Today I returned home early from work. The purpose was to make sure I get some excercise before I sit down for 7 hours of meetings that would last until 10:30 pm. Accordingly I took a cab back home at noon.
The radio in the cab was on and they started to play "We are the World" by Michael Jackson and other artists. When the first chorus came on, both the cabbie and I started to sing along! "We are the wooooorrrllldd....." we crooned at the same time much to both of our surprise and amusement! Then we sang along the rest of the song together. It was really, really, really, really, really, really nice!
If you are wondering why there are so many "really"s there, here's why. Michael Jackson, a.k.a MJ was my childhood idol. I used to be such a die hard fan that my mom still says she happens to find one picture or other of him in some nook or corner of the house. I used to collect all possible pictures and songs, used to watch his videos on MTV over and over and over again and used to talk with my fellow die-hard MJ fans about his works ALL the time. In fact, when the news of his death came after all these years, people started to contact me telling me that hearing about him reminded them of me. Such was my adoration.
Today when I sang 'We are the World' together with that stranger of a cabbie, it vividly brought back some childhood memories. It reminded me of how a few friends and I used to absolutely blast MJ songs in our school van every single trip. This self proclaimed MJ Fan Club consisted of myself and a couple of other very good girl friends of mine. Even though we were few in number, we used make such a fuss that the van driver used to play only what we wanted, much to the annoyance of the non MJ loving boys in the van (who, in our opinion those days, were artistically challenged).
After I came to Singapore, I was no longer in touch with his works for various reasons but when I heard the news of his death, I quickly went back to listen to his music and watch his videos for days at end. Then I went and watched 'This is it', the film they made out of the rehearsal videos of his final series of shows-to-be and man, there is no denying that he is the biggest creative visionary to have landed on this planet! The way he sings, the way he dances, the way he composes, the way he writes, the way he directs....The Man was a Genius. No matter what else happened with him, there's no denying that! Watching him work his magic on stage, past 50 years of age was such an inspiration.
So this one is for the King Of Pop. Thank you for the music and for all those memories.
Rest In Peace.
875 more to go.
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