MJ

Billie Jean (1982)

Michael Jackson

Quincy Jones, the producer of the song, had objections to Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' because he thought that the title would be misleading, as there was a pro tennis player called Billie Jean King at the time. He suggested the title be changed to 'Not my Lover'. Actually, the song's title character was based on all the women who'd brought maternity suits against Jackson and his brothers when they were known as the Jackson 5.

The session list for "Billie Jean" listed drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler,Brothers Johnson bassist Louis Johnson,Michael Boddicker on the Emu Emulator sampling keyboard, and synth players Greg Phillinganes, Bill Wolfer, and Greg Smith. Tom Scott blows an interwoven lyricon line throughout the track. As the follow-up to "The Girl Is Mine," the first single from Thriller,"Billie Jean" sold more than two million copies, staying at number one R&B for nine weeks and number one pop for seven weeks in early 1983. Who can forget Jackson's sensational performance of the song during the May 1983 NBC broadcast of the Motown 25 special which boasted the first public showing of his gravity-defying moonwalk dance? Or the song's stylish, trend-setting music video. Ironically around the time of "Billie Jean"'s release,Jackson was slapped with a paternity suit.

"There never was a real Billie Jean. The girl in the song is a composite of people my brothers have been plagued with over the years. I could never understand how these girls could say they were carrying someone's child when it wasn't true." - Michael Jackson

In the three years between Off the Wall and Thriller, Michael Jackson took his performing game to another whole level, and while the former may arguably be the better record, the videos for Thriller are nothing short of iconic. Starting with black and white shadows and a trench-coated detective, "Billie Jean" is a film noir with a mysterious femme fatale and an even shadier hero. But the sharp tones of those opening shots are quickly diffused by the soft lighting of the subsequent scenes; pink isn't your typical hard-boiled color after all. Yet strutting through the streets to the cinematic synths of the song, Michael Jackson looks inexplicably cool as he illuminates the streets in a red bowtie and leather jacket.

Michael Jackson describes Billie Jean as a stunning woman with a glamorous aura. She’s aggressive but charming. He can’t read her yet is entranced by her as they dance. He would like to know who she is like. Then, she confronts him, throwing him off his guard. She tells him she’s Billie Jean , a lover he had years ago. People are staring at them, whispering and speculating. “She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene/I said don’t mind, but what do you mean I am the one/Who will dance on the floor in the round/She said I am the one, who will dance on the floor in the round/She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene/Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one/Who will dance on the floor in the round.”

In the end it's unclear whether Jackson's character is really telling us the truth about Billie Jean, especially since he is recognized by her neighbors as if a regular visitor and eventually disappears into her bed. Even as he flips magical coins at bums and transforms into animals like a superhero (both ideas will come back in later videos), the video intentionally leaves an aura of darkness around the character. But this does seem like Jackson's first overt comment on the paparazzi and press that would continue to hound him throughout his career.