You can approach this next number one very cynically, if that’s your thing, as there’s lots to be cynical about…
Earth Song, by Michael Jackson (his 6th of seven #1s)
6 weeks, from 3rd December 1995 – 14th January 1996
For his sixth solo UK chart-topper, the King of Pop, long-since divorced from reality, fully realises his Messianic potential. What about elephants? he demands of us, towards the end of this colossal track. Have we lost their trust? Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker certainly let us know what he thought, famously mooning Jackson’s performance of the song at the Brit Awards.
But, once your eyes have completed their rolling, and you stop to listen to ‘Earth Song’, then you can’t help but be impressed. You might not want to hear it every day, but the very fact that he conceived of, wrote, and recorded this track, and then managed to sell the message in a way that only Michael Jackson could – largely through the conviction in his whoops and hollers – is darned impressive. Like ‘You Are Not Alone’, this is a lullaby underneath all the dressing (Jackson intended it to be simple, so that it could be understood right across the world). But what dressing… When the drums and funky bass kick in it’s a bit of a moment, as is the gigantic key change. The last three minutes is basically MJ berating us about the state of the planet, accompanied by a wind machine and a gospel choir.
And, let’s be honest, much of what he’s singing about is true. It was true in 1995, and it’s true thirty years on. What about children dying?…Can’t you hear them cry?… Where did we go wrong?… Someone tell me why… It’s preachy, sure, but he ain’t wrong. Of course, though, sending this song to number one is a lot easier than actually changing our ways, and if Jackson truly thought this would make any difference to the fate of the human race then he was Wacko indeed.
The video too is every bit as OTT as you might expect. I can remember watching it on ‘Top of the Pops’ at the time, aged almost ten, and being captivated. Watching back now, it’s painted in very broad strokes, but it’s vivid, and memorable. Dead elephants, felled trees, someone clubbing a seal… Then through his sheer bloody star power, clinging to some tree stumps, Jackson undoes all the damage, and we live happily ever after.
At the end of the day, most people are more Jarvis Cocker than they are Michael Jackson. And most of the time, that is a good thing. ‘Earth Song’ is preposterous, and overblown, and now interestingly forgotten among his illustrious back catalogue. But it also delivers an uncomfortable truth, however clumsily the message is conveyed.
This was the 1995 Christmas #1, famously holding off The Beatles’ much feted ‘comeback’ single ‘Free As a Bird’ (they’ll manage their 18th chart-topper, eventually). It also wraps up a very odd, very underwhelming year, in which the charts have felt at odds with what people were actually listening to. One interesting thing, though, to chart geeks like me, is that 1995 was the year where singles suddenly started entering at #1. What was once a freak event, marking an act out as the very biggest in the land, was happening much more often. From ‘Back for Good’ to ‘Earth Song’, all but two #1s were held-back, heavily promoted songs that entered at the top. This will continue as the nineties progress, with the turnover of number ones increasing all the time as well.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I’m sure that MJ did the decent thing and donated the royalties to a suitably worthy environmental cause – six weeks at No. 1 over Christmas suggests a lot of records sold. Well I’m not sure he did, actually, but I’m happy to be proved wrong…Well, I remember two things about this one at the time. One was Jarvis Cocker’s subsequent immortal debunking at the Awards. The other was that wonderful rumour put about, I think the week it was released, that MJ had temporarily ‘died’ on stage during some live performance. Later we learnt that it was something far less drastic (panic attack at a TV show rehearsal if my memory is correct), but by then the ensuing sympathy vote meant that the record was flying out of the shops big time, and probably became his biggest seller ever. And what else was released at the same time and had been hotly tipped to beat it to No. 1 that week? Oh yes, The Beatles’ ‘Free as a Bird’, their first single for quarter of a century. Draw your own conclusions.
Oh, and I can’t see anything about this song’s profits going to charity. He did have a ‘Heal the World’ foundation, though. (Insert terrible comment like: I’m sure it touched a lot of children… etc etc…)
Oops, sorry, re-read the final paragraph, in which you said much the same thing. But I always thought it was a very calculated move.
Oh really! I’d never heard of those death rumours – though I think Jackson was rumoured to have died every few months for many years before he actually did. I wonder if he could be that cynical? I’ve anyone’s ego was that out of control, it would have been his, I suppose.
The guy could write a good melody…that I wll say and I’ll never deny it but…there is always a however or a but in his case. He usually bloats something up so damn big that it is a turn off. He never went by the old KISS (not the band) logic. Keep It Simple Stupid.
It turns me off because it so damn huge. He polished the soul out of it. Look Bohemian Rhapsody is bloated but it has some soul and life in it… he meant well in the song, however…The Beatles were releasing Free as a Bird and I would not doubt that was his goal…oh yea I would take Free As A Bird…even if it was by Oasis or anyone else.
Haha well it’s not like KISS often went by ‘KISS logic’ either! You are right – over the top can work but it has to have a sense of humour, like Queen, or Meat Loaf. ‘Earth Song’ is just too pompous and worthy.
Meatloaf is a great example of it working…he didn’t take the soul out of the songs. There is still the essence of a great song there…in this…it’s just too slick.
When it comes to the environment nobody listened to the hippies and me as a kid, and 30 years on still not listening when it comes to politics, for the most part, with small victories here and there, and I agree with every word and note of this song. Messianic tendencies apart, it was saying something more important than most other pop songs of the time and not just me thought so – his final huge chart-topper and sold a million, and the video so did help. Charity-wise, Jackson had done it before (see the godawful We Are The World) so who knows what he was or was not donating, but being a cause that you cant really donate to (and Sting tried and got crucified for his troubles) all you can do is moan and make points and pop stars have more visibility than nobodies trying to make it to the next wage packet.
It’s a powerful record, and wrings every bit of emotion out of it, and no offence to drunk Jarvis (who I love) but MJ’s divorce from reality generally speaking (for his whole life) doesn’t mean it’s a bad record or message. It’s brilliant. I also think sales were improved for the single due to the modest sales of HIStory being an overpriced double album half of it stuff fans already owned (ie me) and the previous not being as consistent as Bad and Thriller.
Re: Free As A Bird, I also wanted it to get number one, but The Beatles have no-one to blame but themselves – it was on radio for weeks, they had an opportunity to stick it out a week ahead of the Anthology album and get an easy number one, but they chose to delay it until the album came out to maximise sales of the album to the detriment of the single. I know I wasn’t fussed about hearing alternate takes of early Beatles stuff. I did buy them all, but the first one is a tough listen on the whole and Free As A Bird is wildly stand-out in every way.
I agree with you on the message, and I guess making a point in vain is better than making no point at all.