Remembering the King of Pop

MICHAEL Jackson

MY ALL-TIME idol Michael Jackson would have turned 58 today. On behalf of MJ fanatics like me, I am paying homage to the King of Pop in celebration of his birthday. What would the world of music be like if MJ wasn’t born?

I have an MJ “shrine” at home where my ever-growing MJ collection is displayed. My son IC tells
his friends in jest when they come over: “You have to kneel in front of Ma’s ‘MJ altar’ and light a candle and moonwalk before you enter.”

How I envy IC because he was able to hold MJ’s hand when he was one of the kids in the “Heal the World” number during MJ’s “Dangerous Concert Tour” in Manila in the ’90s.

Watching MJ’s concert in Singapore in the same year with Aga Muhlach, Richard Gomez, Joey de Leon and Aiza Seguerra is one experience I keep replaying in my head.

One of my prized MJ memorabilia is a rare book, “Dancing the Dream,” written by Michael himself. It was published in 1992 and reprinted by Doubleday in 2009 after MJ’s sudden demise.

It contains Michael’s poems and reflections with over a hundred glorious photographs of the artist, and drawings from his own collection.

He dedicated the book to his mother and made special mention of Deepak Chopra. Elizabeth Taylor wrote the book’s introduction. It makes the reader scratch beneath the surface to find secrets MJ never revealed. The book takes you to the core of Michael’s soul.

Every time I reread the book, each passage gains more significance. Allow me to share some excerpts from “Dancing the Dream” in memory of an icon like no other.

Thank you for the music and the magic, MJ. You have “moonwalked” into our hearts.

Below are excerpts from MJ’s book:

Ecstasy
“I was born to never die
To live in bliss, to never cry
To speak the truth and never lie
To share my love without a sigh
To stretch my arms without a tie
This is my dance, this is my high
It’s not a secret, can’t you see
Why can’t we all live in ecstasy
Without guilt, without regret
I am here to forget
Tainted memories of imagined sin
In every friend and kin
We have come to celebrate here
The getting rid of every fear
Of every notion, every seed
Of my separation, caste or creed.”

Are you listening?

“Join me in my dance
Please join me now
If you forget yourself
You’ll never know how
This game is played
In the ocean bed of eternity
Stop the agony of wishing
Play it out
Don’t think, don’t hesitate
Curving back within yourself
Just create, just create
Immortality’s my game
From Bliss I came
In Bliss I’m sustained
To Bliss I return
If you don’t know it now
It’s a shame
Are you listening?”

Breaking free
“All this hysteria, all this commotion
Time, space, energy are just a notion
What we have conceptualized we have created
All those loved, all those hated
Where is the beginning, where’s the end
Time’s arrow so difficult to bend
Those broken promises what they meant
Those love letters never sent.”