Isn't it one of his self-penned songs? I appreciate it as a masterpiece, but I don't listen to it very much, it's kind of sad.

alphastreet said:

Like most of HIStory

I'm not sure why most fans think he self-penned most of HIStory. He did write TDCAU, Stranger in Moscow, Earth Song, DS, Little Susie, but the rest had co-writers on them like Dallas Austin, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, R. Kelly etc. Dallas Austin had a writing credit for songs like This Time Around, Tabloid Junkie, Money, I'm so sure of that.

because he wrote or cowrote everything except for smile, you are not alone and cometother

and no he wrote money alone

alphastreet said:

Full credits for HIStory make the "MJ wrote most of the songs himself" line sound easier said than done:

"Scream" (Harris/Lewis/Jackson/Jackson)
"They Don't Care About Us" (Jackson)
"Stranger in Moscow" (Jackson)
"This Time Around" (Moore/Austin/Swedien/Jackson/Wallace)
"Earth Song" (Jackson)
"D.S." (Jackson)
"Money" (Jackson)
"Come Together" (Lennon/McCartney)
"You Are Not Alone" (Kelly)
"Childhood" (Jackson)
"Tabloid Junkie" (Harris/Lewis/Jackson)
"2Bad" (Harris/Lewis/Jackson/O'Neal)
"HIStory" (Harris/Lewis/Jackson)
"Little Susie" (Jackson)
"Smile" (Chaplin)

Of the fifteen tracks, Michael wrote only seven by himself. The other eight had "co-writes" credited to Michael and others were either given to him ("You Are Not Alone") or cover songs ("Come Together", "Smile").

Plus some of the tracks MJ wrote with Teddy Riley was left off the album so that explains why the album has many Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were on most of it. Plus they helped arrange a lot of the tracks on the album, even the sole Jackson writes.

oh yeah he did write money, I haven't read the credits for years and it was a little fuzzy. I'm pretty sure Dallas Austin still had a credit somewhere in Money though if you read the full credits, unless I'm confusing it with 2bad

Timmy84 said:

I don't have the album with me at the moment but as far as I can remember sole Jackson writes were arranged by him or Bottrell and Swedien

alphastreet said:

I think it was 2Bad.

LightOfArt said:

D.S., I think, had Jam & Lewis arrangements.

LightOfArt said:

Like the song alot. You guys do know it samples "sunrise, sunset" from "fiddler on the roof" right? Good that Mike gives it credit.

This is the real him along with "smile" "lost children" "childhood". All those uber syrapy songs, thats as much apart of him as his standard rnb/pop songs. He obviously loves musical/theatrical songs, anyone who has listened to "elizabeth, I love you" would agree LOL. I swear he must be one of Striesands biggest fans. "Childhood" is so her LOL. Infact, it was rumoured she was the first choice to duet with him on "i just cant stop loving you",

I love these Disney/Webberesque songs he occasionally does. Much more interesting then his usual stuff. Pretensious? Hell yes, but thats Mike LOL. He should really write more songs like "little susie". I know he has it in him. Infact, David Foster got some of the best vocals outta adult Mike on "childhood" and "smile". I wish he would work with him again. Foster pushes people, and Mike still needs that.


Hey lightofart, funny it had to be you who mentioned this song. Its far-fetched, but its possible he coulda heard Valensia's "gaia" and used that as inspiration, as I could imagine him doing a song like "Little susie".

There's an obscure Valensia song made in 1994 called "singing the swan" thats really quite similar to "little susie". Atmosphere, strings, and the rather mauldin, tragic subject of a little girl dying are all the same. Far fetched? Yes, but its possible
[Edited 11/27/08 21:01pm]

I don't like to listen to it alot, it kind of brings the mood down you know?

thesexofit said:

Don't forget 'Scared Of The Moon'. Quite a cool track that I wish he finished.

MattyJam said:

Are you sure of that "Tregedy of cheerleader" title?as far as i know its an unreleased MJ song , and I know that Little susie was originally titled " susie" which was written in 79.....

It really makes sense that the song didn't see the light of the day until the history album , because it perfectly fits on the sound of the album , a painful album.....

as for the song itself, its a rare dark heartfelt melody that you rarely listen on the radio, its not radio friendly, but its will on always be one of my top 10 MJ songs, it proves that MJ is a genuis of a COMPOSER....Great song.
[Edited 11/28/08 7:40am]

LightOfArt said:

I've never heard this song before and I think it's fucking creepy. What the fuck was all that funeral singing shit at the beginning?

Possibly my least favorite track on possibly my favorite MJ album. It kills the vibe of the whole album for me, I just can't listen to it. I find it creepy, depressing, and generally just uninteresting.

Militant said:

But its creepiness is what makes it beautiful

Timmy84 said:

Add to that that he wrote the actual songs and lyrics of "This time around" and "2bad"! "Only" the music was done by Austin, Swedien and Moore! So you have 9 songs which were written by Michael!

There were some mistakes in the credits you posted... I've corrected them!
[Edited 11/28/08 9:28am]