Reminds me of this…
That is almost painful!
For those too young or have forgetten, this is updated version. The original lacked all the racist tagging on the car and windows. In the original he was just randomly destroying stuff.
It seems like there was no graffiti on the vhs version of this but that it was added in the dvd version
Wow, you just unlocked a lost memory. I forgot that this existed!
Oh holy shit. I haven’t seen this since it first came out. I forgot how fucking odd it was. Thanks!
Yeah, I had forgotten this existed too.
I’d also forgotten what a strange blend of weird and awesome it is. Just this tangent off of the music video that’s all a dance of protest and anger, but with the utterly bizarre shouts that don’t match the feel of the visuals.
I think it not only works, but looking back at the controversy of it makes it work more.
but with the utterly bizarre shouts that don’t match the feel of the visuals.
I feel it matches perfectly, like you said it’s a dance of protest and anger, to me the improvised shouts are like outbursts of passion and anguish.
Not disagreeing with your opinion, the vocalisations are a little jarring. This music video (and a ton of other Michael videos) were a huge part of my childhood so maybe I’m just used to his shouts being a part of the visual.
I get what you mean for sure. The reason it’s out of match for me is that he used the same kind of things in other places and times, so it kinda felt like part of his normal performances.
Could just be that his primal cries were what he used in other places, so it made internal sense to him, and I’m just not getting that as a viewer/fan. His voice was certainly not pitched to do gutteral and deep screams, so that might have been as harsh as he could get, so it showed up in multiple performances.
Dunno. The emotion of it carries anyway. No matter what anyone thinks about him outside of his performances, the man was top tier as a performer. He could carry more emotion in a five minute dance than some actors manage to convey in a career.
Tangentially, it’s strange in a way that I was around when he was practically a god of music, back in the eighties and nineties, but I didn’t become a fan until later on when I revisited his music. Before that, I enjoyed his music, but didn’t have that kind of connection to it that I developed later, where his stuff can move me.
Oh I absolutely relate with not having that deep connection until later on. I’m probably a little younger than you so by the time I discovered Michael at the age of 4 or so his legacy had already been established, I had vol 1 and 2 of the HIStory music videos and would watch them obsessively trying to dance and sing along, as a child I loved the performance aspect of it but even then felt some sort of emotional resonance… now as an adult when I dip back into Michael I can’t help but think about just how formative his art was in my life.
Yeah it’s the same shout used in many other performances, some of which that have very different messages and intentions. From a viewer’s perspective I agree that it can be easily misinterpreted; from a performer’s perspective, I don’t think the sound was specifically chosen or planned, when you’re zoned in on your performance you’re channeling a lot of energy and some things just find their way out. That’s what makes it so powerful to me, the dance doesn’t even feel specifically choreographed, the sound and dance are just expressions of raw emotion.
The man can literally make me want to cry by moving around and shouting. It’s so incredible.
Oh man I wish Odysee would succeed but it’s tough when there’s no moderation… What the hell is this?
It’s just some dudes opinion…so what. My opinion is different.
Freedom of speech i guess. I hope that they do get on top of things though.
That entire album is one long video. Was out before Daft Punks, but the latter was longer.
