The Only One

 

"Michael Jackson was in his hotel room alone, meditating. And in the middle of the second leg of his 'Bad World Tour.'

He was now in Vienna, Austria, the musical capital of the Western world.

And it was here, at the Marriott Hotel, that his 'Magnum Opus,' 'Earth Song,' was born on June 1, 1988.

Jackson remembers the precise moment when the melody surfaced. It was his second night in Vienna.

Outside his hotel, beyond Ring Strasse Boulevard and the sprawling Stadtpark, he could see the majestically lit Museums, Cathedrals and opera houses. He found himself immersed in a world of culture and privilege, far from his childhood home in Gary, Indiana.

Yet despite the opulence that surrounded him, mentally and emotionally he was somewhere else.

It was not mere loneliness. It was something deeper: an overwhelming despair about the condition of the world.

In 1988, Jackson would certainly have had reason to be self-centered. He was the most famous person on the planet.

However, while-in some respects-he enjoyed the attention he received, he also felt a deep responsibility for how he used his celebrity.

And in that 1988, he certainly had good reason to worry.

The news read like chapters of ancient Scripture. There were heat waves and droughts, great fires and strong earthquakes, genocide and famine. Violence intensified in the Holy Land, while forests in the Amazon were devastated, and then garbage, oil and sewage littered the coasts.

Suddenly, it was understood that so many were literally destroying our home.

Such stories often touched Jackson to tears. He internalized them, and felt the physical pain.

He was always sensitive to suffering and injustice. Particularly during those years, though, his sense of moral responsibility had grown.

Much of that pain and despair flowed into his soul while he was in his hotel room, meditating.

Then, suddenly, it "fell into [his] lap" 'Earth Song'. A song interpreted from her perspective, her voice.

A lament, and a plea.

The chorus came first -- a mute cry.

He grabbed his audio device, and made the recording.

Aaaaaaaaah... Oooooooooh...

The chords were simple, but powerful: from an A-flat minor to a C-sharp triad; from an A-flat with minor seventh to a C-sharp triad; then, modulating upward, from a B-flat minor to an E-flat triad.

"That's it!" thought Jackson.

Then he refined the introduction, and then some verses.

He visualized everything in his head, and thus created what would become the greatest song he ever composed...."

- From 'Earth Song': Inside Michael Jackson's Magnum Opus (2011), by Joseph Vogel.