Glen Ballard And Siedah Garrett's Guy In The Mirror
“Man in the Mirror”, one of the great songs by the late “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson. The song, written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett, is capable of telling wonderful stories, this represented best by the edition of the song J2 and Cameron the Public, played at Jackson's public memorial is about a man whose struggles with self-image, personal identity, and media attention spiraled out of control and arguably led to his early death.
Many have suggested that "Man in the Mirror" was inspired by a poem known as "Guy in the Mirror" or "Guy in the Glass." The poem, written in 1934 by Dale Wimbrow, became widely popular and is sometimes attributed as a folk poem. Still, even though the man in the mirror theme was not original, Siedah Garrett's own account of writing the song makes no comment towards the poem. Instead, Garrett describes overhearing a phone conversation in Glen Ballard's home studio, and writing the words "man in the mirror." When producer Quincy Jones asked …show more content…
From its very first line, "Man in the Mirror" isn't exactly subtle in delivering its social message: it's time for everyone to "make a change" in the world they live in. The background of Jackson's life begs the question how sincere was he in singing about changing? After all, Jackson didn’t write the song. So did he actually mean it when he said it was time to look in the mirror and make a change? It's hard to understand his true motives, but there's no question that the Jackson family, especially Michael, was in a position to make large social statements. Jackson had become, by the late 1980s, "The King of Pop": he was controversially the most popular man in the world at one point. One thing for sure is that the "Man in the Mirror" music video leads the public to believe that Jackson wanted to connect to his fans' minds with themes of racial justice, civil rights, and
Many have suggested that "Man in the Mirror" was inspired by a poem known as "Guy in the Mirror" or "Guy in the Glass." The poem, written in 1934 by Dale Wimbrow, became widely popular and is sometimes attributed as a folk poem. Still, even though the man in the mirror theme was not original, Siedah Garrett's own account of writing the song makes no comment towards the poem. Instead, Garrett describes overhearing a phone conversation in Glen Ballard's home studio, and writing the words "man in the mirror." When producer Quincy Jones asked …show more content…
From its very first line, "Man in the Mirror" isn't exactly subtle in delivering its social message: it's time for everyone to "make a change" in the world they live in. The background of Jackson's life begs the question how sincere was he in singing about changing? After all, Jackson didn’t write the song. So did he actually mean it when he said it was time to look in the mirror and make a change? It's hard to understand his true motives, but there's no question that the Jackson family, especially Michael, was in a position to make large social statements. Jackson had become, by the late 1980s, "The King of Pop": he was controversially the most popular man in the world at one point. One thing for sure is that the "Man in the Mirror" music video leads the public to believe that Jackson wanted to connect to his fans' minds with themes of racial justice, civil rights, and