Michael Jackson Greece

 

WORKING DAY AND NIGHT

Dear Moonwalkers, our weekly articles are back again and tonight our main focus is one of the most remarkable songs of the “Off the wall” album. “Working day and night” became extremely well-known after Michael’s breathtaking performance of it during his solo world tours but let’s take things from the top.

“Working day and night” is the third track from Michael’s fifth studio album “Off the wall”, written and produced by Michael. It was not released as a single, but as the B-side for “Rock with you” in the US and B-side for “Off the wall” in the UK. It is one of Michael’s fastest songs and displays Michael’s talent of using different singing techniques, hiccups and breaths without losing his authenticity or exaggerating. The title and later the lyrics let us know that Michael is “working day and night” in order to please his lover and very early in the song we learn that it is his own lover who wants him to work so much and as a result he cannot have more time with her. “When this is over, lovin’ you will be so right” and “soon enough darlin’, this love will be reality” is where Michael insinuates that if he’s able to catch a break from work, their romantic love will finally progress into sexual and he’ll eventually show her how much he loves her. “But what is love girl, if I’m always out of sight” is his way of complaining because she somehow keeps him constantly busy and at a distance while convincing him “that working is what a man’s supposed to do”. Although this is what his lover wants him to do, he is not pleased that he can’t spend time with her and suspects that there is probably another man in her life. “Then you must be seein’, some other guy instead of me” is where he finally expresses his fear of being replaced since- according to him- how can she have him working all day long and not miss him, so she is hanging with someone else. In the rest of the song Michael repeats the “You got me workin’ workin’ day and night” while we occasionally hear the phrase “I’m so tired tired now”.

“Working day and night” was performed by the Jacksons’ “Triumph” tour in 1981 and “Victory” tour in 1984. While in his solo tours, he performed it on the “Bad” world tour and the first two legs of the “Dangerous” world tour. During his performances, he interacted with the whole band (either that was his brothers or his orchestra) and never let a beat pass him by, meaning that he used every single tempo in his favor. He gave his everything on stage and he was often decorating it with an illusion, where he would disappear as the song came to its finale and seconds later he would appear in his cherry picker with different clothes, signaling the beginning of “Beat it”. The audience would go crazy. Michael was a unique pioneer when it came to structuring a live performance and making it as perfect as possible for the world to see.