Liberian Girl
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| "Liberian Girl" | |||||||||||||
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| Single by Michael Jackson | |||||||||||||
| from the album Bad | |||||||||||||
| Released | July 3, 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Format | CD single | ||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Genre | R&B, Adult contemporary | ||||||||||||
| Length | 3:53 (Album Version) 3:39 (Edit) |
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| Label | Epic Records | ||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Michael Jackson | ||||||||||||
| Producer | Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones | ||||||||||||
| Michael Jackson singles chronology | |||||||||||||
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"Liberian Girl" was the ninth single to be released from Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad. The song was written as early as 1983 and was among those considered for The Jacksons' Victory album. It was reworked and rewritten in 1986 for Bad. The song was released as a single in Europe and Australia. The song starts with Swahili language phrase: "Nakupenda pia, nakutaka pia, mpenzi we!" (I love you, and I want you, my dear!). Liberian Girl is dedicated to close friend and actress Elizabeth Taylor. This song much like fellow track "Man in the Mirror", is a pop ballad.
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[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 50 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 14 |
| French Singles Chart | 15 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 12[1] |
| UK Singles Chart | 13 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 36[1] |
| UK Singles Chart | 86[2] |
[edit] Music video
Directed by Jim Yukich, the video for the song featured many of Jackson's celebrity friends who wait on the set to film the music video for "Liberian Girl", only to discover he was filming them all along.[3] As named in the closing titles, featured in the video are:
- Paula Abdul
- Rosanna Arquette
- Dan Aykroyd
- Mayim Bialik
- Bubbles
- Jackie Collins
- David Copperfield
- Emily Dreyfuss
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Corey Feldman
- Lou Ferrigno
- Boy George
- Debbie Gibson
- Danny Glover
- Steve Guttenberg
- Jasmine Guy
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Sherman Hemsley
- Olivia Hussey
- Amy Irving
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner
- Beverly Johnson
- Quincy Jones
- Don King
- Virginia Madsen
- Olivia Newton-John
- Brigitte Nielsen
- Lou Diamond Phillips
- Ricky Schroder
- Steven Spielberg
- Suzanne Somers
- John Travolta
- Blair Underwood
- Carl Weathers
- Billy Dee Williams
- "Weird Al" Yankovic
[edit] Samples
The song has been sampled in 2Pac's songs "Letter 2 My Unborn" and "The Thug in Me" (Original Version), MC Lyte's "Keep on Keepin' On", Jennifer Lopez's "If You Had My Love" (Dark Child Master Mix), Roi Heenok's "La coka coka" and Mac Dre's "Black Buck Rogers".[citation needed]
[edit] Credits
- Written and composed by Michael Jackson
- Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
- Drums: Miko Brando, Ollie E. Brown and John Robinson
- Drum programming: Douglas Getschal
- Percussion: Ollie E. Brown and Paulinho Da Costa
- Synclavier and effects: Christopher Currell
- Synthesizers: John Barnes, Michael Boddicker, David Paich and Larry Williams
- Synthesizer programming: Steve Porcaro
- Swahili chant: Letta Mbulu
- Rhythm arrangement by Michael Jackson, John Barnes and Quincy Jones
- Synthesizer arrangement by Jerry Hey, John Barnes and Quincy Jones
- Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson and John Barnes
- Swahili chant arrangement by Caiphus Semenya
- Reverse Oboe: Nicholas Crabbe. Well.
[edit] External links
- Official video on a website from Sony BMG
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Swiss Singles Chart Archives". hitparade.ch. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Michael+Jackson&titel=Liberian+Girl&cat=s. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
- ^ "UK Singles Chart". The Official UK Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
- ^ "mvdbase.com - Michael Jackson - "Liberian Girl"". http://mvdbase.com/video.php?id=14150.
