Saturday, October 3, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Songs Inspired by Each Other: #1: Sinking In
So a lot of us MJ/LMP fans believe that at least with the records "Invincible" and "To Whom It May Concern," Michael and Lisa, respectively, were sending messages to one another or were inspired by each other. So I'm starting a series which highlights the songs that seem to be the most on point in terms of this dynamic. First up, is "Sinking In" from LMP's debut album in 2003.
Written by Lisa Marie Presley, Glen Ballard, Clif Magness and Daniel Keough
Lyrics by Lisa Marie Presley
This is a drag that it`s too late now.
And I wanted to tell you that I was wrong.
I didn`t realize I still hold on to you but I still do.
Was it that I turned everyone against you.
Was it that I didn`t defend you.
Was it that I never had your back.
Was it that I was always trying to save you and you never wanted me to.
Or was it that I loved you.
You don`t seem to see me sinking in do you.
You`re not content in your own head are you.
You just want to kick me once again don`t you.
Don`t you baby.
I did it again.
I don`t stop paying.
You don`t look so good to me my friend.
Is it because of me I really left this time.
Did you ever say goodbye.
Was it that I had a crush on your friend.
Was it that I left for another man.
Was it that I didn`t know.
That you were in over your head and I didn`t see what I had did I.
No, I didn`t and uh.
(Chorus)
Was it that everyone would just kiss my ass.
I couldn`t see through it and you could.
And now look what`s come of us here ten years later.
I jump from one to the other, you`re still worrying your mother.
And I almost went under baby.
Written by Lisa Marie Presley, Glen Ballard, Clif Magness and Daniel Keough
Lyrics by Lisa Marie Presley
This is a drag that it`s too late now.
And I wanted to tell you that I was wrong.
I didn`t realize I still hold on to you but I still do.
Was it that I turned everyone against you.
Was it that I didn`t defend you.
Was it that I never had your back.
Was it that I was always trying to save you and you never wanted me to.
Or was it that I loved you.
You don`t seem to see me sinking in do you.
You`re not content in your own head are you.
You just want to kick me once again don`t you.
Don`t you baby.
I did it again.
I don`t stop paying.
You don`t look so good to me my friend.
Is it because of me I really left this time.
Did you ever say goodbye.
Was it that I had a crush on your friend.
Was it that I left for another man.
Was it that I didn`t know.
That you were in over your head and I didn`t see what I had did I.
No, I didn`t and uh.
(Chorus)
Was it that everyone would just kiss my ass.
I couldn`t see through it and you could.
And now look what`s come of us here ten years later.
I jump from one to the other, you`re still worrying your mother.
And I almost went under baby.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
By way of Shamone MJ:"Here is the first photo of Lisa Marie at Michael Jackson's funeral. It was reported that Lisa Marie was not photographed or filmed at the service. But a reliable source sent this to us late today. It was first reported that Lisa arrived at the funeral with her current husband, Michael Lockwood. But from the image shown, she was accompanied by her eldest daughter, Danielle Riley Keough. The women reportedly sat in the back and Lisa Marie became very emotional as Michael Jackson's casket arrived at Forest Lawn. Lisa also was seen giving Michael's Mother Katherine (who was extremely distraught) an embracing and comforting hug."
Source
Friday, September 4, 2009
Michael is Laid to Rest
Well, this was the moment of closure for all of Michael's loved ones, friends and fans. He is finally at rest.
While watching CNN last night, I was moved to hear that Lisa Marie was in attendance at the funeral. Reports state that she had some time alone with Michael before the family arrived. She was also said to have been overwhelmed by emotion when the casket was brought in for the service. In addition, Lisa Marie and Jackson matriarch, Katherine, shared an emotional embrace.
I'd like to think that Michael was looking down from high above, seeing his kids, his family and Lisa Marie and that he smiled. God bless you, Michael.
Jackson Family Press Release:
3092009Michael Jackson Reaches Final Resting Place
Glendale, Calif.—Michael Jackson reached his final resting place tonight at 9:43 pm PST in The Great Mausoleum at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
The ceremony was held outdoors, adjacent to The Great Mausoleum. The stage was adorned with six large bouquets of white lilies and white roses, along with green topiaries. The service was attended by approximately 200 family and close friends.
The pallbearers were Michael’s five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy Jackson. At the beginning of the ceremony, Michael’s children placed a crown on their father’s coffin to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop.
The opening prayer was delivered by Pastor Lucius Smith, who also read from Ecclesiastes 3:7. Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” accompanied by Greg Phillinganes. Songwriter Clifton Davis sang The Jackson 5 song “Never Can Say Goodbye,” which he wrote for the group.
Speakers came to the podium spontaneously to celebrate Michael’s life. Among those making remarks were his father, Joseph Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, close friends and family members.
Following the ceremony, the Jackson brothers carried Michael’s casket into The Great Mausoleum, followed by guests.
Other notable attendees included Miko Brando, Macaulay Culkin, Corey Feldman, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Mila Kunis, Thomas Mesereau, Kenny Ortega, Suzanne de Passe, Lisa Marie Presley, Teddy Riley, Elizabeth Taylor and Chris Tucker.
The Jackson Family wishes to once again thank all of Michael’s fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time. Their expressions of love for Michael and his music have sustained the Jackson Family.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Michael On Lisa
I remember reading it when it first came out, so looking at it now makes me pretty melancholy. Still, it's good to know that Michael found happiness with Lisa and vice versa, however brief it turned out to be.
By Robert E. Johnson
JET Associate Publisher
In the first one-on-one interview the "King of Pop, Rock and Soul" Michael Jackson granted after he shook up America with the announcement of his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the late Rock 'n' Roller Elvis Presley, the megastar revealed to EBONY where they met and how he proposed.
Some published reports said that the couple had known each other only eight months before Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson issued a statement, saying:
"My name is Mrs. Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson. My marriage to Michael took place in a private ceremony outside the United States [May 26]." She said the marriage was not formally announced because "we are both very private people living in the glare of the public media... I am very much in love with Michael. I dedicate my life to being his wife. I understand and support him. We both look forward to raising a family and living happy, healthy lives together. We hope friends and fans will understand and respect our privacy."
It was their love of privacy that prompted media probes that resulted in published stories that stated the couple knew each other only eight months before beginning their romance that led to matrimony.
The truth is that Michael, now 36, and Lisa Marie, 26, were just a couple of youngsters when they met in Las Vegas 20 years ago. He was 16 and she was 6. The Jackson Five, with Michael out front as the lead singer, appeared at the MGM Grand Hotel April 9 through 23, 1974, and August 21 through Sept. 3, 1974.
Michael, taking time out from his studio recording session in New York to give EBONY an exclusive interview, recalls: "Her father [Elvis] used to bring her to catch our show where all nine of us [Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, Maureen 'Rebbie', LaToya and Janet, then 8] were performing... It was a real family show -- the only family show in Las Vegas which allowed children to come." He continued:
"Elvis would bring his daughter, Lisa Marie. She would sit right in the front and bodyguards would be right there. Afterwards, she would be escorted backstage and I would meet her and we would talk. This happened quite often. She would come again, again and again. It was quite an event.
"After that, I didn't see her for quite a while. You know, it was like ships passing in the night -- hello and goodbye." Lisa Marie married musician Danny Keough in 1988 and two children (Danielle, now 5, and Benjamin, 2) were born to this union. Differences that the couple did not reconcile resulted in a "quickie" divorce in the Dominican Republic last spring.
Three years ago when he started the DANGEROUS album, which featured such hits as "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," "Remember The Time," "She Drives Me Wild" and "Can't Let Her Get Away," Michael said their relationship reached a new plateau. "We sort of went out together. Then we would talk on the phone... I noticed that we had come closer. We went to Las Vegas for The Jackson Family Honors [in 1993]. We later traveled to Atlanta for (former) President Jimmy Carter to visit children, but no one knew that she was there with me.
"The brilliant thing about us is that we were often together but did not let anybody know about it. We got to see each other that way over the years. We were really quiet and comfortable with each other. That's pretty much how the dating started happening." It was during this period that Michael said their relationship changed from being good friends to lovers.
As a sensitive songwriter who deals with feelings that run the range of human emotions, Michael has an uncanny sense of the chemistry in writing songs. For him, that chemistry is inspiration. If you listen to the lyrics of "Remember The Time" and "I Can't Let Her Get Away," in the 1991 release of his DANGEROUS album, you conclude that Lisa Marie could have provided the inspiration.
She certainly provided the kind of support he needed in 1993 when he was going through legal trials and tribulations. "I was on tour and it seemed like I was in Armageddon -- Armageddon in the brains," Michael remembered. "All these horrible stories were going around about me. None was true. It was unbelievable. Lisa Marie would call. I could count my true friends on one hand. She was very, very supportive the whole time. That really impressed me. She would call and be crying. She was angry and really wanted to choke people.
"But, really, what impressed me was earthquake day in L.A. [June 28, 1993]," Michael says with an air of excitement. "On earthquake day, my phone just happened to be working. I was terrified -- almost out of my brains. I thought the world was ending. I got a phone call that day and it was from her, right after the quake."
Later, in London, where he underwent treatment for addiction to prescription drugs, Michael said that Lisa Marie gave him the impression that their relationship was moving them toward each other in ties that bind. "She would call me, but she didn't always get through to me. And that made it very frustrating for her. I got all the messages... She was very concerned."
It was after these experiences that Michael says he came to that moment when he had to say "This Girl Is Mine" and "The Way You Make Me Feel." (Michael chuckles at the play on the words of two of his best-selling songs.)
"It kind of unfolded," he said of the moment of truth. "We spent a lot of time on the ranch [his sprawling, multimillion-dollar Neverland] and just walked around and talked. It happened! It unfolded all natural. We could feel the feeling we had for each other without even talking about it. It was all in the vibrations, the feelings and the look in our eyes."
After he recounted how a friendship turned to romance, Michael was asked: "Who proposed, you or Lisa Marie?" He responded: "I proposed."
Blushing at the recollection, Michael said: "Well, first I asked -- I'm the shyest person in the world. I said to her -- we were on the phone -- 'If I asked you to marry me, would you?' She said, 'Of course!' Then there was silence. I said, 'Excuse me, I've got to go to the bathroom,' he laughed sheepishly. "So I came back. I didn't quite know what to say. But that's how it happened."
Following the telephone proposal and acceptance, the engaged couple promptly met at Neverland, where the romance started. It climaxed in marriage on May 26 in the Dominican Republic, proving that love conquers all.
The couple honeymooned briefly in Budapest, Hungary, where the bride shared some time with the groom on a film location, where he produced a promotional video for his upcoming album, 'HISTORY.' They also spent some time doing what they both love -- caring for children. They visited children's hospitals where they comforted the young patients and distributed toys.
This was a prelude to the priority they have agreed upon. The priority is not recording together, although Lisa Marie inherited her famous father's talent for singing and his estate valued at over $150 million. "All this talk about us recording together is a complete rumor," says Michael, whose financial worth is estimated to be over $200 million. "The thing we want to do most is centered around children. I never met anybody who cared so much about children the way I do. I get real emotional about children. Lisa Marie is the exact same way. Wherever we go, we visit children's hospitals. My dream is that when we go to South Africa and India, we will aid children," he discloses.
Asked about plans for their own children, he replied: "It's already happening." Then the fifth born of the nine Jacksons paused and added:
"I want more children than my father [Joseph] has."
Note: factual errors found in the article:
*The Jackson Family Honors was in Feb 94.
*The Los Angeles earthquake was January of 94 not June of 93.
JET Associate Publisher
In the first one-on-one interview the "King of Pop, Rock and Soul" Michael Jackson granted after he shook up America with the announcement of his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the late Rock 'n' Roller Elvis Presley, the megastar revealed to EBONY where they met and how he proposed.
Some published reports said that the couple had known each other only eight months before Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson issued a statement, saying:
"My name is Mrs. Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson. My marriage to Michael took place in a private ceremony outside the United States [May 26]." She said the marriage was not formally announced because "we are both very private people living in the glare of the public media... I am very much in love with Michael. I dedicate my life to being his wife. I understand and support him. We both look forward to raising a family and living happy, healthy lives together. We hope friends and fans will understand and respect our privacy."
It was their love of privacy that prompted media probes that resulted in published stories that stated the couple knew each other only eight months before beginning their romance that led to matrimony.
The truth is that Michael, now 36, and Lisa Marie, 26, were just a couple of youngsters when they met in Las Vegas 20 years ago. He was 16 and she was 6. The Jackson Five, with Michael out front as the lead singer, appeared at the MGM Grand Hotel April 9 through 23, 1974, and August 21 through Sept. 3, 1974.
Michael, taking time out from his studio recording session in New York to give EBONY an exclusive interview, recalls: "Her father [Elvis] used to bring her to catch our show where all nine of us [Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, Maureen 'Rebbie', LaToya and Janet, then 8] were performing... It was a real family show -- the only family show in Las Vegas which allowed children to come." He continued:
"Elvis would bring his daughter, Lisa Marie. She would sit right in the front and bodyguards would be right there. Afterwards, she would be escorted backstage and I would meet her and we would talk. This happened quite often. She would come again, again and again. It was quite an event.
"After that, I didn't see her for quite a while. You know, it was like ships passing in the night -- hello and goodbye." Lisa Marie married musician Danny Keough in 1988 and two children (Danielle, now 5, and Benjamin, 2) were born to this union. Differences that the couple did not reconcile resulted in a "quickie" divorce in the Dominican Republic last spring.
Three years ago when he started the DANGEROUS album, which featured such hits as "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," "Remember The Time," "She Drives Me Wild" and "Can't Let Her Get Away," Michael said their relationship reached a new plateau. "We sort of went out together. Then we would talk on the phone... I noticed that we had come closer. We went to Las Vegas for The Jackson Family Honors [in 1993]. We later traveled to Atlanta for (former) President Jimmy Carter to visit children, but no one knew that she was there with me.
"The brilliant thing about us is that we were often together but did not let anybody know about it. We got to see each other that way over the years. We were really quiet and comfortable with each other. That's pretty much how the dating started happening." It was during this period that Michael said their relationship changed from being good friends to lovers.
As a sensitive songwriter who deals with feelings that run the range of human emotions, Michael has an uncanny sense of the chemistry in writing songs. For him, that chemistry is inspiration. If you listen to the lyrics of "Remember The Time" and "I Can't Let Her Get Away," in the 1991 release of his DANGEROUS album, you conclude that Lisa Marie could have provided the inspiration.
She certainly provided the kind of support he needed in 1993 when he was going through legal trials and tribulations. "I was on tour and it seemed like I was in Armageddon -- Armageddon in the brains," Michael remembered. "All these horrible stories were going around about me. None was true. It was unbelievable. Lisa Marie would call. I could count my true friends on one hand. She was very, very supportive the whole time. That really impressed me. She would call and be crying. She was angry and really wanted to choke people.
"But, really, what impressed me was earthquake day in L.A. [June 28, 1993]," Michael says with an air of excitement. "On earthquake day, my phone just happened to be working. I was terrified -- almost out of my brains. I thought the world was ending. I got a phone call that day and it was from her, right after the quake."
Later, in London, where he underwent treatment for addiction to prescription drugs, Michael said that Lisa Marie gave him the impression that their relationship was moving them toward each other in ties that bind. "She would call me, but she didn't always get through to me. And that made it very frustrating for her. I got all the messages... She was very concerned."
It was after these experiences that Michael says he came to that moment when he had to say "This Girl Is Mine" and "The Way You Make Me Feel." (Michael chuckles at the play on the words of two of his best-selling songs.)
"It kind of unfolded," he said of the moment of truth. "We spent a lot of time on the ranch [his sprawling, multimillion-dollar Neverland] and just walked around and talked. It happened! It unfolded all natural. We could feel the feeling we had for each other without even talking about it. It was all in the vibrations, the feelings and the look in our eyes."
After he recounted how a friendship turned to romance, Michael was asked: "Who proposed, you or Lisa Marie?" He responded: "I proposed."
Blushing at the recollection, Michael said: "Well, first I asked -- I'm the shyest person in the world. I said to her -- we were on the phone -- 'If I asked you to marry me, would you?' She said, 'Of course!' Then there was silence. I said, 'Excuse me, I've got to go to the bathroom,' he laughed sheepishly. "So I came back. I didn't quite know what to say. But that's how it happened."
Following the telephone proposal and acceptance, the engaged couple promptly met at Neverland, where the romance started. It climaxed in marriage on May 26 in the Dominican Republic, proving that love conquers all.
The couple honeymooned briefly in Budapest, Hungary, where the bride shared some time with the groom on a film location, where he produced a promotional video for his upcoming album, 'HISTORY.' They also spent some time doing what they both love -- caring for children. They visited children's hospitals where they comforted the young patients and distributed toys.
This was a prelude to the priority they have agreed upon. The priority is not recording together, although Lisa Marie inherited her famous father's talent for singing and his estate valued at over $150 million. "All this talk about us recording together is a complete rumor," says Michael, whose financial worth is estimated to be over $200 million. "The thing we want to do most is centered around children. I never met anybody who cared so much about children the way I do. I get real emotional about children. Lisa Marie is the exact same way. Wherever we go, we visit children's hospitals. My dream is that when we go to South Africa and India, we will aid children," he discloses.
Asked about plans for their own children, he replied: "It's already happening." Then the fifth born of the nine Jacksons paused and added:
"I want more children than my father [Joseph] has."
Note: factual errors found in the article:
*The Jackson Family Honors was in Feb 94.
*The Los Angeles earthquake was January of 94 not June of 93.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Memories of a True Love
A friend suggested I took a look at this video and I absolutely fell in love with it. It captures Michael and Lisa at their happiest. It's sure to bring a smile to your face and perhaps a few tears as you think of what might have been if they could have worked things out.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Lisa Marie on Michael's Passing
He Knew.
Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.
I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death.
At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did."
I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.
14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.
A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened.
The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy.
All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.
I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.
Our relationship was not "a sham" as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a "Normal life" found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.
I wanted to "save him" I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened.
His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.
At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.
He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.
When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad.
Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.
I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.
I was in over my head while trying.
I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.
The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.
After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.
Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.
At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.
As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.
Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him.
He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.
I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.
He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.
I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is.
The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.
I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening.
~LMP
Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.
I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death.
At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did."
I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.
14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.
A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened.
The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy.
All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.
I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.
Our relationship was not "a sham" as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a "Normal life" found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.
I wanted to "save him" I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened.
His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.
At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.
He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.
When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad.
Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.
I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.
I was in over my head while trying.
I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.
The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.
After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.
Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.
At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.
As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.
Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him.
He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.
I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.
He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.
I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is.
The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.
I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening.
~LMP
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