got no reason to frown
Love is as welcome
As a sunny sunny day
No grown-up thoughts
To lead our hearts astray

Take life easy, so easy nice and easy
Like a child so peaceful and so carefree
The whole world smiles with you
As you go your merry way
Oh with a child's heart
Nothing's gonna get me down
 
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I'll Be There and Will You Be There seem to be connected.
 
I agree that there are songs about changing the world in the Motown catalogue...
I had the same thought about In Our Small Way at some point... but after re-listening to it, I think it's rather a song about not being able to change anything... It feels like the only change the author has in mine is that the "you and me" of the song are going to fall in love.

Ben and With a Child's Heart have nothing to do with changing the world.

But even before that, there was Stand! .
Then, there were some others like The Eternal Light if I remember well. Possibly Children of the Light (I don't remember the lyrics very well).

Another potential candidate would be If 'n I Was God , but I find it pretty scary with lines such as "I'd fix it so without explaining Folks would know, they'd know What's goin' on inside Of everyone else (...)" ... so, everyone reading everyone's minds?, no thanks ... "I wouldn't set the sun at night" ... I need to sleep sometimes... And it's so weird to hear Michael tell God that he's pretty useless and that he (Michael) would make a better job...

I really like the Motown era but I would search for too much meaning in their lyrics... in a sense they were a "rhyme-writing industry".
 
Maxym said:
I really like the Motown era but I would search for too much meaning in their lyrics... in a sense they were a "rhyme-writing industry".
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But there's things on the J5 & Mike solo albums that were remakes of songs that originated from acts that were never on Motown. Such as Stand was first released by Sly & The Family Stone. They were on Epic, which was then a part of CBS Records.
 
DuranDuran said:
But there's things on the J5 & Mike solo albums that were remakes of songs that originated from acts that were never on Motown. Such as Stand was first released by Sly & The Family Stone. They were on Epic, which was then a part of CBS Records.
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True (or I don't actually know much about Sly 1 The Family Stone), but they picked that song and made the J5 sing it on a Motown records. Where it comes from or who wrote it doesn't matter in that sense I think.
 
Maxym said:
Ben and With a Child's Heart have nothing to do with changing the world.
Click to expand...
Ben is about loneliness and it's his first scary song. A song about a rat.
With a Child's Heart is about Childhood, being childlike and resilience.
 
Maxym said:
True (or I don't actually know much about Sly 1 The Family Stone), but they picked that song and made the J5 sing it on a Motown records. Where it comes from or who wrote it doesn't matter in that sense I think.
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That was not exclusive to Motown. That's been going on since the recording business existed. It was common for singers or bands in popular music to record the same songs. A lot of those songs later became known as standards or Great American Songbook. It's the same with artists releasing Christmas albums. Those tend to have many of the same songs, even the new ones released today. Instrumental jazz artists would also do versions of mainstream songs, like John Coltrane doing My Favorite Things. A lot of the stuff on the early Beatles & Rolling Stones albums were covers. Some of Whitney Houston's hits were covers of not well known songs, so a lot of people think she released the original versions. It's not as common today for covers being played on hits oriented radio stations that play new material, probably because the hits tend to be rap songs, which generally only work with the original artist. But there's still people recording standards. Rod Stewart resurrected his career awhile back releasing a series of Great American Songbook albums. Then there's artists doing tribute albums.
 
DuranDuran said:
That was not exclusive to Motown. (...)
Click to expand...

Yet, even if it was a common practice (which I was already aware of)... they picked it, and made the J5 sing it, and yet selected it to go on the album. So, in that sense, it may relate to this thread's initial topic. That's all I was saying (concerning Stand!).
 
Back to topic, also, I think it may be "limiting" to reduce the Jacksons culture to their own discographies...
They started writing songs about "improving/changing the world"... the earliest they wrote I think was Living together... but like many artists, they were also likely influence by many other artists...
 
Reach In (1970) and Stand! (1969) are great motivational songs and many would follow like Keep the Faith and On the Line.
 
Regarding the first songs sang by MJ that hint to changing the world: maybe the very first one was may be A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke) , from the Steeltown sessions. I don't really know the lyrics to that one (will listen to the original) but according to Wikipedia "Cooke felt compelled to write a song that spoke to his struggle and of those around him, and that pertained to the Civil Rights Movement and African Americans."

Regarding an hypothetic I'll Be There / Will You Be There relation:
( @Hot_Street ) Yesterday I listened to I'll Be There from Motown 25. And I think I got the picture the following way:
Will You Be There is a song that may have multiple interpretations... one is to hear it like a friendship song... But I think that it's first meaning in MJ's mind was that it is a song to God. And, listening to I'll Be There with that in mind, many lines may sound like God replying Which makes the "If you ever find someone new" line funny, like God saying that if you start believing in another God, he better be good to you. There's also the "salvation" word at the beginning. And, if God can make miracles, even the "Look over your shoulders" line may start making sense. Then, some lines may also sound weird.
That said, I just see this as some experimental mind game... I think that this interpretation is quite far-fetch, I'm not even sure if my interpretation of Will You Be There is accurate and I'll Be There was probably just another love song in its author(s) mind.
 
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MJ like most black artists were certainly inspired by What's Going On by Marvin Gaye. A socially conscious African American album.

Him and Stevie, for his ballads.
 
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