NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE

I'm at a loss for words.

One of my favorite Michael songs and vids. Simple and effective. Only he could give sequins such pizzazz.


As a friend said to me yesterday, "it's surreal." I am heartbroken. I had no idea i'd be hurt so deeply. MTV Jams was showing his videos this morning, and when man in the mirror came on, the tears that i had been choking back since yesterday evening, fell.

The irony is not lost on me that, in death, we can almost venerate a person who had become such an object of derision in his later years. I feel bad. It's a lot to bear, the weight of being a walking punchline. And no matter how out of touch he may have seemed, he was human. The words, public scorn, and endless mocking had to hurt. Not to be revisionist, because i certainly took my fair share of jabs. But i never ever stopped being a fan. A stan even.

I guess you never know what you've got til its gone.

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. He was poked fun at for giving himself the label, but no one ever tried to take it away because it was true. He revolutionized the music industry, gave a fledgling art form - "the music video" -legs, without which MTV could not exist. Videos that didn't feature booty shaking, half nekkid women, illicit drug use, or well placed shots of luxury items. His fame rested solely on his talent, with non of the crutches so many artists rely upon today. He Inspired legions of entertainers, great and small, but none could do it quite like him. Honestly, i think that no one ever will.

I don't think i'd be exaggerating if i said they don't make them like that anymore. Even in passing he set another bar - he broke the internet! Traffic was at a snails pace yesterday because of the flurry of internet activity around the world. He provided a soundtrack for a generation - my generation. A consummate entertainer, and now, in his death, a legend.

The Jackson five - Never Can Say Goodbye (so much emotion in his voice!)