Michael Jackson And Anti-Semitic Lyrics, Revisited
Michael Jackson and his hit song ‘They Don’t Really Care About Us’ are in the news again. Previously, when Madonna’s son covered it in a dance in the kitchen that was supposed to be a tribute to George Floyd yet only brought Madonna more flak. Soon the song became the sound of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Now, A Boogie has covered it in a brand new track called ‘This Time‘.
A Boogies has sampled more of Michael Jackson in the past with ‘Remember The Time’ and ‘You Rock My World’ appearing on ‘Look Back At It’.
But this time it doesn’t come without controversy as the Jackson family estate did not give approval for the song to be sampled. This is what A Boogie had to say about that, “I know you guys want ‘This Time’ and I wanted to put it out but we couldn’t get it cleared because the original song Michael Jackson’s ‘They Don’t Really Care About Us’ is very relevant these days,” A Boogie explained on social media. “The Jackson Estate did not feel comfortable releasing a new song using that sample and I respect their decision. I’ll look to release it at a later.”
Though the song ‘They Don’t Really Care About Us’ is not without controversy itself. When it was first released, it had the lyrics, “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, don’t you black or white me.” This was interpreted as anti-semitic and those discussions are taking forefront again. In the past Michael Jackson tried to clear this perception by saying,
“The idea that these lyrics could be deemed objectionable is extremely hurtful to me, and misleading. The song in fact is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked. I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking. It is about the injustices to young people and how the system can wrongfully accuse them. I am angry and outraged that I could be so misinterpreted.”
By: Nupur Saraswat
