“The only thing that matters in life is having someone who understands you, who trusts you and who will be with you no matter what.”

Michael Jackson

“It hurts when you lose someone you love.  But people always seem to leave something behind for you to remember them forever.”

Michael Jackson

Is it art that imitates life or life that imitates art?  When opening his autobiography, Michael Jackson said, “I’ve always wanted to be able to tell stories, you know, stories that came from my soul.” Through four and a half decades, Michael took his fans on a continuous journey weaving stories in and out of songs, dances, prose, poetry and theatrical, dramatic performance.  “What did this amazing young man have to say, what stories did he want to tell, what had he experienced?  As it turned out, Michael had been in the public’s eye for so long that he had become very protective of those things his fans could not see, did not know.  He had been written about at every stage of his life.  Facts had been telegraphed, as had falsehoods.  He liked the idea that he could set the record straight in his own book, in his own words, but, too, there was an overriding desire to leave some things for himself and for those people he loved the most.”  Shaye Areheart 2009. The breathtaking phenomenon of Michael Jackson’s imagination, liberated in a talent  untamed and steeped in the past, created artistry which touched on the human condition and all its forms…a powerful force of pure love.  It encompassed art imitating life and life imitating art simultaneously.  “In many ways an artist is his work.  It’s difficult to separate the two.” Michael Jackson  Today, rereading Heaven Leigh’s beautiful fairy tale, MICHAELUNA, I thought about art imitating life. Magically, Luna and Michael traverse the shifting of life’s terrain, desperately holding onto love.  Suddenly, as these things often do when I allow myself to live in the moment, both fantasy and reality soundscapes emerge.  Seeing inspiration in every facet of Michael’s life, my understanding of Heaven’s storytelling brought me to the page.  The bridge between Michaeluna and Michael Jackson’s storytelling is the making of a life by what we give.

“What if Michael’s muse was a real being, watching over and inspiring him, as she had done for great musicians down through the ages?  But something unexpected happened when she began her musical relationship with him.  Magical and confusing feelings disrupted the realm of this heavenly goddess of song.  She fell hopelessly and impossibly in love.  Wouldn’t you?”  MICHAELUNA by HEAVEN LEIGH

Two young lovers tasting from forbidden love, passionate and just out of reach, reminded me of Michael’s “I JUST CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU.”  The excitement of our first taste of love has an energy never to be revisited.

Each time the wind blows

I hear your voice so I call your name

Whispers at morning, our love is dawning

Heaven’s glad you came

You know how I feel

This thing can’t go wrong

I’m so proud to say I love you

Your love’s got me high, I long to get by

This time is forever, love is the answer.

As in Heaven’s storytelling, a growing love affair burns through the intersections of life events.  The rushes of joy often meet with resistance.  Michael and Luna face fantastical obstacles, as Michael in real life was repeatedly surrounded by those whose intent was great harm.  Storytelling through astounding music, songs describing love’s undercurrents took shape in his INVINCIBLE ALBUM as a more mature Michael sang “HEAVEN CAN WAIT,” DON’T LET GO OF MY HAND,” AND DON’T WALK  AWAY.”

“The song is about the desire to elude death.  The singer has finally found love and joy, but now dreads it will be taken from him.  ‘Tell the angels no, I don’t want to leave my baby alone.’  The track is a supplication for time, to love and be loved without interference or intrusion.”  HEAVEN CAN WAIT Joseph Vogel MAN IN THE MUSIC

“WHATEVER HAPPENS narrates the story of two people who still love each other deeply, but fear their relationship is in peril.  Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand casting an uncertainty about the promises they make to each other.  In the outro, Jackson continues to plead desperately, but finds no resolution.”  Joseph Vogel MAN IN THE MUSIC

For me, DON’T WALK AWAY, is the most heart-wrenching love story I have ever heard.  “Don’t walk away.  See I just can’t find the right thing to say/ I try but all my pain gets in the way.”  I cannot listen to that without feeling a pain in my heart, tears streaming down my face.  Michael’s storytelling has evolved…a man creating out of deep emotional  pain…telling of physical and emotional, intimate, lost love.

As in Heaven’s storytelling, the lovers have taken a journey traveling through time and space.  And, as she includes the love of a parent and the love for humanity, so Michael’s music flowed into a more universal love affair.

‘SPEECHLESS was a love song about a pure, unconditional, safe kind of love he had never really sung about before (perhaps because he had never fully experienced it until he had children).  YOU ARE MY LIFE…the song no doubt had personal significance for Jackson, whose two young children had brought new meaning to his life.  Indeed, in many ways, it is the most honest musical expression of what his children meant to him.”

MAN IN THE MUSIC

Joseph Vogel

“‘You can do this, Michael,’ he silently told himself as he approached her with such love and joy in his heart.  He held back tears that would surely make no sense to her.  As he got closer, he tried to read her mood by the look on her face, as he’d done a thousand times before.  She was staring at him.  He worried that his overwhelming emotions betrayed his disguise, and he tried with all of his might to look professional and composed.  ‘Daddy?'”

MICHAELUNA

Heaven Leigh

Michael’s connection to other people’s lives and his deeply felt caring are now legend to millions of people around the planet.  With the passage of time, those who felt the need to keep Michael’s privacy have found an overwhelming desire to educate with stories of Michael’s tireless giving and unconditional love FOR EVERYONE.  I can honestly say, there isn’t a day that goes by when I turn on my computer and discover another beautiful reminiscence.  Today was no exception.

“In late May, 2009, I was with Michael when he was leaving Arnold Klein’s office in Beverly Hills.  The hype was building about the THIS IS IT shows and there was a swarm of paparazzi outside the building.  I was nervous about him being able to leave-the previous day had been a nasty experience both emotionally and physically; one photographer had shouted a question at him designed to be hurtful, then another had audibly banged Michael’s head with his over-sized camera.  It had been truly unpleasant and Michael had no reason to be in a good mood after that.

Today, a woman Michael didn’t know had gotten into the doctor’s office.  She was older and although I’d never seen her before, it seems she had a habit of chasing away paparazzi whenever she saw them near celebrities in L.A.  When she met Michael, obviously for the first time, she was in tears almost hysterical, ranting to him incoherently and for no apparent reason kept saying ‘Please’ as if asking for help.

I’m ashamed to say, she was getting on my nerves.  I could see he was tired and after the events of the day before, I was worried about him exiting the building safely.  I hadn’t even really spoken to him for that reason.  I just wanted him to get out of there and be safe.  And, I’m looking at this woman hugging him and ranting in his face, I wished he would say, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go.’ put his own well-being first and walk away.

Not Michael.  He stood in complete peace, stooped a little to look this older lady in the eyes and said in a low, kind voice that I remember too clearly, ‘Tell me what you need.  What is it you need?  How can I help you?’  Calmly, slowly, as if trying to instill with her some of his equilibrium.  And still she couldn’t answer.  She was just rambling because she couldn’t believe that she really met Michael Jackson, who most people saw as an untouchable icon, the greatest entertainer of all time, who had broken so many boundaries in a stellar career over the past 4 decades.  She couldn’t believe that this man, who symbolized so much to her, had hugged her when she asked for a hug.  And when she pleaded aimlessly for something, she couldn’t even identify, he gave her everything a person could ask for.  He treated her with love, dignity and respect.  He lowered his head, gave her his time and offered of himself, even though he had no idea who this hysterical person was or what she wanted.

He hadn’t dismissed her.  He hadn’t thought of himself or how badly his bodyguards needed to get him out of that building and away from the throngs of photographers.  THAT WAS MICHAEL.”  Maria Crawford on Michael Jackson…one month before he passed away.

Life imitating art…art imitating life.  Michael Jackson’s love spanned five decades taking on every form human beings understand.  MICHAELUNA magically represents the man.  The power of storytelling in word and music offer fantasy and reality…escapism and truth.

CELEBRATING HIS GENIUS AND HIS BEAUTIFUL HEART

Jude

MICHAELUNA by Heaven Leigh…Amazon.com

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