"Man in the Mirror" is a song recorded by Michael Jackson and written and composed by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett. It peaked at number one in the United States when released as a single in January 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. The song peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Charts in 1988, but in 2009, following the news of Jackson's death, the song peaked at number two, behind Cascada's "Evacuate the Dancefloor," having re-entered the chart at 11 the previous week as his top song on the singles chart. It also became the No. 1 single in iTunes downloads in the U.S. and the U.K.
Background
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 instrumental introduction to the song was played at the end of Jackson's memorial service, while his casket was being carried out; followed by the appearance of a spotlight shining on a microphone on an empty stage. After a closing prayer that incorporated themes from the song, the spotlight remained shining on the lone microphone. The song is also featured as the final number in Michael Jackson's This Is It. 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.
Music video
One of the videos 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 a nuclear explosion of Operation Crossroads, the John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy assassinations, the Iranian hostage crisis, 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 with footage of several live performances of the song during the Bad World Tour.
The PCM Stereo music video version of this song was included on Number Ones and Michael Jackson's Vision.
Composition
The song was written and composed by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard. Jackson added background vocals from Garrett, The Winans and the Andrae Crouch Choir, which gave the song its distinctive sound. The song is said to be one of his favorite songs. 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 including Debbie Gibson and Guns N' Roses. Jackson would use a Gospel choir again several years later on his hit "Will You Be There". Siedah Garrett also sang the Jackson's duet "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" in summer 1987.[citation needed]The song is played in the key of G Major at a tempo of 100bpm. The vocal range is Ab3-C6.
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 peaked at #21 in the United Kingdom in 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 La Roux. 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. It was also the top single in iTunes downloads in the U.S. and the U.K.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps&ob=av3e
Man In The Mirror
I'm gonna make a change,
for once in my life
It's gonna feel
real good,
gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right ...
As I, turn up the collar on
my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowing my mind
I see the kids in the streets,
with not enough to eat
Who am I, to be blind?
Pretending not to see their needs
A summer's disregard,
a broken bottle top
And a one man's soul
They follow each other on the wind ya' know
'Cause they got nowhere to go
That's why I want you to know
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself, and then make a change)
(Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah)
I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love
It's time that I realize
That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me,
pretending that they're not alone?
A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart
And a washed-out dream
(Washed-out dream)
They follow the pattern of the wind ya' see
'Cause they got no place to be
That's why I'm starting with me
(Starting with me!)
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
(Ooh!)
I'm asking him to change his ways
(Ooh!)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself and then make a change)
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
(Ooh!)
I'm asking him to change his ways
(Change his ways - ooh!)
And no message could've been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself and then make that ...
(Take a look at yourself and then make that ...)
Change!
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
(Man in the mirror - Oh yeah!)
I'm asking him to change his ways
(Better change!)
No message could have been any clearer
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
(Take a look at yourself and then make the change)
(You gotta get it right, while you got the time)
('Cause when you close your heart)
You can't close your ... your mind!
(Then you close your ... mind!)
That man, that man, that man, that man
With that man in the mirror
(Man in the mirror, oh yeah!)
That man, that man, that man,
I'm asking him to change his ways
(Better change!)
You know ... that man
No message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself and then make a change)
Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah
(Oh yeah!)
Gonna feel real good now!
Yeah yeah! Yeah yeah! Yeah yeah!
Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah
(Ooooh...)
Oh no, no no...
I'm gonna make a change
It's gonna feel real good!
Come on!
(Change ...)
Just lift yourself
You know
You've got to stop it,
Yourself!
(Yeah! - Make that change!)
I've got to make that change, today!
Hoo!
(Man in the mirror)
You got to
You got to not let yourself ...
brother ...
Hoo!
(Yeah! - Make that change!)
You know - I've got to get
that man, that man ...
(Man in the mirror)
You've got to
You've got to move! Come on!
Come on!
You got to ...
Stand up! Stand up! Stand up!
(Yeah! - Make that change)
Stand up and lift yourself, now!
(Man in the mirror)
Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
Aaow!
(Yeah! - Make that change!)
Gonna make that change ...
come on!
You know it!
You know it!
You know it!
You know ...
(Change ...)
Make that change.
Человек в зеркале
Я собираюсь что-то изменить однажды в своей жизни,
она будет по-настоящему хорошей,
будет иной, будет правильной.
И я поднимаю воротник моего любимого пальто,
этот ветер сводит меня с ума,
я вижу детей на улицах, им нечего есть.
Кто я, чтобы быть слепым,
притворяться, что я не вижу их нужды?
Летнее пренебрежение, крышка от бутылки
и человеческая душа —
они следуют друг за другом на ветру, ты знаешь,
потому что им некуда идти.
Вот почему я хочу, что бы ты знал —
я начинаю с человека в зеркале,
я прошу его изменить его привычки,
и никакое другое послание не могло бы быть яснее —
если ты хочешь сделать мир лучше,
посмотри на себя и измени что-то.
Я был жертвой эгоистичной любви,
а теперь я понял,
что есть те, у кого нет дома,
нет даже монетки взаймы,
могу ли на самом деле я
притворяться, что они не одиноки?
Ива в глубоких шрамах,
чье-то разбитое сердце
и исчезнувшие мечты —
они следуют примеру ветра, ты видишь,
потому что для них просто нет места,
вот почему я начинаю с себя.
Я начинаю с человека в зеркале,
я прошу его изменить его привычки,
и никакое другое послание не могло бы быть яснее —
если ты хочешь сделать мир лучше,
посмотри на себя и измени что-то.
Я начинаю с человека в зеркале,
я прошу его изменить его привычки,
и никакое другое послание не могло бы быть яснее —
если ты хочешь сделать мир лучше,
посмотри на себя и измени что-то.
Я начинаю с человека в зеркале,
я прошу его изменить его привычки.
(Лучше изменись!)
Никакое другое послание не могло бы быть яснее —
если ты хочешь сделать мир лучше,
посмотри на себя и изменись.
Ведь когда ты закрываешь свое сердце...
Ты не можешь закрыть свой разум!
Тот человек, тот человек...
с того человека в зеркале...
Тот человек, тот человек, тот человек,
я прошу его изменить его привычки.
Ты знаешь… этот человек…
И никакое другое послание не могло бы быть яснее —
если ты хочешь сделать мир лучше,
посмотри на себя и измени что-то.