Ron Pia

 

ON THIS DAY IN MICHAEL JACKSON HISTORY- JANUARY 7 1996. Earth song was the number 1song in the U.K. "Earth Song" is a song by Michael Jackson from his ninth studio album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. It was released on November 27, 1995, by Epic Records as the third single from the album. It is a ballad that incorporates elements of blues, gospel and opera. Though Michael had a long history of releasing socially conscious songs such as "We Are the World", "Man in the Mirror" and "Heal the World", "Earth Song" was his first to overtly discuss the environment and animal welfare. "Earth Song" was made for the Dangerous album but it failed to make the final cut.Written by Michael, produced by Michael, David Foster and Bill Bottrell, "Earth Song" was accompanied by a lavish music video which was shot in four geographical regions, centered on the destruction and rebirth of Earth, and went on to receive a Grammy nomination in 1997.[2] The song went number one in the United Kingdom, and was the nation's number-one Christmas single in 1995. It also topped the charts in Germany, Iceland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland while peaking at number two in France, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Michael went on to receive recognition from various animal and environmental organizations.

In 2011, the song was paired with the poem "Planet Earth" (previously released on Michael Jackson's This Is It, in 2009) and released as a song in the remix album Immortal.Michael wrote "Earth Song" in the Hotel Imperial in Vienna under the working title "What About Us". Michael wanted to create a song that was lyrically deep, with an emotional message, but was melodically simple, so the whole world, particularly non-English-speaking fans, could sing along."Earth Song" was produced by Michael. David Foster and Bill Bottrell.

"Earth Song" is a ballad that incorporates elements of blues, and opera.Michael describes the dire situation that mankind has caused, ranging from war to devastation to animals and earth itself. Michael calls on people to remember the earth is their inheritance from God via their ancestor Abraham. "What about death again" reminds all to think about eternal death, asking people to check their heart for repentance, or to see if they really cared at all.

The music video for "Earth Song", directed by fine art photographer Nick Brandt, was expensive and well-received; it gained the 1995 Doris Day Music Award at the Genesis Awards and a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The production had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution, poaching, poverty and war. Jackson and the world's people unite in a spiritual chant—"Earth Song"—which summons a force that heals the world. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, war ends and the forests regrow. The video closes with a request for donations to Michael's Heal the World Foundation. The clip was shown infrequently in the United States.

The video was filmed in four geographic regions (Americas, Europe and Africa). The first location was the Amazon Rainforest, where a large part was destroyed a week after the video's completion. Natives of the region appeared in the video and were not actors. The second scene was a war zone in Karlovac, Croatia, with famous Serbian actor Slobodan Dimitrijević and the residents of the area. The third location was Tanzania, which incorporated scenes of illegal poaching and hunting into the video. No animals were harmed in the making of the "Earth Song", as the footage came from documentary archives. The final location was in Warwick, New York, where a safe forest fire was simulated in a corn field.The video was also included on the video albums: HIStory on Film, Volume II, Number Ones and Michael Jackson's Vision.