Do They Care About Us?
This is an interesting song by Michael Jackson entitled ‘They Don’t Care About Us’. I remember hearing it years ago and realising that Michael Jackson was political. I remember thinking at the time ‘I didn’t know that’. I might just pause and think what does political mean? It means he challenged power, it doesn’t mean he was seeking to take power as a threat to those in power, but his threat would have been his enormous influence on young people. Even the word ‘threat’ is really unquestioned thinking from those who feel fear of losing power. The whole power construct is built on fear. It is interesting to explore.
Tonight has been interesting I found out he has sung the same song in two video clips. One was sited in a prison and the other video was produced in Brazil, South America. In the Brazilian film clip I found the peace symbol on his t-shirt interesting, in the end it was torn. The interesting question is who are ‘they’? The central theme appears to be oppression and the architects of it. He makes reference to Roosevelt and Martin Luther King in the song as respected figures who would not allow oppression/discrimination. In an interview he said that he was speaking of his own experience.
My feeling is ‘do we really care about us’? What sort of world would we like to create? Something to consider. In truth no group can control the world without its permission and submission. Where there is a desire for control there is definitely fear of no control. Those who seek control are deeply fearful of the masses as the real illusion is that control is power. I see it as an old order that is losing traction and indeed, power. The use of fear as control can be perceived as power but in reality it is not as powerful as love. Why is love strong? It links us to our true nature it is a creative force that is expansive and builds unity. Fear or negativity is a destructive force and eventually implodes. Gandhi made that clear that empires always fall. In a fear based reality people don’t trust each other and the enemy comes from within not outside. Yet projection sees it outside as hatred is vented. In a love based reality there is plenty of room for understanding, compassion and unity, people see themselves in each other e.g mother, father, brother, sister etc. So the forces that breakdown don’t get a foothold in this type of society. It is an outcome of a world that is in duality (love and fear). We oscillate between these emotions all the time but may experience them as jealousy, envy, irritation, hatred, fear on the one hand and compassion, kindness, caring and love on the other. Each of us are at choice as to which we select. If you keep selecting love under all conditions, we see a massive shift in the world. If people keep exposing themselves to fear then they shut themselves down and feed their own oppression. That is why I said earlier ‘do we really care about us’? We all create the times we move through consciously or unconsciously.
First here is the song that caused a great deal of controversy and conspiracy theory. It is followed by some comments about the meaning of the song from a few perspectives.
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=16062
The song generated controversy for Jackson when he was accused of penning anti-Semitic lyrics. Upset at the media scrutiny it generated, Jackson issued multiple apologies, insisting that he wasn’t intending to get at any member of the Jewish community and re-recorded the track. In the US, radio stations were reluctant to play the controversial composition and it only reached #30. In Europe it was more successful, reaching the top ten of most countries. Two music videos were filmed, both directed by Spike Lee. One featured a handcuffed Jackson in prison, interspersed with real footage of police attacking African Americans and other human rights abuses. The second video showed Jackson dancing with his fans in Brazil.
Here is another overview of the video from another perspective.
They Don’t Care About Us
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, aggravation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Bang bang, shot dead
Everybody’s gone mad
They Don’t Care About Us is the fourth single from Michael Jackson’s album “HIStory” (released on April 1, 1996) and the most controversial piece Jackson ever composed. Musically, They Don’t Care About Us is an aggressive Hip-Hop product which focuses over the illness of our society. From masonic media’s point of view, this song is anti-semite, racist and anti-social. Michael Jackson stated that he didn’t mean this at all, by the time when he wrote this song and I truly believe him. It’s not his nature being discriminatory anyway but of course the people who tried to destroy him caught this opportunity to sink him deeper. Michael Jackson was too proud. Michael Jackson knew very well his rights and he claimed them. Michael Jackson had a mouth to speak and he used it, and he drew the evil things that happen in this world. Michael Jackson never accepted to be a slave. And, worst, he had the power, given by his huge popularity, to influence others. Michael Jackson had become undesirable for those tricky elitists.
All I wanna say is that
They don’t really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don’t really care about us
“When Michael Jackson decided to shoot his new music video in a favela of Rio de Janeiro … he used the favela people as extras in a visual super-spectacle … All the while there is a vaguely political appeal in there … The interesting aspect of Michael Jackson’s strategy is the efficiency with which it gives visibility to poverty and social problems in countries like Brazil without resorting to traditional political discourse. The problematic aspect is that it does not entail a real intervention in that poverty.” (Lúcia Nagib, “The New Brazilian Cinema”)
In 2009, Billboard described the area as “now a model for social development” and stated that Jackson’s influence was partially responsible for this improvement. For the first time in his career, Jackson made a second music video for a single. This second version was filmed in a prison with cell mates; In the video Jackson is seen handcuffed. It also contains real footage of police attacking African Americans, the Ku Klux Klan, genocide, execution, and other human rights abuses.
Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Will me, thrill me
You can never kill me
Jew me, Sue me
Everybody do me
Kick me, Kike me
Don’t you black or white me
“The New York Times” claimed anti-semitism on June 15, just days before the album’s release. The publication highlighted the lyrics, “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don’t you black or white me” and labeled them “slurs”. Jackson responded directly to the publication, stating:
“The idea that these lyrics could be deemed objectionable is extremely hurtful to me, and misleading. The song in fact is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked. I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking. It is about the injustices to young people and how the system can wrongfully accuse them. I am angry and outraged that I could be so misinterpreted.”
People who love Michael Jackson understand his anger and support him. The others, understand him but continue to accuse him. Finally, everything boils down to the simple, hard truth which is already known by many:
All I wanna say is that
They don’t really care about us
When questioned further about the lyrics on the ABC News program Prime Time Live, Jackson stated, “It’s not anti-Semitic because I’m not a racist person … I could never be a racist. I love all races.” The singer also noted that some of his closest employees and friends were Jewish. That same day, Jackson received support from his manager and record label, who described the lyrics as “brilliant”, that they were about opposition to prejudice and taken out of context. The following day, two leading members of the Jewish community stated that Jackson’s attempt to make a song critical of discrimination had backfired. They expressed the opinion that the lyrics used were unsuitable for a teenage audience that might not understand the song’s context, adding that the song was too ambiguous for some listeners to understand. They accepted that Jackson meant well and suggested that the entertainer write an explanation in the album booklet.
On June 23, Michael Jackson decided, despite the cost incurred, he would return to the studio and alter the offending wording on future copies of the album; “Jew me” and “Kike me” would be substituted with “do me” and “strike me”. He reiterated his acceptance that the song was offensive to some.
Let’s talk a little about the word “kike”. It was born on Ellis Island when Jewish immigrants who were illiterate (or could not use Latin alphabet letters), when asked to sign the entry-forms with the customary X, refused, because they associated an X with the cross of Christianity, and instead made a circle. The Yiddish word for “circle” is kikel (pronounced KY-kul), and for “little circle”, kikeleh (pronounced ky-kul-uh). Before long the immigration inspectors were calling anyone who signed with an O instead of an X a kikel or kikeleh or kikee or, finally and succinctly, kike.
According to Leo Rosten, Jewish American merchants continued to sign with an O instead of an X for several decades, spreading the nickname kike wherever they went as a result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into an ethnic slur later on. Others use “kike” with the meaning of “Christ killer”.
The lyrical controversy surrounding They Don’t Care About Us brought partial commercial disappointment in the US; radio stations were reluctant to play the song. It peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, falling short of the record breaking success of the two previous singles “Scream/Childhood” and “You Are Not Alone”, yet the song peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Still, the song found particular success in Europe, peaking within the top ten in all states. European highlights came in Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Sweden, in these countries the song became a top five hit and stayed in their respective charts for a minimum of 21 weeks. The song reached the top of the charts for three weeks in Germany and stayed a full 30 weeks in the survey. It is the longest consecutive chart run of a Michael Jackson song in the German charts.
The real reason They Don’t Care About Us was not a success in US is that this song was too dangerous for the Masonic Elite, because Michael Jackson sings about discrimination, abuse, injustice and breach of human rights. And I don’t believe he didn’t expect to be banned, especially because he used Masonic symbols in the music video, such as “the eye” which can be seen on the wall beside him when he sings “Will me, thrill me – you can never kill me” – and this is, doubtless, a warning from Michael to “them”.
Tell me what has become of my life
I have a wife and two children who love me
I am the victim of police brutality, now
I’m tired of bein’ the victim of hate
You’re rapin’ me of my pride
Oh, for God’s sake
I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy…
Set me free
The whole song is a subliminal message, from its short, concise lines to the rhythm and the crowd of passionate drummers – all of these transforms They Don’t Care About Us into a complex and complete calling to justice.
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
trepidation, speculation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
black man, black mail
Throw your brother in jail
With the album “History”, Michael Jackson, the one who used to sing about flowers, innocence and “Heal The World”, transformed into someone determined, concerned about social issues and intovsomeone who tries to open our eyes about the evil who’s leading us from the shadow.
All I wanna say is that
They don’t really care about us
And he has his reasons for this. He’s been wrong, misunderstood, humiliated, morally tortured – by the media, by politicians and by all his haters who tried consequently to destroy his proud, his honor, even his life. But he had to resist, with any price; he had to survive all these so, after that, he could raise up and speak:
Tell me what has become of my rights
Am I invisible because you ignore me?
Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now
I’m tired of bein’ the victim of shame
They’re throwing me in a class with a bad name
I can’t believe this is the land from which I came
You know I do really hate to say it
The government don’t wanna see
But if Roosevelt was livin’
He wouldn’t let this be, no, no
Producing the first video proved to be a difficult task for Jackson. State authorities unsuccessfully tried to ban the singer filming in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Pelorinho). Officials feared images of poverty might affect tourism and accused Jackson of exploiting the poor. Ronaldo Cezar Coelho, the state secretary for Industry, Commerce and Tourism demanded editing rights over the finished product, stating, “I don’t see why we should have to facilitate films that will contribute nothing to all our efforts to rehabilitate Rio’s image”. Some were concerned that scenes of poverty and human rights abuses would affect their chances of hosting the Olympics in 2004. Others supported Jackson’s wish to highlight the problems of the region, arguing that the government were embarrassed by their own failings.
A judge banned all filming but this ruling was overturned by an injunction. Although officials were angry, the residents were not. Thousands pushed through security and one fan managed to hug the singer, both of them falling to the street. The woman was escorted away and Jackson continued to sing and dance for the director. 1,500 policemen and 50 residents acting as security guards effectively sealed off the Dona Marta shanty town. It was alleged that Jackson’s production team had negotiated with drug dealers in order to gain permission to film in one of the city’s shantytowns.
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, speculation
Everybody litigation
Beat me, bash me
You can never trash me
Hit me, kick me
You can never get me
The music video was directed by Spike Lee. Asked why he chose Lee to direct the video, Jackson responded, “They Don’t Care About Us has an edge, and Spike Lee had approached me. It’s a public awareness song and that’s what he is all about. It’s a protest kind of song… and I think he was perfect for it”. Jackson also collaborated with 200 members of the cultural group Olodum, “who swayed to the heavy beat of Salvador’s ‘samba-reggae’ music”. The media interest surrounding the music video exposed Olodum to 140 countries around the world. It brought them worldwide fame and increased their credibility in Brazil. At the beginning of the video, a brazilian boy says “Michael, eles não ligam pra gente” which means “Michael, they don’t care about us.”
Some things in life they just don’t wanna see
But if Martin Luther was livin’
He wouldn’t let this be, no, no
Michael neither liked to “let this be”. He wasn’t that kind of man who turned his back and watch out his own business, saying “that’s it”. He knew he could change something and he knew how to do it. With They Don’t Care About Us he changed the Dona Marta people’s fate and promoted the Olodum drummers.
For the first time in his career, Michael Jackson made a second music video for a single. This second version was filmed in a prison with cell mates; In the video Jackson is seen handcuffed. It also contains real footage of police attacking African Americans, the Ku Klux Klan, genocide, execution, and other human rights abuses.
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, segregation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Kick me, Kike me
Don’t you wrong or right me
All genocides in history were precisely planned by some sick minds. AIDS, Ebola, all different kind of flues and every epidemics that rose in the last century, were experimentally created and disseminated into the world by the same psychopaths. Think of it, those psychopaths meet regularly and decide our fate. Think of these morons, talking about how to many we are, about how these epidemics invented by them kill us too slowly and about what else should they create to precipitate our decimation. Let me paraphrase The King Of Pop and say “If Michael Jackson was livin’ he would’t let this be”. Don’t believe politicians who tell us pretty things, because they are all fake. Don’t believe the “specialists” who appear on tv and tells you that HPV vaccine or bio-cip are best solutions for smart people. Don’t believe commercials. Don’t accept anything just because you are told to. Don’t be afraid to refuse things that others accept foolishly. And remember, every moment, Michael Jackson’s words:
All I wanna say is that
They don’t really care about us
Because this is the truth.