A little melancholy

[feliciakw]

On the day he passed, I made a post about how I was a huge Michael Jackson fan when I was in high school (specifically, my freshman year). I wasn't as huge a fan when the Bad album came out, and after that album, I pretty much lost interest. But his music still speaks to me of that era of my life. It brings back memories.

I forgot that today was his memorial. Had I remembered, I might have Tivoed it. But with a reminder, I've been on-line and looking at some pictures and reading some articles, and my heart kinda hurts.

Because when you strip away all the glitz and the glamour and the scandal (which I don't have an opinion on) and the weirdness, he was a man, an incredible entertainer, but more to the point, a brother, an uncle, a father, and a friend. I feel for him, and for his children and his siblings. He could have had anything he wanted, but didn't have what he needed. Or if he did, he didn't realize it.

So often (though not always) the most brilliant artists are also the most tormented. And so it seems it was with Michael Jackson.

I just . . . don't quite know what to do with all of this.

And on the totally opposite end of the spectrum, I've watched the first half of this video entirely too much in the past couple of days.

Comments

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

I spent most of the afternoon watching the memorial. I have to admit that when the scandal was going on, my overwhelming feeling was, "Well...there's got to be some basis for this, right?" When you add that to his physical changes over the years, and the oddness concerning his kids, I really kind of backed off from thinking anything too positive about him.

But I do remember that joyous, vibrant little boy I saw on TV in the J5 heyday. I have the Jackson 5 Greatest Hits album (on vinyl, of course) and what I loved most about those songs was the JOY that was so evident in them.

Today, watching his friends and family talk about their fond memories (and their grief), I found myself believing that yes, this was just a man. Tormented? Yes, I think so. But apparently he did maintain some bit of normalcy - loved to laugh with his friends, and play with his children, and looked forward to entertaining his fans. I do think we've lost something with his passing. And I regret terribly that he didn't have the chance to live a peaceful, love-filled, somewhat "normal" existence. It broke my heart when his daughter stepped up to the microphone, choked out the words, "My daddy was the best father ever," and then burst into tears.

[kimmer1227.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

It does bring back oodles and oodles of memories, from many eras. I mentioned elsewhere that the Jackson 5 was my first concert experience at a fairly young age. One of the cooler parents on my street escorted a bunch of crazy preteen fangurlz on the excursion. I still can picture vividly the concert banner I bought and hung in my room.

I didn't get to watch any coverage, but did DVR it. I can burn you a DVD if you'd like. I missed the first few minutes (I remote recorded it as an afterthought - love that feature from DirecTV), but should have most of it. I think I recorded NBC and CNN. I'll check it when I get home.