In the song “Man in The Mirror” Michael Jackson persuades the listener that in order to make a change in the world first, take a look at yourself and change what you are doing to help.
For example, this song shows the problem and the solution by explaining what people are doing instead of trying to make a difference. In the song it says that many people are hungry and have no place to go. It says that many people are just “turn[ing] up [their] collar[s] (Jackson 7)” and “pretend[ing] not to see their need (Jackson 12)” instead of going to help and trying to make a difference in the world and in their lives. It says that in order to make a change in the society to first “take a look at yourself and then make a change (Jackson 23)” .To change
“You don’t change the world with the ideas in your mind, but with the conviction in your heart.”
People who are willing to challenge society for their rights and accept any resulting consequences will more often than not, cause a change in
“We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can change the world”
The universe is created for society to cherish all God’s creations; it could be anything to admiring nature to loving all animals. The expectations for the world are difficult to maintain, so unfortunately, society often leads to major destruction. There is unnecessary homicides, animal cruelty, toxic waste in the rivers and many more heart-wrenching actions that deteriorates the world. As a society, we have to turn a negative into a positive, but firstly, we have to change ourselves before we help others. Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”, exposes all of the humanity issues and suggests that we should fix the world by recognizing our flaws first. The theme of the song is about self-improvement and imagery, tone and repetition are the poetic devices that are used in the song.
Barack Obama said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” “Change” by Tupac Shakur talks about change is hard because people stereotype. Although, change is a difficult thing to do, one can change lifestyle if they wanted it to.
This paper primarily explores Michael Jackson’s song, "man in the mirror." The song "man in the mirror" is inspirational about making a positive impact and personal redemption in the world. It was released in 1988. This catchy song tries to explain that changing the world is possible (Wallerstein 2). Many sociological concepts are displayed by Michael Jackson in the context of song’s lyrics. The band of the song tries to express their concerns with the actions and views of the world of the present day. Basically, the band reflects upon the world's realism as their question the mentality. This song is surrounded by the
Change is the factor to success and failure. Change is something every one of us can achieve, but few dare to try. Jesse Jackson and The Freedom Writers are very similar. They believe that change really is possible. Not everything has to be the way “tradition” molded us in the start.
"Man in the Mirror" was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett and co-produced by Michael Jackson, and released from the album Bad on August 31,1987 and released as a single January 16,1988 (YouTube). Siedah Garrett had an idea about a man looking in a mirror in her head for quite some time and took her ideas to her writing partner Glen Ballard. Once Garrett shared her lyric ideas, Ballard added some soulful vocals to help make the song become more powerful, which helped make the lyrics even stronger. The straightforward lyrics about making a change to yourself first caught Michael Jackson’s attention for his album Bad he was working on. “His chemistry with Garrett was so strong that he invited her to duet with him on another Bad single” (Yahoo! Music). The uplifting lyrics of making a change to yourself first, with the combination of Michael Jackson’s voice took off on the charts in no time. “Even though it wasn't a song he wrote himself, it was a message that was strongly identified with him and reflective of his own philosophies, as demonstrated through his actions and expressed in some of his own lyrics” (YouTube). “Man in the Mirror” became a world-wide hit in the late 80’s helping to inspire people to make a change within themselves and to help others.
To change the world is an impossible goal, but to change the world around you is something anyone can do, ultimately leading to a ripple and changing the world further. My involvements in my community, family and job have taught me how to be an asset to society, making a difference in other’s lives.
It is believed that in order to change people, you have to change the way that the think.
Michael Jackson was known around the world as the “King of Pop.” He was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, which molded him into a shy and quiet person. Something he was opposite of on stage. It is well documented that his father became violent with him and his brothers in order to push them to become successful. Thus, missing out on his childhood. During his early life, Michael had an accident that resulted in burns on his head and face. After this incident he had plastic surgery, changing the shape of his nose. Although he was born an African American, it became apparent that he started to appear lighter and lighter, bleaching his skin and ultimately appearing white. He created his own amusement park called Neverland, where there were exotic
“Man in the Mirror” is about a man who believes that only by changing himself will he be able to change the world. The main focus of the song is a man’s struggle to improve himself morally after witnessing his inability to impact the lives of those in need. Michael Jackson reflects on how the world around him is suffering while he lives a life of comfort, and the guilt triggers his decision to change himself so that he can eventually help the world. . The song raises up questions such as,“What purpose does an individual serve in a community? How can we bring about positive changes to the world? How can one person make a major impact in the world? “Man in the Mirror” sends a very universal message, basically telling the world to improve themselves individually so that the whole improves as a result. The discussion will focus more on the symbolical lyrics because there is a lot of straightforward vocabulary in each verse.
The promise of change is empty; he cares only about change itself…The so-called realities of the social world around him matter little, for he dances to an internal rhythm, answering a call for self-authentication that springs from a cultural, even cosmological, dimension.” (Pereira 38)
If humanity takes the time to sit down and internalize, one of the questions coming to mind has to do with why is it often afraid of change? Change is in fact a big theme in the 1987 hit song “The Man in the Mirror ” (Appendix E), where the late artist Michael Jackson sang the famous line, “If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.” Fast forward to a modern-day 2016 filled with political unrest, poverty, and waning human rights, Michael Jackson’s message of self-reflection eventually translating into social change finds its relevancy today, despite the song 's thirty-years-old tenure. It introduces the notion that all individuals in society are essentially human, even in spite of humanity 's tendency to demonize other belief systems. Even Saint Mother Theresa agreed with this point, once saying that “if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” The only way to reconcile the fact that differences don’t corrupt our humanity is in society’s willingness to be flexible to different points of view and recognize the structures of prejudice in a modern context. What then is the harm in paring away our egos to realize that we all have something to bring to the table? Forms of art that even attempt to evoke this message of solidarity include poetry, which in itself is a free medium that poets utilize to express their thoughts and emotions.
What really counts according to Johnson’s insights is that just because we do not see it does not mean we should not do something about it. If one person changes themselves about privileged and racism then you could help changed the world later on. Someone will not be able to change the world in one day or even in a lifetime but over several lifetimes we can make a difference. Sometimes people have to go out of the norm and do something that they feel is right to make a difference. What people do and do not do, we can be opened