Skip to main content

I'm Alive and I'm Here Forever...


Now right at the outset let me make one thing clear. I am not, never have been, and am never likely to be a fan of Michael Jackson's music... I suppose that's a function of my age as well as my musical taste. Actually when I initially read about his death I was trawling through the internet and was more distressed when I learned that another Michael Jackson, the famed "Beer Hunter" had died two years ago without me realising it. So I really didn't get sucked into the hype concerning the King of Pop's death. I could understand why the media did, because they have been feeding off him for years, whether because of his musical output, or more recently because of his moderately bizarre lifestyle, but I was left on the outside looking in with no real interest. Until yesterday and I caught some of the footage concerning the mega-memorial at the Staples Centre in LA.
Now I thought that Princess Diana's funeral was over the top, with her instant popular beatification (and don't start me on Elton John's destruction of his own song Candle in the Wind) but that was as nothing compared with this extravaganza. I haven't watched the whole thing... life is too short, but the bits that I have seen leave me wide-eyed in amazement. Not least what seemed to be the tag line for the event "I'm alive and I'm here forever..." shown beside a picture of Mr. Jackson.
Since I am not a Jacksonophile I don't know if this is a quote from a song or whether he actually said this at some point, (I'm sure someone will put me right) but certainly the implication is one of his eternal presence with his fans... Perhaps it is referring to his music, but there is the hint of something more, something almost messianic. This was, at times present in his performances... notably the overblown performance of "Earth Song" (I think) at the Brits, when Jarvis Cocker famously mooned in front of him... At the time I felt like cheering Mr. Cocker.
But all through the Memorial yesterday there seemed to be a blurring of the edges as to what was happening and who was being revered... From the opening when Andrae Crouch led the rendition of "Soon and very soon we are going to see the King" before the "King of Pop's" casket was wheeled in... Through Queen Latifah's reading of Maya Angelou's reference to him as a "bright and shining star"... To the general portrayal of Michael as a reconciler of races and healer of the world.
Michael Jackson DID do a lot of good that the media might all too quickly forget as sordid old stories are dragged out in the understanding that you cannot libel the dead, and it is not fair that, as Shakespeare says "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." Also I have been involved in many a funeral or memorial service where I know that the deceased was being painted in a better light than they were seen in life. However, what happened yesterday in the Staples Centre was of a different order all together. If Princess Diana's funeral was over the top, this was down the other side and away off to the far horizon. Yes, it was showbiz royalty saying farewell to their King in the only way they know how to honour someone (and in performance terms it seems like it was a great show), but to me there was something truly, deeply, profoundly idolatrous in yesterday's events.
But through all of the glitz, the glitter and the emotion came the simple yet profound words of Pastor Lucious Smith. In the midst of a prayer that was still filled with hyperbole, he reminded the audience that "The King of Pop must bow his knee to the King of Kings."
So must we all...

Labels:

Comments

gadgetguy said…
After spending the time since he died trying to avoid the spectacle that the news media have made of MJ's death, imagine my surprise and disappointment at seeing the picture of him at the head of today's blog. Fortunately, I continued to read anyway, and while I do and did enjoy much of his music, you have summed up the balance of my feelings on the subject very well. Thank you.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 7:36:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known." I am a woman of no distinction of little importance. I am a women of no reputation save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, Though you don’t really take the time to look at me, Or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, And to be loved is to be known. Otherwise what’s the point in doing either one of them in the first place? I WANT TO BE KNOWN. I want someone to look at my face And not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears; But to see all that I am, and could be all my hopes, loves and fears. But that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for So I don’t, not anymore. Now I keep to myself And by that
2 comments
Read more

Psalm for Harvest Sunday

A short responsive psalm for us as a call to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, and given that it was pouring with rain as I headed into church this morning the first line is an important remembrance that the rain we moan about is an important component of the fruitfulness of the land we live in: You tend the land and water it And the earth produces its abundance. You crown each year with your bounty, and our storehouses overflow with your goodness. The mountain meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are filled with corn; Your people celebrate your boundless grace They shout for joy and sing. from Psalm 65
3 comments
Read more

Anointed

There has been a lot of chatter on social media among some of my colleagues and others about the liturgical and socio-political niceties of Saturday's coronation and attendant festivities, especially the shielding of the anointing with the pictured spoon - the oldest and perhaps strangest of the coronation artefacts. Personally I thought that was at least an improvement on the cloth of gold canopy used in the previous coronation, but (pointless) debates are raging as to whether this is an ancient practice or was simply introduced in the previous service to shield the Queen from the TV cameras, not for purposes of sacredness, but understandable coyness, if she actually had to bare her breast bone in puritan 1950s Britain. But as any church leader knows, anything performed twice in a church becomes a tradition. All this goes to show that I did actually watch it, while doing other things - the whole shooting match from the pre-service concert with yer wumman in that lemon-
2 comments
Read more