Day belonged to Michael
Jackson
13/06/05 23:38 Filed by Saswat Pattanayak in:
Memories
| Reference
Well, the other reason for celebration of the day is
of course Michael Jackson. After recording James
Curtis show for all these days since two months now,
watching all the re-enactments of the courtroom
scenes, I was waiting for this day to hear of the
decision. Amrita had asked me how would it feel when
after all these days of suspense, the verdict is
passed. Well, June 13 arrived. Came good. Real good.
In the classic case between Thomas Mesereau Jr. and
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon,
the former won. After 72 days of suspense, it was
agreed upon a by the jury that Michael Jackson was
not guilty on any of the ten counts brought up
against him.
The singer I grew up with in India: immersed in a
dream of the impossible, the ecological diversity and
the nullification of color lines, the challenges of
the dance conventions and the benefits of doubt for
the 'bad' outlaw. Jackson, one of the heroes who
always adorned my room walls not only because of how
he was as a performer, but also because who he was as
a human being, today was finally declared innocent.
As he rightly says, "Children had not betrayed me.
Adults have let me down." I guess the media obsession
with the Jackson trials going on since a decade now
will finally end, and as Liz Taylor said, the "people
will leave him alone now."
Jackson is not just a performer. He has served as a
ray of hope for a changing world since decades now.
Defying the American hegemonies, transcending the
borderlines of continents, gender, and race, MJ stood
for issues bigger than the immediate. The most
successful African-American entertainer of all times,
he courted political lines because he could not have
afforded to do otherwise.
We made enough mockery of this man. Now lets
celebrate him and the words he lives by. Of late,
haven't we had enough of the romantic longing blues
and hitting baby toxications? More than mouthful of
apple butts and hip-hop imageries? "Man in the
Mirror" and "The Earth Song" will forever remain in
our minds to remind of MJ legacy. But here is one
lesser known song he wrote to celebrate the Planet
Earth. For better hopes sake:
Planet Earth, my home, my place
A capricious anomaly, in the sea of space
Planet Earth, are you just
Floating by, a cloud of dust
A minor globe, about to bust
A piece of metal, bound to rust
A speck of matter, in a mindless void
A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid
Cold as a rock, without a hue
Held together, with a bit of glue
Something tells me, this isn't true
You are my sweetheart, soft and blue
Do you care, have you a part
In the deepest emotions, of my own heart
Tender with breezes, caressing and whole
Alive with music, haunting my soul.
In my veins, I've felt the mystery
Of corridors of time, books of history
Life songs of ages, throbbing in my blood
Have danced the rhythm, of the tide and flood
Your misty clouds, your electric storm
Were turbulent tempests, in my own form
I've licked the salt, the bitter, the sweet
Of every encounter, of passion, of heat
Your riotous color, your fragrance, your taste
Have thrilled my senses, beyond all haste
In your beauty, I've known the how
Of timeless bliss, this moment of now
Planet Earth, are you just
Floating by, a cloud of dust
A minor globe, about to bust
A piece of metal bound to rust
A speck of matter in a mindless void
A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid
Cold as a rock without a hue
Held together with a bit of glue
Something tells me this isn't true
You are my sweetheart gentle and blue
Do you care, have you a part
In the deepest emotions of my own heart
Tender with breezes caressing and whole
Alive with music, haunting my soul.
Planet Earth, gentle and blue
With all my heart, I love you
Tags: Saswat, Literature, Music