“Straightaway the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God.”

Johannes Brahms

“The music of this opera (Madame Butterfly) was dictated to me by God.  I was merely instrumental in putting it on paper and communicating to the public.”

Giancomo Puccini

“The material itself dictates how it should be written.”

William Faulkner

“I hate to say it, but it’s true, it’s like all songwriters say, it’s true, it’s like you don’t write  the song, the song writes itself, it just kind of falls into your lap and you say, ‘Gee, did I do this?’…it’s that sort of thing.”

Michael Jackson MTV Interview 1999

“WHEN I CREATE MY MUSIC, I FEEL LIKE AN INSTRUMENT OF NATURE.”

Michael Jackson

When composing world anthems, Michael Jackson shared a sense of wonder and divine spirit, woven together with cathartic and therapeutic sustained creativity.  During an interview with Molly Meldrum in 1987, Michael talked about how most of his dreams seemed to come true, and how very thankful he was for that.  However, dreams demand our faith in them…coupling divinity both within and without, and while Michael’s kindness of spirit drove humanitarian themes, he both believed in and lived out “WORDS MUST MOVE  INTO ACTIONS”.  Michael wanted his anthems to have the melodic simplicity where a child of 5 years old could sing them and like them, but also embrace the opportunity to light the fuse for collective actions…leading to change.  What Michael SAW in the world, others merely LOOKED at.  Attuned to the language of innocence and nature, Michael’s compositions created an interconnected culture of change-seekers.  Some have said that our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments (Joseph Addison)…if that be true, Michael was truly Seneca’s view of a great man struggling against adversity.  I often read articles describing Michael’s life as tragic.  Instead, I see Michael’s genius working tirelessly, chosen for a higher purpose while being challenged and threatened.  God spoke to Michael in the language of music and dance, and Michael understood.  His happiness came from devotion to a purpose.  Optimism was a trained response, having an inner life reflecting his world vision and setting his imagination in motion, leading to a nurturing of dreams on behalf of the children.  He personified the change he offered in his music.  In my lifetime, I have never before met anyone who so completely WALKED THE TALK.

“When you come right down to it, survival means seeing things the way they really are and responding.  It means being open.  And that’s what innocence is.  It’s simple and trusting like a child, not judgmental and committed to one narrow point of view.  If you are locked into a pattern of thinking and responding, your creativity gets blocked.  You miss the freshness and magic of the moment.  Learn to be innocent again, and that freshness never fades.”

Michael Jackson DANCING THE DREAM

Jean Sibelius captured wisdom when stating, “Remember, a statue has never been set up in honor of a critic.”  Cynicism seeks to destroy whatever it is incapable of understanding.  Take that a step further, locked in a pattern of thinking and responding, mass media judged HEAL THE WORLD to be “sticky sweet and banal…middle-class soft.”  New York Times.  Whether incapable or calculating, the layers of meaning woven into the tapestry of HEAL THE WORLD met with tabloid cut and paste routine…non-thinking at its finest.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

John Keats

Classic in every sense of the word, Michael ‘s HEAL THE WORLD never finishes what it has to say.  “…for Jackson the point of a humanitarian anthem was pretty straightforward.  He wanted a song with a simple message and a simple melody:  something the whole world could sing, regardless of language, race, or culture, in particular, he wanted children to enjoy and benefit from it.  HEAL THE WORLD was the vehicle for these social aims.”  Joseph Vogel

“When an audience lights candles and sways to HEAL THE WORLD,  a space is created where nobody is unholy, no religion can exercise its imaginary exclusive patent on the true God.  To the extent that Michael inspired such a feeling, he healed his own demons, and ours, if only for an hour.”

Deepak Chopra

The fatality for prejudice is travel.  HEAL THE WORLD  touched lives across the entire planet as Michael performed it on every continent.  During Michael’s performance in the Rose Bowl for  Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, an entire stadium joined in celebrating its message while displaying L.A. children’s drawings in huge card sections.  Michael deeply felt a parent’s love and a parent’s responsibility for every child in the world.  His persistence and determination guided masses of people with an omnipotence.  “He was highly intuitive and sensitive to the human condition.  He tried with all his power to convey through his work what needed to be changed, and if he could not identify the answers right away, he would not stop until he found them.”  Donna Massa-Chappee

Achieving an innocence of lyrics and melody which, when looking beneath, convey complexities leading to a greater knowledge, a greater truth.  “When I create my music, I feel I am an instrument of nature.”  Michael Jackson  HEAL THE WORLD pollenates the flowers within, and, although the media poisonous “insecticide”  sought to destroy it, its beautiful bounty can be seen all around the world.

Michael’s performance art and theatre for HEAL THE WORLD  included a global representation…children of all ages, colors and cultures onstage, joining in unison and harmonies with audiences holding candles…light reflecting off tear-stained, smiling faces.  The DANGEROUS WORLD TOUR represented HEAL THE WORLD’S essence giving Michael an opportunity to earn $100,000,000 for charities including his newly founded HEAL THE WORLD FOUNDATION.

The complexities of HEAL THE WORLD are revealed to those who chose to find them.  It is an anthem we happily join in singing, a message to which we devotedly give our attention, visuals that inspire us to PAY MICHAEL FORWARD in deed.  Embedded in its genius is Michael’s light, showing the way to innocence.

HEAL THE WORLD

MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE

FOR YOU AND FOR ME AND THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE

THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING

IF WE CARE ENOUGH FOR THE LIVING

MAKE A BETTER PLACE

FOR YOU AND FOR ME.

“With just a little love and a little caring, I have seen kids totally turn around, where you can’t find any cancer at all anymore in their body.  We should just give a little more attention to the power of love and caring and faith and prayer.”

Michael Jackson

“In Michael Jackson’s poetry, we can see his usage of the word ‘children’ as both a direct reference to children, and a metaphor for our inner child.  Much has been said about Michael  Jackson, his relationship with the inner child, and the purity of the message he was bringing through his work.  We have touched on the hero’s journey and the American Dream.”

Michael Jackson MAN BEHIND THE MIRROR

Raamayan Ananda

Michael’s  creation of HEAL THE WORLD has seen grand triumphs.  People all over the world join in singing it, all the while embracing their inner child.  Children perform it the very way Michael imagined it to be sung.  A beautiful thought found words, created from Michael’s soul, mediating its music spiritually and sensually…never to be forgotten.  MAKE A LITTLE SPACE TO MAKE A BETTER PLACE…HEAL THE WORLD.

I love you, Michael.  THANK YOU!

I love you all.

Jude

With love, for Samuel