Man in the Mirror

"Man in the Mirror"
Song

"Man in the Mirror" is a song by Michael Jackson. It peaked at number one in the United States when released as a single in early 1988 off his seventh solo album, Bad. It is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed songs and it was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It was only a moderate hit in the UK at the time of its release, peaking at number 21 and becoming the only single from Bad not to reach the UK Top 20 on first release. However, following the news of Jackson's death, the song charted at number two in the official UK Singles Chart (although it charted at number 1 in the Big Top 40 Show, an unofficial chart powered By iTunes), having re-entered the chart at 11 the previous week.

Song information

The song was composed by Siedah Garrett (who can be heard singing in the background with Jackson) and Glen Ballard. Jackson added background vocals from Garrett, The Winans and the Andrae Crouch Choir, which gave the song its distinctive sound.

Garrett had the idea for the song when she was driving to the recording session for "I Just Can't Stop Loving You". On her way, she saw a face in the mirror of her car, and this gave her the idea to write a song titled "Man In The Mirror" as an addition to Jackson's upcoming album.

Arranged with a gospel choir, a year after David Bowie used the same device for "Underground", from the fantasy film Labyrinth, other popular artists at the time who had tracks featuring gospel choirs include Debbie Gibson, Guns N' Roses and Madonna for her 1989 number one hit "Like a Prayer". Jackson would utilize a gospel choir again several years later on his hit "Will You Be There". Siedah Garrett also sang on Jackson's "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and was one of the backing vocalists for Madonna's Re-Invention Tour of 2004.

Jackson performed a live, extended version of the song at the 1988 Grammy Awards. He also performed the song as the ending of the concert during the Bad World Tour's second leg, and regularly during the Dangerous World Tour. On July 16, 1996, Jackson also performed "Man in the Mirror" at the Royal Concert Brunei for the last time prior to the United We Stand benefit concert.

The video for "Man in the Mirror" is a notable departure from Jackson's other videos mainly because Jackson himself does not appear in the video (aside from a brief clip toward the end of the video in which he can be seen donning a red jacket and standing in a large crowd). Instead, it featured a montage of footage from various major news events such as the John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy shootings, Live Aid, Farm Aid, and notable people including Martin Luther King, Lech Wałęsa, Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Mahatma Gandhi, Anwar El Sadat, Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Rosa Parks, Ronald Reagan, Pieter Willem Botha, Muammar al-Gaddafi and Adolf Hitler. An alternate video was included at the beginning of his film Moonwalker featuring several live performances of the song during the Bad World Tour edited together with clips of the video.

The song was quoted by Jermaine Jackson during Celebrity Big Brother 2007, while confronting several housemates who had been bullying an Indian housemate, the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The song was played into the house the following morning as an alarm.

The song is played in the key of G Major at a tempo of 100bpm. The vocal range is Ab3-C6.

An instrumental version was played at the end of Jackson's memorial service, while his coffin was being carried out. A spotlight shone on an empty space behind a microphone, signalling Michael's absence.

The song is also featured in the documentary Michael Jackson's This Is It.

Critical reception

Richard Corliss, writing in Time Magazine in 2009, described the song as "toweringly indulgent but well-meaning", praising it as one of Jackson's most powerful vocal performances and "accessible social statements" as well as noting its "fleeting glimpse of autobiography."

Chart performance

"Man In The Mirror" was the fourth consecutive number-one single for Jackson's Bad in the United States. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #48 on February 6, 1988, and reached #1 by its eighth week on the chart, on March 26, 1988, where it remained for two weeks.

It originally charted at #21 in the United Kingdom on 1988. However, following Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, "Man in the Mirror" re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11, and the following week the song peaked at #2, held off by Cascada. The chart had also contained over 12 Michael Jackson songs in the Top 40. This song had been at top 100 for 15 consecutive weeks in this chart.

In Australia the song originally charted at 39. After the singer's death the song re-entered the chart and peaked at number 8, much higher than its original release.

Chart (1988)	Peak position
Australia	39
Austria	10
Canada	6
Germany	23
Netherlands	13
Ireland	3
Israel	2
UK Singles Chart	21
US Billboard Hot 100	1
Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	8
Austrian Singles Chart	17
Danish Singles Chart	12
Irish Singles Chart	3
Japan Singles Top 100 Chart	65
New Zealand Singles Chart	9
Norwegian Singles Chart	15
Spanish Singles Chart	50
Swedish Singles Chart	19
Swiss Singles Chart	22
UK Singles Chart	2
UK R&B Chart	1
US Billboard Hot Digital Songs	2

See also

• Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story, a 2004 TV film about Jackson's life. Starring Flex Alexander.

Track listing

1. "Man In The Mirror" (Single Mix) – 4:56
2. "Man In The Mirror" (Album Mix) – 5:17
3. "Man In The Mirror" (Instrumental) – 4:56

The single sleeve incorrectly lists the running time for the single mix and instrumental as 5:03.

Versions

1. Album Version 5:18
2. Single Mix 4:56
3. Instrumental 4:58

Covers and samples

In 1990, an instrumental version for acoustic guitar was recorded by Tuck Andress.

Siedah Garett recorded a more stripped down acoustic version of the song for her 2004 album Siedah.

The song is sampled by Brooklyn MC Papoose during the summer of 2006 on his "Gonna Make a Change." The song describes his rough upbringing and his struggles. Later the song was freestyled by rapper Rhymefest with Michael singing the chorus & singing part of his second verse.

The song has been performed on The X Factor by contestant Diana Vickers and by American Idol winner, Kris Allen. American Idol Season 8 winner Kris Allen sang the song during the semi-finals. With this performance, he advanced to the finals. It has also been performed on Australian Idol (season 5) by winner Natalie Gauci.

In 2009, following Jackson's death, rock group U2 started adding a portion of the song at the end of their song 'Angel of Harlem' during their live concerts.

An instrumental version of "Man In The Mirror" was played at Jackson's memorial service on July 7, 2009, as his casket was being carried out of the center.

Following Jackson's death, piano rock band The Fray performed the chorus at 2 live concerts, during "Never Say Never" the day he died, and during "Look After You" exactly the month after.

Credits

• Written and composed by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard
• Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson featuring Siedah Garrett, The Winans and The Andrae Crouch Choir
• Snap: Ollie E. Brown
• Guitar: Dan Huff
• Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes
• Synthesizers: Glen Ballard and Randy Kerber
• Background vocals: Siedah Garrett, The Winans: Carvin, Marvin, Michael and Ronald Winans and The Andrae Crouch Choir: Sandra Crouch, Maxi Anderson, Rose Banks, Geary Faggett, Vonciele Faggett, Andrew Gouche, Linda Green, Francine Howard, Jean Johnson, Perry Morgan and Alfie Silas
• Rhythm arrangements by Glen Ballard and Quincy Jones
• Synthesizer arrangement by Glen Ballard, Quincy Jones and Jerry Hey
• Vocal arrangement by Andrae Crouch
• Music video directed and edited by Don Wilson
• Music video produced by Chuck Haifley, Seth Blair, and Don Wilson

External links

• Official Music Video