Orangepekoe

I have one Michael Jackson song. My husband has the Thriller album. But I can’t find it, but it does not matter, all of the radio stations have been playing it all day.
I played that one Michael Jackson several times today. I have always been embarrassed to admit that I was a Michael Jackson fan because he was so bizarre and weird, sometimes very pathetic. But today, it seems that everyone is a Michael Jackson fan. The world has not stopped, but his music is everywhere and I must say, it is good music.

However, I have not listened to it for a long time, being turned off by some of Mr. Jackson’s antics and Peter Pan stunts. However, while contemplating a career change a few months ago, I decided it might be time for a change because  I did not want to be the eternal Peter Pan, like Michael Jackson. While thinking about not wanting to be the eternal Peter Pan, a few months ago, I played the one Michael Jackson song I had in my iTunes, ABC from the Jackson 5. And I realized, wow, he’s an amazing artist. He really did change pop music. We can now say that he was a kind of Mozart.

I had planned to focus on one discipline my entire life, for I felt in that discipline, I was a kind of genius, or at least good enough that if I focused on that discipline for the rest of my life, I could experience some kind of excellence. (Ha, that was at least two disciplines ago) However, for second time, I have become tired and now, I am old. And I was cut from a budget during the recession. I thought, well, why not change.

I agree to change was also an agreement that I may not reach greatness. For greatness usually is something practiced from childhood. And I suppose I can still achieve some greatness on a small level, however, to change in middle age is to say, ok, that was fun, now, that retirement is closer than high school graduation, perhaps I will do something that won’t achieve greatness, but I may achieve contentment. So, Mr. Jackson achieved greatness, but never contentment.

But as I listen to ABC for the 10th time, after a day of hearing every radio station play Jackson’s music without complaints from the listners, I wonder, perhaps the price of greatness is being eccentric, weird and somewhat pathetically the eternal Peter Pan.

ABC is as easy as 123

do re me

ABC

That’s how easy love can be…

RIP MJ, history will say about you the two things that you had always hoped for, you were a musical genius and you were forever young. History will have a few more things to say, but we will save those things for the upcoming slow news months.