Goodbye, Michael Jackson. We Hardly Knew You.
Believe it or not, I’ve been planning this blog entry since February, and wrote the rough draft almost 2 weeks ago. So you can imagine just how much it surprised me when the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson, died this week. Let’s get on with it then…
I was in the video store back in February, and saw a music video by Robin Thicke that caught my attention. But perhaps not for the reasons you might think… Here. Take a look at the video, then read on.
(You’ll have to go here for the original music video. The trolls at EMI / Polydor have disabled embedding, the bastards.)
Huh. I always wondered what they did with all the old props and models from the filming of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But what really got my attention was how much this Robin Thicke video borrows from the seminal Jackson Five video, Can You Feel It:
Yipes! Everything old is new again! I won’t bother to comment on Robin Thicke’s “blue-eyed soul” sound, which is also nothing really new. Not to mention the moves and the hat stolen from Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal. But I did want to contrast these two videos, and examine the similarities. Perhaps even generate a little discussion, eh?
In fact, this blog post is the first of several in this very vein, comparing two songs side by side, to spark a little examination of creativity, and how it borrows from that which has gone before.
(Oh, by the way… isn’t the rhythm track of Can You Feel It just plain slammin‘? Man, that is nothing but concentrated Motown funk of the early ’80s variety. And the symbolism in the imagery is worth reflecting upon. The elements of water and fire; the Jacksons as gigantic, godlike figures; the solar eclipse – to name a few.)
So. Come back in a couple of days for a new entry. I promise it will be worth it, especially if you are a music nerd.
And thanks for bearing with me while I was otherwise busy. I really do want to make this blog fun, interesting, and thought provoking.
I promise to write more often. Yeah, I’m sure you’ve heard that one before…
We All In Trouble... | Dlock's Pop Culture Reflux 