Michael Jackson songs on the harp….

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This topic has 34 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 1 month ago by Brandee Younger.

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June 26, 2009 at 2:29 am #109374

Christian Frederick
Participant

Any ideas about Michael Jackson songs that work well on the harp? RIP.

I’m not very familiar with his music, but would love to learn a couple of tunes postmortem in honor of the King of Pop.

June 26, 2009 at 2:39 am #109375

sherry-lenox
Participant

One of my favorites is “Black or White”- very definitely jazz but I wonder if it would work at a slower tempo than the original. It is a song with a definite message.

June 26, 2009 at 3:22 am #109376

Geri McQuillen
Participant

Oh, Please!!

June 26, 2009 at 3:26 am #109377

anita-burroughs-price
Participant

I like “Ben.”

June 26, 2009 at 4:07 am #109378

laura-smithburg-byrne
Participant

Michael Jackson was such an amazingly talented musician and entertainer it would be hard to pick from so many hits. To play them well you’d have to have great rhythm chops and lot of soul to come close to emulating his style. Although “Ben” has beautiful lyrics and would be very “playable” on the harp, I still think of it as a bizarre song about “A Nasty Rat”.

June 26, 2009 at 12:30 pm #109379

B Y
Participant

I’m so upset!

But yes—his songs will work on harp–many of them.

June 26, 2009 at 12:54 pm #109380

laura-smithburg-byrne
Participant

Oh Brandy,

I think the whole world is stunned, what an amazing talent, what a tragic life.

“You Are Not Alone” is a really beautiful song, a great choice for the harp.

The lyrics are wrenching, especially for anyone gripped in the raw grief of the sudden loss of a loved one.

What a comfort your soulful performances must have been to the grieving.

June 26, 2009 at 3:22 pm #109381

Christian Frederick
Participant

I’ll download You Are Not Alone on iTunes. I’m somewhat familiar with that tune and it is very beautiful. Thank you.

Back in the early 80s, Michael Jackson used to hang out at Walt Disney World. He would love to go backstage. I remember seeing him in the tunnel under The Magic Kingdom with just a couple of company hosts. He had beautiful dark brown skin back then and was so normal looking. He used to come to the show I was playing (Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue) in Fort Wilderness. He would come in disguise most of the time and the show went on as normal… but…. one evening he came to the show in his red coat and white glove. That was the strangest show, as it seemed we were performing to an empty audience as everyone was focused on the King of Pop.

So sad…. the plastic surgery, the anorexic appearance, the bizarre life. Such a talent, such a sweet human being, and such a loss.

June 26, 2009 at 5:16 pm #109382

tony-morosco
Member

I have never tried it but I think a slowed down version of Billy Jean would be very nice on harp.

June 26, 2009 at 6:34 pm #109383

sherry-lenox
Participant

We should all probably tell our harps that being open to many different styles of music is a good thing, because the more types we listen to the more good things we hear, and that groaning isn’t really a very sophisticated response to a style of music that doesn’t immediately strike our fancy.

Not to mention the fact that

June 26, 2009 at 9:22 pm #109384

anita-burroughs-price
Participant

How funny! You’re right Laura. Maybe Ben could be re-invented as the successor to “Ratatouille.”

June 27, 2009 at 1:51 am #109385

Christian Frederick
Participant

My stomach is groaning! Yikes!

June 27, 2009 at 3:45 am #109386

laura-smithburg-byrne
Participant

YUCK! Now I am feeling really nauseus.

Can we get this thread back to music?

I wonder if any of our more gifted jazz/pop harpists will publish some great arrangements?

June 27, 2009 at 4:33 am #109387

Julie Koenig
Participant

Jason Mraz has been covering “Billie Jean” for a while; it would sound funky and cool on the harp. I also like “Human Nature” but associate it more with Miles Davis’ version as well. I’d buy arrangements of those two as well as “You Are Not Alone.” I agree about “Ben” – played that on the organ when I was seven or so, then saw the movie “Willard” (the prequel) and was creeped out!

Julie in Atlanta

June 27, 2009 at 1:21 pm #109388

anita-burroughs-price
Participant

Sorry. There is always room for transformation, especially in kid’s films like Beauty and the Beast. Just
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