Tuesday 24 January 2012

Michael Jackson - The Lady In My Life

The final track on Thriller (and one of only two tracks on the album not to be released as a single) this is a strong contender for my favourite Michael Jackson song ever. It seems to be largely forgotten about, and generally regarded as one of the albums weakest songs. I can't understand why, I adore the song and how romantic it sounds without ever sounding corny. It was actually a hard song to record, as Quincy Jones wanted to create a song similar to She's Out Of My Life from Michael's previous album Off The Wall in the sense that it would feature a particularly impassioned vocal from Michael. He wanted Michael to beg on the track to achieve this, and I think he does particularly on the ad-libs towards the end of the song. Michael (a shy and quiet person by nature in contrast to his stage persona) was embarrassed about this to the point were he didn't even want to be seen during the recording of his vocal track, so he asked the curtains to be pulled over him in the studio so he would be able to convey his emotion during the recording process better. As a consequence I think this is probably his most impassioned vocal performance, and for me it shows off his voice beautifully. The way it changes halfway through the track, when Michael sings "Stay with me...." is absolutely glorious and just makes the song! Criminally overlooked!

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