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September 01, 2010

Michael Jackson's 'Will You Be There' is an anthem of Love...


As the film “Free Willy” start, the whale cries because he is being netted for capture.  Michael Jackson’s song becomes a far-flung influential carrying you into this opening scene. 

If you read and understand the song's lyrics, you will see that it is not just about a whale but also about the heavy loads we bear.  It deals with tenderness and a man's quest for adoration, assistance, and comprehension. The song is a cry for someone to extend a hand, a hug, or a heart toward you.

Every time I hear this song, it causes my heart to expand in my chest to the point where I feel as though I cannot breathe. I always had to fight back tears as I heard the lyrics of this beautiful song.

The song starts with:

Hold Me Like The River Jordan..
And I Will Then Say To Thee You Are My Friend..


These lines give a Biblical reference, as Jesus, 'The Son Of GOD' was baptized in the River Jordan. And by saying ‘Hold Me Like The River Jordan’, I think Michael’s desire for someone to impulsively reach out to him for a change.  

It's as though he wants someone to extend friendship in return for nothing more than empathy. You also interpret it as ‘Jesus you were baptized in the River Jordan and the holy water of river purified your soul. In the same way, remove the negativity from my soul, cleanse it and take away all my worries. Then only I will say to God that you are my friend.’

Carry Me Like You Are My Brother..
Love Me Like A Mother. Will You Be There?

Weary, Tell Me Will You Hold Me?
When Wrong, Will You Scold Me?
When Lost Will You Find Me?


While listening to these lines you will feel your heart start expanding and the breathing becomes short little bursts of inhale-exhale. Usually tears well up in my eyes. Michael appears to be requesting genuine love and care, concern, and a heart-to-heart exchange.

But They Told Me A Man Should Be Faithful..
And Walk When Not Able And Fight Till The End..
But I'm Only Human..


This is the bottom line of the song.  You could feel Michael’s struggle as he is begging for God to distinguish his boundaries, pleading for relief from a non-ending fight.  Jackson must have sensed the burden of much of the pain he felt in the world.  He wanted others to see and feel what he felt and to share the burden of the pain he experienced from so many.  Sometimes I consider this deep compassion he felt overwhelming.

Everyone's Taking Control Of Me..
Seems That The World's Got A Role For Me..
I'm So Confused Will You Show To Me?
You'll Be There For Me?
And Care Enough To Bear Me?


If you know about Michael’s life you will immediately understand the above lines.  Since childhood, he has never had his own life. He belonged to the world since the early days. He was, in the world, but not of the world.  I felt like Michael was on the sheer drop of understanding that his true purpose in life was something more than what the world wanted him for.

 He was confused about what was being asked of him beyond that, though he had reached what he thought may have been the pinnacle of his career. 

. . . I don’t think I have yet scratched the surface of my true purpose here,” a diehard Jackson fan might remember these lines, he said in one of the interviews.

When talking about the roles God had for people Michael was looking for his purpose beyond the stage.  Where else was God to take him in his purpose?  “You’ll be there for me and care enough to bear me?” he is again looking for love and sympathy and someone to share his burden.  Possibly a soul mate to share that burden as well as his heart.

This beautiful song breaks into the chorus of the Andre Crouch Choir in a pleading voice on the edge of suffering:

In Our Darkest Hour In My Deepest Despair, Will You Still Care? Will You Be There?
In My Trials And My Tribulations Through Our Doubts And Frustrations.
In My Violence In My Turbulence Through My Fear And My Confessions.
In My Anguish And My Pain Through My Joy And My Sorrow.
In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow.
I'll Never Let You Part.
For You're Always In My Heart.


During this monologue in the song, Jackson breaks into a shaky, on the verge of tears voice at the end.   Michael here opens his heart to his audience.  He seems to move violently to express the burdens he holds.  With his innermost gloom, his trials and troubles, then into the sharing of doubts and dissatisfaction Michael is offering us a chance to get to know him. 

Jackson bares his heart to all he has been harboring, holding it out in his hand and asking you to hold onto it, just for a moment, just long enough for you to know his pain and feel his suffering.  With the last two lines, he tells you he will return the motion by holding you in his heart and never letting you go.

This is such an amazing song and is like an anthem to love and care for one another. 

If I am not wrong, this was written before the allegations against him in 1993. It was introduced in the album Dangerous in 1991. In the year 2002, Jackson said, he wrote this song while he was sitting in a tree at his Neverland farm.

MJ grew up with loneliness, lack of nurturing, and being held because of a childhood spent on the road.  This guy had so much love to give people, where did it come from?  Where did someone with such a malnourished childhood grow such kindness and empathy for people?  How was Michael able to feel and absorb the pain of others when his own went so abandoned? He gave and gave and gave before he was taken from the world.  How does someone endlessly do this, with the way he was treated, victimized, and lied about for years and still remain the affable, modest, sweet, and childlike man that he had always been?

Listen to his interviews you will find out what I am trying to convey.  Jackson had an immense faith in God and a love for God that few people have the courage to even admit in public.  I don’t think any other pop star openly talks about God with the same simple, honesty as a child, it just didn’t exist.  His strength went beyond human patience because that strength at its core came from Michael’s faith.  It came from The GOD.

 “Will You Be There?” has enthused me and continues to enthuse me with his positive love for others. This song shows us that no matter what problem we face someone will be there in regard to our sorrow. And yes Michael, I will be there for you always and forever.

-K Himaanshu Shukla...

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