Blood on MY dance floor
"Livin' Off the Wall"
About two hours into it, we decided to call it a day. MJ could have kept going forever, but I really needed a break.
“Do you want to get something to eat?”, I asked not knowing wheather MJ would want to go eat because it’s an activity he rarely does, you can judge on his body size.
“Ummm”, he thought about it for a couple minutes “I’ll come with you.”
“So, you don’t want to eat?”
“Not really”, he scoffed
“I have no idea how you survive”, I muttered.
“Well I do”, he answered matter-of-factly, “ I’m very much alive.”
“Good”, a flashed him a huge, giddy smile, “ Because if you weren’t , I wouldn’t be either.” (emo statement of the day or maybe just really, really pathetic or over-obessed, but whatever it was, it was true).
“Oh, stop,” he said kindly ,”You know that’s not true.”
“Sometimes, you’re too nice”
“You can never be too nice,” he said thoughfully looking at the snow fall, “You need to be as kind as you can possibly be so you can cancel out all the rotten people in the world.”
He made my heart melt sometimes, with sincere, heartfelt comments like those. That’s what I loved about him. He knew the world so well, he had seen it all and had it all, and yet he had the most wonderful outlook on life. His kindness never died, it was a shining light in the darkness of the evil world.
The two of us, looking almost identical , walked down the busy streets of New York , discussing choreography, stage direction, and costumes.
“I think you should wear that old black dress with the white jacket when perform ‘Ease on Down the Road’ on Saturday night”, MJ said.
Oh right, I had completey forgotten about Saturday night. Shit. Actually, I was really pumped for it, but just a tad nervous. Actually very nervous. I was surprised I had forgotten about it bacuse usually when a big event is coming up I stress about it two weeks in advanced. When I did competitive swimming I would stress for a month about a race that would last a minute and nine seconds.
“Yeah, that’s a really good idea. I was thinking the red jacket ,but since it’s an upbeat song, I think the white will be better.”
“That’s my thinking exactly”, MJ smiled. “So are you nervous for Saturday?”
“Um, to tell you the truth, I was really nervous, then I forgot about, and now that you mention it, I’m extremely nervous,” the words poured out of my mouth really fast, like a water bubbler.
MJ laughed, proboblly at how naïve I was being, but there was no sense of mockery in his voice, so I was okay with it.
One of the reasons why I was so nervous for this performance, was the part I was singing in ‘Ease on Down the Road’ was origionally sang by Diana Ross, a Motown Legend. Literally, she was basically as big as Michael Jackson ,himself. In fact, she was a major inspiration for MJ. He even lived with her for awhile , when he was a child. She taught MJ so much about performing, he used to sit for hours and watch her carefully, wanting to be just like her. He looked up to her as much as I looked up to him. That’s why I wanted this performance to be spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, I am no Diana Ross, but I also want to make a mark in the performing industry. It’s hard to follow an act so breathtaking and loved.
“You’re a total different performer than Diane (MJ refers to her as Diane)” , MJ said stirring the lemon in his water. That’s all he ever ordered at restaurants.
“Is that a good thing or bad thing?”, I asked dumping sugar in my iced coffee.
“It’s nothing”, he said, “It means that you can’t really compare the two of you because you two total different performers. Different styles, different voice, different look. The only thing that’s the same is lyrics of the song. And no one actually pays attention to the lyrics, they’re out looking for a good performance. It’s all about what you give ‘em onstage.”
Chills went through my body, what he said should have been on the front page of like an inspirational quote book.
“So, don’t worry about it”, MJ smiled, “It’ll be an amazing night. It’s really gonna shine.”
“Shine?”, I raised an eyebrow. He always came up with weird adjectives like that, but I liked them.
“Yeah, shine”, He beamed, “You know, we’ll shine…light up the stage. Oh and I forgot to tell about the after-party.”
“After-party?”, it was my turn to put on the ecstatic face.
“Uh-huh”, he nodded, “Like, everyone is gonna be there.”
“Um”, I winced a little, not liking the idea of everyone being there. And what he meant by everyone, was like everyone important.
“C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
“But I’m not really a huge celeb, you know”, I whined, “What if people don’t like me? Or even worse, what if people ignore me?” There’s nothing worse then being ignored.
“They won’t”
“But what if I’m too tired”, I whinnied.
“My dear Idolyn, I think your in need of a special Michael Jackson performance!”, his voice was full of jazz.
“Am I?”
“C’mon. Let’s Beat It”, he gestured using lyrics from one of his past smash hits. I often used the same lingo.
We paid and rushed out the door. As soon as we stepped foot outside, MJ broke into performance mode.
“When the world is on your shoulder
Gotta straighten up your act and boogie down
If you cant hang with the feeling
Then there aint no room for you this part of town
cause were the party people night and day
Livin crazy thats the only way”
(lyrics to "Off the Wall":Michael Jackson)
He was running and dancing all over the place, he his face beamed with excitement and his emotion was over-the-top. It was almost as if I we were part of a musical. It should have been called “Introduction to a Life of a Celebrity”, because in this song ( I recognized it was ‘Off the Wall’ an older hit from his first solo album called ‘Off the Wall’) he was basically telling me what life as a celebrity is like. It’s totally off the wall.
“Do you want to get something to eat?”, I asked not knowing wheather MJ would want to go eat because it’s an activity he rarely does, you can judge on his body size.
“Ummm”, he thought about it for a couple minutes “I’ll come with you.”
“So, you don’t want to eat?”
“Not really”, he scoffed
“I have no idea how you survive”, I muttered.
“Well I do”, he answered matter-of-factly, “ I’m very much alive.”
“Good”, a flashed him a huge, giddy smile, “ Because if you weren’t , I wouldn’t be either.” (emo statement of the day or maybe just really, really pathetic or over-obessed, but whatever it was, it was true).
“Oh, stop,” he said kindly ,”You know that’s not true.”
“Sometimes, you’re too nice”
“You can never be too nice,” he said thoughfully looking at the snow fall, “You need to be as kind as you can possibly be so you can cancel out all the rotten people in the world.”
He made my heart melt sometimes, with sincere, heartfelt comments like those. That’s what I loved about him. He knew the world so well, he had seen it all and had it all, and yet he had the most wonderful outlook on life. His kindness never died, it was a shining light in the darkness of the evil world.
The two of us, looking almost identical , walked down the busy streets of New York , discussing choreography, stage direction, and costumes.
“I think you should wear that old black dress with the white jacket when perform ‘Ease on Down the Road’ on Saturday night”, MJ said.
Oh right, I had completey forgotten about Saturday night. Shit. Actually, I was really pumped for it, but just a tad nervous. Actually very nervous. I was surprised I had forgotten about it bacuse usually when a big event is coming up I stress about it two weeks in advanced. When I did competitive swimming I would stress for a month about a race that would last a minute and nine seconds.
“Yeah, that’s a really good idea. I was thinking the red jacket ,but since it’s an upbeat song, I think the white will be better.”
“That’s my thinking exactly”, MJ smiled. “So are you nervous for Saturday?”
“Um, to tell you the truth, I was really nervous, then I forgot about, and now that you mention it, I’m extremely nervous,” the words poured out of my mouth really fast, like a water bubbler.
MJ laughed, proboblly at how naïve I was being, but there was no sense of mockery in his voice, so I was okay with it.
One of the reasons why I was so nervous for this performance, was the part I was singing in ‘Ease on Down the Road’ was origionally sang by Diana Ross, a Motown Legend. Literally, she was basically as big as Michael Jackson ,himself. In fact, she was a major inspiration for MJ. He even lived with her for awhile , when he was a child. She taught MJ so much about performing, he used to sit for hours and watch her carefully, wanting to be just like her. He looked up to her as much as I looked up to him. That’s why I wanted this performance to be spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, I am no Diana Ross, but I also want to make a mark in the performing industry. It’s hard to follow an act so breathtaking and loved.
“You’re a total different performer than Diane (MJ refers to her as Diane)” , MJ said stirring the lemon in his water. That’s all he ever ordered at restaurants.
“Is that a good thing or bad thing?”, I asked dumping sugar in my iced coffee.
“It’s nothing”, he said, “It means that you can’t really compare the two of you because you two total different performers. Different styles, different voice, different look. The only thing that’s the same is lyrics of the song. And no one actually pays attention to the lyrics, they’re out looking for a good performance. It’s all about what you give ‘em onstage.”
Chills went through my body, what he said should have been on the front page of like an inspirational quote book.
“So, don’t worry about it”, MJ smiled, “It’ll be an amazing night. It’s really gonna shine.”
“Shine?”, I raised an eyebrow. He always came up with weird adjectives like that, but I liked them.
“Yeah, shine”, He beamed, “You know, we’ll shine…light up the stage. Oh and I forgot to tell about the after-party.”
“After-party?”, it was my turn to put on the ecstatic face.
“Uh-huh”, he nodded, “Like, everyone is gonna be there.”
“Um”, I winced a little, not liking the idea of everyone being there. And what he meant by everyone, was like everyone important.
“C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
“But I’m not really a huge celeb, you know”, I whined, “What if people don’t like me? Or even worse, what if people ignore me?” There’s nothing worse then being ignored.
“They won’t”
“But what if I’m too tired”, I whinnied.
“My dear Idolyn, I think your in need of a special Michael Jackson performance!”, his voice was full of jazz.
“Am I?”
“C’mon. Let’s Beat It”, he gestured using lyrics from one of his past smash hits. I often used the same lingo.
We paid and rushed out the door. As soon as we stepped foot outside, MJ broke into performance mode.
“When the world is on your shoulder
Gotta straighten up your act and boogie down
If you cant hang with the feeling
Then there aint no room for you this part of town
cause were the party people night and day
Livin crazy thats the only way”
(lyrics to "Off the Wall":Michael Jackson)
He was running and dancing all over the place, he his face beamed with excitement and his emotion was over-the-top. It was almost as if I we were part of a musical. It should have been called “Introduction to a Life of a Celebrity”, because in this song ( I recognized it was ‘Off the Wall’ an older hit from his first solo album called ‘Off the Wall’) he was basically telling me what life as a celebrity is like. It’s totally off the wall.