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What was the message of "Threatened"?

Eric

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The song introduces MJ as a monster and says that we should be afraid of him. What's the meaning behind the song?
 
There's no deep meaning - it's just a horror pop song like Is It Scary/Thriller/Ghost etc.
 
What I get out of the lyrics is he's addressing it to the people trying to control him.

"I heard just what you said
That’s why you’ve got to be threatened by me"

I think there might be some hidden meaning in the song...I think a lot of his songs had double meanings like that.
 
'Threatened' is a revived, modernised version of his 'Thriller' song, lyrically and musically.

Also, both songs are Halloween-themed songs, and this explains their inclusion on the singer's 'Scream' compilation album (2017).

But in 'Threatened' there is an additional lyrical element/message.

Michael Jackson was aware of the fact that certain people used to view him as a weird guy, or even as a monster.

So, in this song, he mocks these people who think that he is a monster, and he does that in a rather playful way.

For example, if you think that I am a monster, then the unknown monster (which is actually me) is about to embark, and you should feel threatened by me, and I am your worst nightmare, and so on.

By the way, all of his horror pop songs have a deeper lyrical meaning.
 
"You (the media) hate me because you know I'm the absolute best at what I do and you can't stand it, so you try to cut me down by calling me names, but I am also aware that I am massively successful and that you feel threatened by my success so I'll call myself a monster, a beast, your worst nightmare, etc. to reclaim the power you think you took from me, because you could literally never be on my level."

Thats how I've always interpreted it, at least lol
 
In the fan community the story circulating was that the song was about Tommy Motolla. At Killer Thriller fan party in London in June 2002, Michael spoke about Mariah Carey and how she would call him and talk about her then husband Tommy Motolla. The story in the fan community is that a fan asked Michael about the song Threatened and he supposedly said its about Motolla.

How true it is, I don't know, as I can't remember where I heard it. But its very reasonable that a fan did ask Michael and that this is the real story. Fans met Michael on a regular basis and a great many things were known in the fan community that the general public and casual fans never knew about.
 
zinniabooklover said:
This is true. I think Is It Scary has many, many meanings, all of them deep and all equally valid. And that's just the lyrics. There are layers of meaning to be found in his vocal performance also
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I think Michael was trying to pass a Message to Sony director Tommy mottola. This Sony director was a devil and a Racist permit me to say. Michael also told us of how this Tommy called a Black artiste a nigga in his presence.
Threatened is a message to all Michael Jackson haters that they should be scared of him.
 
Oghenetega caleb esegine said:
I think Michael was trying to pass a Message to Sony director Tommy mottola. This Sony director was a devil and a Racist permit me to say. Michael also told us of how this Tommy called a Black artiste a nigga in his presence.
Threatened is a message to all Michael Jackson haters that they should be scared of him.
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First of all, you get to say the N Word but I can't? (I don't say it in mixed company)

Secondly, this song was made before Motola.
 
Threatened makes use of a figure of speech called hyperbole.
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration. Exaggeration is the representation of something as more extreme or dramatic than it in fact is. In the case of Threatened it's about a more extreme version of himself, more extreme than the media illustrates him. In that way Threatened caricatures the media.
 
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Mister_Jay_Tee said:
I'm not mad at you

When did Mottola first offend MJ? 2000? 1999?
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Mottola offended MJ in 2001.
Michael wanted to have full copyright to his musics and Sony didn't agree.
Another reason for the clash was that Michael Jackson didn't go on the Invincible world tour as he promised and he replaced it with His 30th anniversary celebration.
 
Oghenetega caleb esegine said:
Mottola offended MJ in 2001.
Michael wanted to have full copyright to his musics and Sony didn't agree.
Another reason for the clash was that Michael Jackson didn't go on the Invincible world tour as he promised and he replaced it with His 30th anniversary celebration.
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But Threatened was made way sooner than that wasn't it?
 
By the way, the Invincible booklet says this: "This song is especially dedicated to Rick Baker... The Guru of Special Effects". Which affirms this was supposed to be a new Thriller. It also sort of confirms this song was made for those who like scary stuff.
 
Threatened has a deeper meaning, but Thriller crawls deeper in your ears.
 
Oghenetega caleb esegine said:
I think Michael was trying to pass a Message to Sony director Tommy mottola. This Sony director was a devil and a Racist permit me to say. Michael also told us of how this Tommy called a Black artiste a nigga in his presence.
Threatened is a message to all Michael Jackson haters that they should be scared of him.
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Wow , that's a bit heavy.

The song was just a 2001 attempt to make a new 'thriller' or 'spooky' track and nothing more.

Man your thoughts are wild af 😧
 
Piek said:
By the way, the Invincible booklet says this: "This song is especially dedicated to Rick Baker... The Guru of Special Effects". Which affirms this was supposed to be a new Thriller. It also sort of confirms this song was made for those who like scary stuff.
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In what way does it affirm that? Baker isn’t just into horror stuff. He’s worked with Michael on Captain EO, for example.
 
Agonum said:
In what way does it affirm that? Baker isn’t just into horror stuff. He’s worked with Michael on Captain EO, for example.
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I mean Michael emphasizes this song is about entertainment… if Threatened was a song with different meaning, if it was a reaction to child abuse allegations for example, or if it was an attack on Tommy Mottola, he wouldn’t dedicate it to Rick Baker. That’s what that dedication shows to me.
 
Piek said:
I mean Michael emphasizes this song is about entertainment… if Threatened was a song with different meaning, if it was a reaction to child abuse allegations for example, or if it was an attack on Tommy Mottola, he wouldn’t dedicate it to Rick Baker. That’s what that dedication shows to me.
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Lyrics can have more than one meaning.
en.wikipedia.org

Double entendre - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Threatened is more substance than style and Thriller is the opposite.
 
For me, the likes of Ghosts , Is it Scary , Threatened are all just attempts at bringing out a 'new' thriller for that time period.... MJ was always chasing Thriller.
 
Hot_Street said:
Lyrics can have more than one meaning.
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Sure. But do you really think Michael would dedicate a song with a darker meaning to a good friend??? That would be a cruel thing to do.

Imagine Michael dedicated Morphine to you... how would you feel?
 
Piek said:
Sure. But do you really think Michael would dedicate a song with a darker meaning to a good friend??? That would be a cruel thing to do.

Imagine Michael dedicated Morphine to you... how would you feel?
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Probably would have been in shock and couldn't think. By the way, it could be gratitude for the support.
I remembered Michael dedicating Blood on the dance floor to Elton John and then apologizing for it.
 
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