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Bad (Michael Jackson song)

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"Bad"
Song
B-side"I Can't Help It"

"Bad" is a song by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. "Bad" was released by Epic Records in September 1987, as the second single from Jackson's seventh studio album of the same name. The song was written, composed, and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. Jackson stated that the song was influenced by a real life story he'd read about. Musically, the song is a gothic song with a melancholic groove tempo with gothic and darkwave musical styles. Lyrically, the song is about proving one's toughness, with Jackson asking "who's bad?" in a repeating lyric in the song. It is considered to be a classic 'gothic rock' song.

"Bad" was generally well received by contemporary music critics, with some critics noting that "Bad" helped Jackson's image become edgier during the Bad-era. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained at the top position of the chart for two weeks, becoming Jackson's Bad albums second number one single, and Jackson's seventh number one entry on the chart. Internationally, the song was also commercially successful, charting within the top ten in eleven countries as well as charting within the top five in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Norwegian, Switzerland and Swedish charts. The song peaked at number one on the Netherlands and European charts. Some have called it the best gothic music song of the 80's.

A music video for "Bad" was directed by Martin Scorsese and released in late 1987. In the video, Jackson and a group of background dancers are shown doing dance routines throughout a subway station. The music videos choreographer stated that the plot and video of the background was strongly influenced by the "Cool" scene in West Side Story. The music video received one nomination at the Video Music Awards in 1988. "Bad" has been covered and parodied by multiple artists since its release as well as becoming a frequent song used during tributes to Jackson after his death in June 2009.

Background and inspiration

"Bad" is a song that was recorded and written by Michael Jackson in 1987 for his seventh studio album of the same name and produced by Quincy Jones (with Jackson serving as co-producer). "Bad" was originally intended to be a duet between Jackson and musician Prince; although the plans were not followed-up on.[1] In Jackson's 1988 autobiography Moonwalk, Jackson discussed the concept of "Bad", elaborating that,

"'Bad' is a song about the street. It's about this kid from a bad neighborhood who gets to go away to a private school. He comes back to the old neighborhood when he's on a break from school and the kids from the neighborhood start giving him trouble. He sings, 'I'm bad, you're bad, who's bad, who's the best?' He's saying when you're strong and good, then you're bad."[2]

In a 1988 interview with Ebony and Jet magazines (which was released on Hulu shortly after his death), Jackson said that he had gotten the idea for the song from a true story that he had read about in Time or Newsweek magazine.[3] Jackson stated that the story said that a student that went to school in upstate New York, who was "from the ghetto", had tried to make something of his life and planned to leave all of his friends behind when he returned from Thanksgiving break.[3] He added that the student's friends' jealousy resulted in them killing the student; Jackson stated that the student's death was not included in the music video.[3]

Composition

"Bad" is credited as a gothic/alternative rock song with Darkwave and gothic metal musical styles. It is performed in an insistent Dark Synthpop groove.[4] The song is written in the key of A Minor with a time signature in common time.[4] Jackson's vocal range spans from E4 to D6.[4] The track has a tempo of 114 beats per minute.[4] The song has a basic sequence of D3–B3–F3–G3 as its chord progression.[4] "Bad" was viewed as a rived "Hit the Road, Jack" progression.[5] Davitt Sigerson, a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, commented on the track's lyrical content while reviewing Bad, "When Jackson declares that 'the whole world has to answer right now,' he is not boasting but making a statement of fact regarding his extraordinary stardom. If anything, he is scorning the self-coronation of lesser funk royals and inviting his fickle public to spurn him if it dare."[5] Sigerson compared the track to material by James Brown.[5] Lyrically, "Bad" pertains to proving to people that you are tough boasting, with Jackson asking "who's the best?" and "who's bad?"[5] in a repeating lyric in the song's chorus.

Critical reception

"Bad" was generally well-received by contemporary music critics. Some critics noted that the song helped Jackson's image become more edgier during the Bad-era. Davitt Sigerson, a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, commented that the track" needs no "defense" and he generally praised Jackson's vocal performance in the song.[5] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic listed "Bad", along with two other songs from the album, as being top picks from the album's eleven tracks.[6] In separate review of the song, Erlewine commented that Jackson's vocals "sounded like [he was] the love child of James Brown and Mavis Staples" and added that "musically speaking, in this case, 'Bad' is very good".[7] He also noted that the track's "authority and boasting helped to humanize" Jackson and "changed his image", remarking that it was "fun hearing him talking trash and being his own bigger booster".[7] Jennifer Clay of Yahoo Music noted that while Jackson's new edgier image was a "little hard to swallow", the image worked musically on the albums songs "Bad", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana".[8]

Chart performance

"Bad" charted within the top ten, at number eight, on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 10, 1987[9] and peaked at number one on October 24, 1987.[10] "Bad" stayed at the top position for two consecutive weeks.[11] "Bad" was Jackson's Bad album's second number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and Jackson's seventh number one entry on the chart. The track also charted on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles and Billboard Hot Dance Club Play at number one.[12] "Bad" was commercially successful internationally, generally charting within the top ten, as well as reaching the top position, on music charts. "Bad" debuted at number five on the United Kingdom charts on September 26, 1987.[13] The following week, the song charted at its peak position of number three, where it remained for two consecutive weeks.[13] "Bad" remained within the chart's top ten positions for four weeks, and charted within the top 100 for a total of eleven weeks in 1987.[13] "Bad" peaked at number five on Canadian music charts on November 7, 1987.[14] "Bad" peaked at number four in Sweden on October 14, 1987.[15] The song spent four weeks within the chart's top ten.[15] On October 3, "Bad" debuted at number nine in France, and after six weeks of charting within the top ten, the song peaked at number four on November 14.[16] "Bad" debuted on New Zealand music charts at number four on October 18, and the following week moved to its peak position of number two.[17] The track charted within the top fifty positions for fifteen weeks in 1987 and 1988.[17]

The song also charted at number two in Norwegian in the thirty-ninth week of 1987, and charted within the top ten positions for eight weeks in 1987.[18] The song was less successful on Australian music charts, peaking within the top thirty at number twenty seven, respectively.[16] "Bad" debuted on Austrian charts at number ten on November 1, 1987.[19] The following week the song charted out of the top ten and the next week returned to the top ten at number nine, which was its peak position.[19] The song debuted at number eighty-seven in Dutch on September 9, 1987. The following week, the song moved up to number eleven, which was seventy-three positions higher than its previous week.[20] The song peaked at number one, and remained at the top position for two consecutive weeks.[20] In 2006, Jackson's music re-entered charts following his music being re-issued for his Visionary album. The track entered Spanish charts for the first time on April 4, 2006, and debuted at the top position.[21] "Bad" remained within the top twenty positions for nine consecutive weeks.[21] The song debuted at its peak position at number five in Italy on April 6.[22] After Jackson's death in June 2009, his music re-entered charts again worldwide. In July, the track peaked at number eleven in Italy,[22] number twenty in Spain,[21] number twenty-five in Sweden,[15] number thirty-seven in Denmark[16] and number forty in the United Kingdom.[13]

Music video

Jackson and background dancers in "Bad"'s music video. The music video was heavily influenced by the 1961 film West Side Story.

The full music video for "Bad" is an 18-minute short film written by novelist and screenwriter Richard Price. The video was directed by Martin Scorsese.[23] The video has many references to the 1961 film West Side Story, especially the "Cool" sequence.[24] Not only does it show a street gang dancing in an urban setting, but there are also some parts of the choreography that were influenced by it. The choreographer Jeffrey Daniel confirmed the influence, although they intended to do a more contemporary version of it.[24] Daniel commented, "It's like a train coming across the screen [...] and that's the effect I was looking for and it worked".[24]

Daryl arrives to find his house empty (his mother is played by Roberta Flack, albeit in voiceover), but is greeted by his old friends, led by Mini Max (an emerging Wesley Snipes) and spends an evening with them. At first relations are friendly, if slightly awkward, but the situation deteriorates once the rest of the gang realize how much Daryl has changed, and in particular how uncomfortable he has become with their tendencies towards petty crime. In an attempt to show his friends he is still "bad", Daryl takes the gang to a subway station (The Hoyt Schermerhorn Station in Brooklyn)[23] where he attempts to mug an elderly man but changes his mind at the last minute. Mini Max berates Daryl and tells him that he's no longer bad. After more abuse from Mini Max, the video jumps from black and white to color and Daryl, now dressed head to foot in black leather and joined by a crowd of dancing punks, sings "Bad" and dances his moves. His insistence that Max is headed for a fall are nearly Daryl's undoing, but eventually his friend accepts that, and, after a final handshake, heads off leaving Daryl. The scene shifts back to black and white as Daryl, alone and back in his tracksuit, watches them leave.

The music video received one nomination at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards Ceremony.[25] The video, alongside Jackson's '"The Way You Make Me Feel" video, was nominated for Best Choreography, but lost to Jackson's younger sister Janet's video "Pleasure Principle".[25] After Jackson's death on June 2009, City Councilwoman Letitia James began trying to convince the agency to rename or co-name the station or to hang a plaque at the station in Jackson's honor, but her request was denied by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York in September 2009.[23] James stated that she plans to organize a petition drive to pressure the agency into reconsidering their decision. She commented, "Having Michael Jackson visit and moonwalk at this station was a huge deal not only for Brooklyn, but all of New York in the '80s [...] And renaming this station in his honor would put it on the map and help ensure that people don't forget."[23] A source from the MTA commented that no subway stations in the MTA system are named or co-named after individuals, mostly because it could confuse riders.[23]

Cover versions

Notable parody versions include "Weird Al" Yankovic's, who recorded a parody of "Bad", entitling his version "Fat" in 1988 for his album Even Worse.[26] Pop singer Lady Gaga's music video for her 2009 single "LoveGame" has strong similarities to "Bad"'s music video.[27] For example, both videos use a subway station as their main setting, and Gaga's opening scene is reminiscent of Jackson's.[27] After Jackson's death in June 2009, "Bad" was performed (usually in a medley with other of Jackson's songs) as a tribute to Jackson. Shaun Micallef created his version in the 2010 New Year's Special. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards tribute to Jackson, dancers performed dance routines from Jackson's music videos while the music to the song was played in the background.[28] The songs that were chosen were "Bad", "Thriller" (1982) and "Smooth Criminal" (1987).[28] A video of Filipino inmates dancing to a medley of Jackson's songs, such as "Bad" and "They Don't Care About Us" was released.[29] The dance routine was filmed so it could be an extra on the Michael Jackson's This Is It DVD, but it was not completed in time to appear on the disc and was instead released to promote the film's DVD.[29] In February 2010, the song was parodied by The Fringemunks in "The iPad Song," which criticized the device.[30]

Track listings and formats

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 4[16]
Austrian Singles Chart 9[16]
Canadian Singles Chart 5[14]
Danish Singles Chart 37[16]
Dutch Singles Chart 1[16]
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1[16]
French Singles Chart 4[16]
Italian Singles Chart 5[16]
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 2[16]
Norwegian Singles Chart 2[16]
Swedish Singles Chart 4[16]
Swiss Singles Chart 3[16]
United Kingdom Singles Chart 3[13]
United States Billboard Hot 100 1[12]
United States Billboard Hot R&B Singles 1[12]
United States Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1[12]
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
October 24, 1987 – October 31, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks number-one single
October 17, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
November 7, 1987 – November 14, 1987 		Succeeded by

Notes

  1. ^ "Michael Jackson's Life & Legacy: The Eccentric King Of Pop (1986–1999)". VH1.com. Viacom. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  2. ^ Jackson 1988
  3. ^ a b c Michael: In His Own Words. Exclusive Ebony/Jet Showcase Bad Interview. Hulu.com. 1988.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bad – Michael Jackson Digital Sheet Music (Digital Download)". MusicNotes.com. Alfred Publishing Co. Inc. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  5. ^ a b c d e Davitt Sigerson (2001). "Album Reviews: "Bad"". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "allmusic ((( Bad > Overview )))". Allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  7. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "allmusic ((( Bad > Song Review )))". Allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  8. ^ "Michael Jackson: Reviews". Ca.Music.Yahoo.com. Yahoo! Inc. 1987-01-01. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  9. ^ "October 10, 1987". Billboard.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  10. ^ "October 24, 1987". Billboard.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  11. ^ "October 31, 1987". Billboard.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  12. ^ a b c d "allmusic ((( Bad > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  13. ^ a b c d e "ChartStats – Michael Jackson – Bad". ChartStats.com. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  14. ^ a b "Top Singles – Volume 47, No. 5, November 07 1987". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  15. ^ a b c "Michael Jackson -Bad". SwedishCharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Michael Jackson – Bad (song)". LesCharts.com. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  17. ^ a b "Michael Jackson – Bad". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. {{cite web}}: Text "accessdate2010-03-13" ignored (help)
  18. ^ "Michael Jackson Bad (song)". NorwegianCharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  19. ^ a b "Michael Jackson – Bad (song)". AustrianCharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  20. ^ a b "Michael Jackson – Bad (nummer)". DutchCharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  21. ^ a b c "Michael Jackson – Bad (song)". SpanishCharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  22. ^ a b "Michael Jackson – Bad (song)". ItalianCharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  23. ^ a b c d e Calder, Rich (2009-09-02). "Jacko Off Tracko". New York Post. Retrieved 2010-03-09. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. ^ a b c "'Bad' Choreographer Remembers Michael Jackson". National Public Radio. 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  25. ^ a b "MTV Video Music Awards – 1988". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  26. ^ "Michael Jackson Remembered: "Weird Al" Yankovic on Imitation as Flattery". RollingStone.com. Wenner Media LLC. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  27. ^ a b Whitney Pastorek (2009-02-03). "On the Scene:Lady GaGa's 'LoveGame' video". PopWatch.EW.com. Time Warner Inc. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  28. ^ a b "Michael Jackson – Tribute". MTV.com. Viacom. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  29. ^ a b Pop Eater Staff (2010-01-27). "Filipino Prisoners Dance to Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us'". PopEater.com. AOL Inc. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  30. ^ "The Fringemunks: The iPad Song (parody of "Bad" by Michael Jackson)". The Fringemunks. 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-05-22.

References

External links

Michael Jackson "Bad" music video at Youtube.com

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