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2013-09-07

MJ的藝術:讓我們更High(《Give In To Me》全面解讀)

 
 中文來源:mjjcn.com  翻譯:nickyli22


譯注:《Give In To Me》是很多人的最愛之一,最主要的原因自然是咱家老邁在MV裏的造型和演繹都性感無敵。不過,大家真的聽懂這首歌了嗎?看到下面這篇博文分析如此全面,忍不住翻譯過來跟大家分享:
這篇博文來自兩位非常受人尊敬的鐵杆歌迷WillaJoie開設的專門探討MJ藝術的博客:

DANCING WITH THE ELEPHANT
(與大象共舞)
Conversations about Michael Jackson, his art, and social change
(邁克爾·傑克遜及其藝術與社會變遷對話錄)

MJ的藝術:讓我們更High


201244
原文地址:MJ’s Art: Taking Us Higher
喬伊:幾周前,薇拉與我剛剛討論過,邁克爾在很多音樂短片中反復使用現場觀眾的鏡頭。我們已經談過很多關於現場演出形式錄影的話題——那種表現舞臺演唱會的音樂錄影,以及這種音樂錄影與真實演唱會錄影帶給人什麼樣的不同感覺。從那次對話以後,《Give In to Me》(屈從於我) 始終在我腦海中縈繞。繼315號發佈的那篇對話錄以後,我就開始一遍遍地反復觀看這部音樂錄影,然後我意識到音樂錄影和歌曲本身都傳遞了很多相當有意思的資訊。

以前常聽人把 Give In to Me》歸類為愛情歌曲,這讓我很困惑,因為我覺得根本不是這麼回事。對我來說,這首歌與愛無關,而是有關欲望。而且歌詞本身就相當直白。第一段歌詞中,他就向對方表達他的情欲,別試圖理解我/只需照我說的去做。第二段歌詞中,他告訴她,別試圖理解我/因為你的言語還不足夠

我覺得這裏還有更深層次的含義,後面馬上就會談到。不過,表面上看,我覺得他是在表達很基本的情感:性欲、欲望、和肉體上的滿足。他在告訴她,他不想與她有任何精神層面的聯繫。別試圖瞭解我,他反復唱到。然後他接著說:
愛是一種感覺        Love is a feeling   我要就給我                Give it when I want it    因為我欲火焚身        'Cause I'm on fire 滿足我的渴望        Quench my desire   我要就給我                Give it when I want it   說吧 女人                Talk to me woman   向我屈服                Give in to me   向我屈服                Give in to me



每次聽這首歌,我都會注意到我不想聽這句歌詞。整首歌曲中他重複了好幾遍,就好像在說他不想說話,只想做*愛。
薇拉: 我同意,尤其是他後面還唱了一句去跟牧師去說吧他就好象在說,省下那些甜言蜜語,去告訴在乎的人,因為我不在乎。他只希望她滿足我的欲望,不要說話。牧師可能會在乎愛與承諾,但我不想聽

喬伊:這樣說實在是太麻木、太冷漠、太無情。而這很難與我們熟悉的邁克爾傑克遜聯繫起來,可他的確這樣唱了。他自己是不是這樣感覺,我們永遠無從得知——而且根本不關我們任何事。但他的確寫了這麼一首歌,而且以相當令人信服的方式表演出來。他歌聲中明顯的沮喪與情欲張力,加上灼熱的音樂節奏,成就了一首非常性感的歌曲。
薇拉: 喬伊,你剛剛說的這些非常有意思,因為一方面我完全明白你在說什麼。這首歌中有些歌詞,如果是我在乎的人跟我這樣說,我會感覺非常難以接受——比如別試圖理解我/只需照我說的去做。我能理解你為什麼會把注意力集中到這句歌詞上,因為我也發現這句很突兀。我認識的女子中沒人會忍受這種話。雖然我們需要記住的是,這只是邁克爾傑克遜在歌中唱的一個角色而已,並不一定是他自己的真實想法和感受,但還是讓人很震驚,因為這完全不符合他的性格。

喬伊: 太對了!
薇拉:不過我在嘗試以不同的方式解讀這首歌。我也贊同《Give In to Me》講述的是激情——而且其中絕對有性的激情成分,正如音樂錄影中那些情欲畫面所展現出來的。但這也是一首講述藝術激情的歌曲。我們已經探討過很多次,邁克爾傑克遜經常將他與觀眾的關係比作戀愛關係。我們能在他的很多作品中看到這種雙重關係,比如Dirty DianaRemember the TimeWho Is ItBlood on the Dance FloorYou Rock My World,和One More Chance等等。我在這裏也看到了同樣的雙重關係。實際上非常明顯——畢竟他在這支音樂錄影並沒有跟女人一道出現在畫面中。他在舞臺上對著觀眾演唱。但音樂錄影的畫面不斷來回切換到那些相當性感的畫面,所以給我感覺他是在有意將戀人的親密畫面與他在舞臺上的創作激情相提並論。

喬伊: 同意,完全是有意的。這就是我前面提到的更深層的含義


薇拉:我也這樣想——就象他其他很多作品一樣,你還沒開始深究就能憑直覺感覺到有更深層的含義。如果我們這樣看待那幾句讓人不舒服的歌詞——就好像藝術家在跟觀眾說話一樣——就相當說的通了。當他說別試圖理解我向我屈服時,他的意思是說我們應當別再對他的感情生活、他的大蟒蛇、他家中的人偶模型等等等等亂加猜測,別再從心理上分析他與父母和兄弟姐妹的關係——換句話說,我們不應再以這種方式看待他的私生活或嘗試理解他——相反,我們只需要向作為藝術家的他屈服,讓我們接受他藝術力量的洗滌。
不過,一如既往的是,我並不認為我們需要從中選擇一種方式來解讀他的作品。我們可以同時以兩種方式來解讀。對我而言,這首歌同時講述了情欲的激情和創作激情。

喬伊:薇拉,我完全同意你的說法,雖然我不喜歡用情欲激情的說法。我覺得這暗示了情愛關係的存在,但顯然並不是這麼回事。但我找不到更合適的辭彙,所以我們說的應該是同一回事,即基本的情欲——沒有任何附加條件的滿足。

至於藝術家與觀眾之間的關係——我覺得我們需要看看這裏他在對他的哪一部分觀眾講述。很顯然,他並不是在跟我們這些已經是他鐵杆粉絲的人講話,否則他就會表達愛的情感。我覺得這是又一首他唱給那些批評他生活方式古怪讓他悲傷委屈的觀眾的歌。那些人忙於猜測流言蜚語和他的私生活而無法再享受他的音樂。就像你說的,他們忙著從心理上分析他的行為。



不過,即使我認為這首歌的主題主要是情欲,我還是在第二段歌詞中看到一些其他很有意思的資訊,而音樂錄影也似乎有所呼應。第二段歌詞中他說,
你總能戳中我的痛處        You always know just how to make me cry   我卻從未問過你為何        And never did I ask you questions why    看來你以傷害我為樂        It seems you get your kicks from hurting me
然後在橋段中,他繼續說,
你和你的朋友                You and your friends在城中將我嘲笑                Were laughing at me in town不過沒關係                        But it’s okay沒關係                        And it’s okay當我不在你身邊的時候,姑娘You won’t be laughing, girl你就笑不出來了                When I’m not around我會很好                        I’ll be okay我會去尋求                        And I … I gotta find那內心的平靜                Gotta … some peace of mind, oh

所以,即便他一方面在說不想跟這個女人有任何情感糾葛,緊接著下一句卻又在表達他因為她對待他的方式而感到很受傷。我們在音樂錄影中也能看到這一點。表面上這是一支普通的現場演唱會形式的音樂錄影,但背景裏一些很有意思的畫面才真正吸引了我的注意力。與演唱會畫面相互穿插的是那些多對不同的情侶親吻愛撫的性感畫面。可是其中突然有一對情侶激烈爭吵,男人因為女友而非常煩擾,而我們這些螢幕下的觀眾則能真切感受到他的失落。他們在耳語和對視的時候,還有大概是旁人嘲笑他的畫面。他憤而離去,開始摔砸周遭的東西。
薇拉,帶著這種雙重解讀再繼續看這首歌/音樂錄影,如果他是在跟我先前提到的那部分觀眾對話,那麼第二段和橋段中的歌詞就非常合乎情理了。

薇拉:同意。你能想像他將全部身心投入到一張專輯,所有的付出卻只得到那些所謂評論家的冷嘲熱諷嗎?設想一下你會有什麼感覺。就是每次我聽到你和你的朋友/在城中將我嘲笑這句歌詞的感覺。他是預言家:他知道自己作品的價值,他知道自己的作品很超前,他知道那些評價不對。可那樣的評價還是會讓他難過——那麼努力才誕生的作品卻被如此誤解和低估。但他也很瞭解藝術的歷史,他知道評論界總有一天會懂得欣賞他的作品。這就是當我不在你身邊的時候,姑娘/你就笑不出來了這句歌詞給我的感受。事實已經證明的確是這樣,而且我們也已經親眼看到。現在他已經不在,很多人開始發現或重新發現他的作品,開始認識到他有多麼不可思議和重要。

喬伊:太正確了!這是不是很讓人稱奇?為什麼我們只有失去以後才會覺得珍貴?我想到我奶奶以前常說的一些話,她常說趁我還在這兒能享受的時候給我送花。年紀稍微小一些的時候,我還不是特別能理解這句話。現在年紀大一些了,周圍一些我非常在乎的人漸漸離去,包括她,現在我能完全理解這句話了。為什麼我們人性中總有那麼一部分要把所有這一切都視為理所當然呢?
不過話說回來,你說到把所有身心都投入到專輯的製作中得到的卻只是評論界的冷嘲熱諷……我甚至無法想像那是什麼感覺。我的意思是,我會認為將自己完全奉獻給藝術得需要多麼大的勇氣,就像你說的,刻苦勞動,注入自己的靈魂,然後又勇敢地拿出來與全世界分享。僅僅是跟你一起寫這篇博文對我來說就已經是邁出了非常重大的一步。薇拉,你還記得我當初有多緊張嗎?

薇拉: 我也一樣!
喬伊:我無法想像做邁克爾所作的那些事。每次想到他的生活和他所有的成就,我都為這個男人感到讚歎不已。太讓人稱奇了。

薇拉: 是啊,我覺得在《Give In to Me》中,通過將藝術創作與所有那些情欲激情相提並論,他在同時表達藝術創作的愉悅和痛苦,被千千萬萬能夠或不能夠理解他的人們所見證的藝術創作。
不過我覺得這並不只是隱喻。他應該是真的看到藝術激情與情欲激情之間有聯繫。1982年接受傑瑞赫爾希(Gerri Hirshey)的訪問時,他告訴她,

在舞臺上表演有一種魔力。獨一無二的魔力。你可以感覺到每個在座的人的能量與激情遍佈全身。當燈光照到你時,我發誓,到處都是激情。
赫爾希注意到,他在說這些話的時候,他現在露出了微笑,坐得挺直,似乎要演示對地球引力的失重狀態。他的媽媽告訴赫爾希,他每個周日都會禁食,然後連續數小時跳舞,這是每星期的宗教儀式,他的兒子會舒適的躺著,或流汗、大哭、大笑。赫爾希繼續寫道,

這樣的舉動和邁克爾的表演有相似之處。……他走上單飛之路,決不是暫時的。他可以使他的身體在沒有溜冰鞋的幫助下,作出像花樣滑冰選手那樣的高難度旋轉。在他耀眼閃亮的銀色服裝的襯托下,他似乎可以任意改變分子結構。有一點是可以肯定的,他每次作旋轉動作時,眼睛往往是閉著的,他的臉朝著上方,似乎沉浸於一種無形的冥想中。他瘦瘦的胸部抬起,喘息,震顫,尖叫。人們知道,他經常跳離舞臺,並攀入繩索道具。

在另外一篇訪談中,他談到在舞臺上表演,燈光照到他時的感覺,就好象電光一樣讓人興奮——就像《Give In to Me》音樂錄影中藍色電光從他身上竄過一樣。尤其是快結尾的時候,我們看到美麗的藍色電光如火花一般在他全身上下流竄。當他描述自己在舞臺上表演的感覺時,那種方式非常情欲。我覺得在《Give In to Me》中,他試圖跟我們這些從來沒有上臺表演過的人們分享他在舞臺上表演的感覺——赫爾希總結得非常好,他似乎要演示對地球引力的失重狀態

喬伊: 他在那篇訪談中試圖描述狂喜的感覺。
薇拉: 完全正確。他在試圖向我們這些從來沒有這種經歷的人講述那種無以言表的感覺。我在馬丁巴舍爾那部臭名昭著的紀錄片開頭也看到了非常類似的說法。我知道很多人都很抵制看那部紀錄片,我可以理解,不過我們可以看看開頭部分:



大概30秒的時候邁克爾提到了古典音樂。大概3分的時候他試圖向巴舍爾解釋他那讓人即著魔又沮喪的創作過程。然後大概11分的時候,他告訴巴舍爾我喜歡爬樹。這是我的一大愛好,打水氣球仗和爬樹。這兩樣我都喜歡。巴舍爾當然抓住機會,立刻小題大做地問,難道你不喜歡做*愛?邁克爾傑克遜帶著寬容的微笑,很耐心地解釋說他說的是愛好,不是激情。正如他所說,爬樹是他休閒玩樂時的一大愛好,不能跟表演相提並論。別人喜歡踢足球、打籃球,我喜歡爬樹。這段對話中吸引我注意力的是,對於巴舍爾而言,激情的終極表達方式是性愛。而對邁克爾傑克遜而言,激情可以更為深遠——創作激情的痛苦與狂喜。這種激情是巴舍爾永遠無法瞭解的,他不但不懂,甚至還弄巧成拙。我看到這一段時候的感覺是,哇噢,邁克爾傑克遜體驗過我們多數人無法想像的情感強度。

喬伊: 薇拉,你說的有可能非常對。他在生活中的確體驗過很多事情,有高潮也有低潮,而那是我們多數人永遠都無法理解的。所以,當我坐下來思考他經歷過的那些事和他令人驚異的事業,我只能再次稱奇不已。

非常有意思、也非常能說明問題的是,顯然他將性愛與表演相提並論。他說不能(將爬樹)跟表演相提並論。巴舍爾在說性,而在邁克爾看來,性愛等同於上臺表演。對他而言,那是唯一能跟性的激情中所體驗到的所有激烈情感相提並論的事。這非常有意思!



不過提到音樂錄影,我得說自始至終這都是我的最愛之一。我喜歡音樂錄影給人的那種黑暗的、強烈的情感,我喜歡整個演唱會的創意,看邁克爾與台下的歌迷和臺上與他一同表演的其他人互動。邁克爾自己說過拍攝這部音樂錄影只用了兩個小時,這讓我很震驚。在奧普拉訪談中首播這部音樂錄影前,他們這樣說到:
奧普拉:很性感。
邁克爾:對。

奧普拉:我們想知道這首歌是怎麼從紙上的歌詞變成現在這樣的? 邁克爾:噢,說到《Give  In  To  Me》,當時我是想寫一首像《Beat  It》和《Black  or  White》一樣帶一點搖滾味道的刺激有趣的歌曲。我的好朋友Slash……我也想讓他在我的歌裏彈吉他。後來我們碰頭一起去了德國,在兩個小時內拍好了這部音樂錄影。因為當時我們時間安排都很滿,抽不出空來拍。我們希望把它拍得激動人心,美好,有很多粉絲,就像是搖滾演唱會一樣,然後就這樣了這就是我們的成果。

他說得很輕鬆,就好像人人都能做到一樣!每次看到這裏我都會忍不住笑出來。
薇拉: 他的確是,他在訪談中總是很低調 ,而這完全就是他的性格。不過,即便如此,他們能在兩個小時內拍好的也只是演唱會部分的鏡頭,除此之外這部音樂錄影還有很多工作要做。還有那些性感激情的畫面。不過他將兩者相提並論的方式真是非常有意思。
喬伊: 音樂錄影的導演是Andy Moharan,除了Slash,還有同樣來自槍花的吉比克拉克(Gilby Clarke)和巡演鍵盤手泰迪安德列斯(Teddy Andreadis)也友情出演。臺上有這麼多音樂天才,台下有興奮尖叫的歌迷,所以演唱會鏡頭給人非常真實的感覺。

薇拉:的確是這樣,而且那種很強烈的興奮感從體驗上和主題上而言都對這部音樂錄影非常重要。他希望我們能夠感受到他的感受。他希望我們體驗他在舞臺上體驗到的藝術激情,而他通過台下尖叫的歌迷、戀人們的性感激情畫面、在他全身上下流竄的藍色電光、他令人難以置信的歌喉、他身體舞動的方式等等創造出那樣的情感強度——喬伊,我能理解為什麼這是你的最愛之一了,我得來杯冰水,很冰的水冷靜一下。
喬伊: 嗯,這裏的確開始熱了。

薇拉: 真的是!不過我想回到你之前說到的那些性感激情畫面,以及那對戀人如何吵架的鏡頭。我之前還真沒注意到這一點,等我返回去仔細觀看以後發現,還真是的,那些鏡頭非常有意思,尤其是他在舞臺上對他們在台下的表現作出回應。開頭的時候,男子好像在低聲安慰女友,試圖平息女友的情緒,與此同時邁克爾則對著麥克風溫柔唱道:
她的心冷硬如石                        She always takes it with a heart of stone她所做的就是將一切推給我        ‘Cause all she does is throws it back to me我用畢生時間去找尋一個人          I spent a lifetime looking for someone別試圖理解我                        Don’t try to understand me只需照我說的去做                Just simply do the things I say
然後,等到女子一把掌摑男子,開始與他爭吵時,邁克爾也進入高潮段落,他的聲音更大更為激動:
愛是一種感覺                Love is a feeling   我要就給我                        Give it when I want it    因為我欲火焚身                'Cause I'm on fire 滿足我的渴望                Quench my desire   我要就給我                        Give it when I want it   說吧 女人                        Talk to me woman   向我屈服                        Give in to me   向我屈服                        Give in to me
說實話,如果有人這樣跟我說話,我會感覺非常受傷,很可能也會扇他一巴掌。我還從來沒扇過別人,如果有人這樣說話我就可能會扇!然後,當男子揉著臉的時候,邁克爾的聲音又變柔和了,開始靜靜地唱起第二段歌詞:
你總能戳中我的痛處        You always knew just how to make me cry   我卻從未問過你為何        And never did I ask you questions why    看來你以傷害我為樂        It seems you get your kicks from hurting me 別試圖理解我                Don’t try to understand me因為你的言語已不足夠        Because your words just aren’t enough

所以他在告訴我們,這不僅僅是一次爭吵,而是始終存在的問題——就像他唱的,你總能戳中我的痛處。當他唱這句詞的時候,我們看到那對戀人正在試圖和解,但他們之間隔了一道鐵柵欄。儘管他們抓住柵欄用力搖晃,他們之間還是有一道不可逾越的障礙。他們可以隔著柵欄說話,但他們的言語已不足夠。最後,男子沮喪地蹣跚走開,靠在柵欄上,用腳踢著柵欄。到這裏他已經說不出話——因為再沒有言語要說——邁克爾傑克遜也是如此。他在舞臺上完全靜默,旋轉,抱著胳膊,而電吉他則在一旁奏出狂暴的solo

這時候開始真正有意思了,因為臺上和台下的情形開始完全分離。到此之前,舞臺上的表演與舞臺下完全並行。但現在分道揚鑣了。台下,男子與女友又在一起,男子試圖隔這柵欄親吻她,二人似乎都在努力,但他們似乎相當沮喪不滿。可臺上——我的天,我得再來一大杯冰水才行,邁克爾傑克遜好像在臺上要達到高潮了:電吉他狂風暴雨一般在咆哮,他則瘋狂地舞動,藍色的電光嘶嘶地在他全身上下竄動,煙火慢慢熄滅,蒸汽包圍住他,而他的歌聲則在悸動,向我屈服。向我屈服。向我屈服。乖乖,太強烈了。

喬伊: 哇噢,太……棒了,薇拉。非常……非常……棒。希望你也感覺很棒!
薇拉: 說實話我覺得有點虛弱。難怪他能賣出那麼多唱片。一部分的我希望就著一大罐冰茶慢慢冷靜下來,一遍一遍看這部音樂錄影——就照他說的那樣做,屈服於這樣的體驗,完全沉浸在其中,享受這樣的體驗。相信我,對此我完全沒有任何問題!

可是我的職業背景(譯注:薇拉是英語文學博士)又讓我想搞清楚那是什麼意思,就好像他在說,雖然情欲激情有極限,藝術激情卻沒有。我們生活在一個有著不完美關係的不完美世界裏,人們要想真正心靈相通瞭解彼此是非常困難的,我們的性生活也反映出這一點。性關係應該是美妙無比,令人愉悅,讓心靈更為飽滿,比如你與夢中情人非常接近,但他們也會非常困擾、痛苦、和沮喪,就像你隔著鐵柵欄親吻你的愛人。但藝術在很多方面都是真實生活的昇華。所以,從藝術角度而言,你可以承受這樣的沮喪,昇華它,通過藝術釋放出來,發現超越情欲的激情。

喬伊:嗯,我百分百地同意你的觀點。我覺得他是在嘗試與我們這些凡人分享他在舞臺上感受到的激情。他在試圖解釋表演時體驗到的狂喜感覺,老天,他是有多麼天才!就像我說過的,這是我最愛的音樂錄影之一,但我卻永遠解釋不清為什麼。以前我還從來沒有跟別人一起坐下來這樣細細分析。現在我們這樣分析過以後,我無法抑制想要擁抱。以後我再也不會帶著同樣的感覺來觀看這部音樂錄影了。(結束)




MJ’s Art: Taking Us Higher

Posted by Willa and Joie
Joie:  A few weeks ago, Willa and I were talking about Michael’s repeated use of an on-screen audience in many of his short films. And during that conversation, we talked a lot about the performance videos – the videos that portray a “staged” concert – and how they have a different feeling about them than simply watching actual concert footage. Well, since that discussion, I have not been able to get Give In to Me out of my head. I started watching it over and over shortly after we posted Part 1 of the on-screen audience conversation and what I realized is that there are a lot of interesting things going on in both the video and the song.
I have often heard “Give In to Me” described as a love song and that always puzzles me because, in my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth here. To me, this is not a song about love; it’s a song about lust. And it’s really very raw and frank in its lyrics. In the first verse, he tells the object of his desire, “Don’t try to understand me / Just simply do the things I say.” Then in the second verse, he tells her, “Don’t try to understand me / because your words just aren’t enough.”
I believe there is something much deeper going on here, and we’ll get to that in a minute. But, on the surface, I believe he’s talking about very base emotions: sexual desire, lust, physical satisfaction. He’s telling her that he doesn’t want to connect with her on any emotional level. “Don’t try to understand me,” he repeatedly sings. Then he goes on to say this:
Love is a feeling Quench my desire Give it when I want it Taking me higher Love is a woman I don’t wanna hear it Give in to me Give in to me
Every time I listen to this song, I’m struck by that line, “I don’t wanna hear it.” He repeats it several times throughout the song. It’s like he’s saying he doesn’t want to talk at all, he just wants to have sex.
Willa:  I agree, especially when he follows it up with the line, “Tell it to the preacher.” It’s like he’s saying, save the romantic talk for someone who cares, because I don’t. He just wants her to “quench my desire” and be quiet about it. A preacher may care about love and commitment, but “I don’t want to hear it.”
Joie:  It’s such an insensitive, cold, unfeeling thing to say, and those are attributes that we don’t usually associate with Michael Jackson but, there it is. Whether he himself ever felt this way, we will never know – and it’s totally none of our business anyway. But he did write a song about it and performed it very convincingly. The frustration and sexual tension in his vocal delivery is palpable, and combined with the sultry rhythm of the music it makes for one very sexy song.
Willa:  You know, everything you’ve just said is so interesting, Joie, because on the one hand, I know exactly what you’re saying. There are some lines in this song that, if someone I cared about said them to me, I would find pretty hard to take – lines like “Don’t try to understand me / Just simply do the things I say.” I can understand why you zeroed in on that one because it really jumps out at me too. No woman I know would tolerate something like that. And while we need to keep in mind that these are the words of a character Michael Jackson is portraying in song and not necessarily his own thoughts and feelings, it’s still a shock because they seem to completely contradict everything he was about.
Joie:  Exactly!
Willa:  But I tend to interpret this in a different way. I agree that “Give In to Me” is a song about passion – and sexual passion is definitely part of that, as we see in those steamy images in the video. But it’s also a song about artistic passion. As we’ve talked about many times, Michael Jackson frequently represents his relationship with his audience as a love affair. We see that double relationship throughout his work: in Dirty Diana, Remember the Time, Who Is It, Blood on the Dance Floor, You Rock My World, and One More Chance, to name a few. And I see that same parallel relationship here. In fact, it’s very explicit – after all, he isn’t with a woman in the images for this video. He’s on stage, singing to an audience. But he keeps cutting to some pretty steamy scenes, so it seems to me that he’s very deliberately juxtaposing those scenes of couples in a sexual passion with him on stage in a creative passion.
Joie:  I agree, it is very deliberate, isn’t it? And that’s the “something deeper” that I alluded to earlier.
Willa:  I think so too – as with a lot of his work, you can intuitively feel that “something deeper” even before you dig in to see what that something is. And if we look at those troublesome lines that way – as an artist speaking to his audience – they make a lot more sense. When he says, “Don’t try to understand me” and “Give in to me,” he means we should stop speculating about his love life and his boa constrictors and his mannequins and on and on, and stop trying to psychoanalyze his relationship with his father and his mother and his siblings – in other words, we should stop looking at his personal life and stop trying to understand him that way – and instead, we should simply “give in” to him as an artist, and let ourselves be swept up by the power of his art.
But as usual with his work, I don’t see this as an either/or situation, meaning I don’t think we have to choose one interpretation over the other. Instead, I see it functioning both ways. To me, this is a song about sexual passion AND creative passion, and it explores both at the same time.
Joie:  Willa, I agree with you completely, although I don’t like to use the words “sexual passion.” To me, that implies a loving relationship is in existence here but, that’s clearly not the case. But for lack of a better word or phrase to use, I think we’re talking about the same thing here. Basic lust – no strings attached gratification.
As for the relationship between the artist and his audience – I think we have to look at which segment of his audience he is really speaking to here. Clearly he’s not addressing those of us who were already on his side or he would be expressing feelings of love. I think this is another one of those songs where his intended audience is everyone who’s giving him grief over his eccentric lifestyle. All those people who are so busy speculating about the rumors and his private life that they can’t enjoy the music anymore. They’re too busy trying to psychoanalyze him, as you said.
But you know, Willa, even though I see this mainly as a song about lust, I also see something else very interesting happening in the song itself, which the short film sort of echoes. In the second verse he says,
You always knew just how to make me cry And never did I ask you questions why It seems you get your kicks from hurting me  
Then, in the bridge of the song, he goes on to say,
You and your friends Were laughing at me in town But it’s okay And it’s okay You won’t be laughing, girl When I’m not around I’ll be okay And I … I gotta find Gotta … some peace of mind, oh  
So, even though on the one hand, he says he doesn’t want any emotional entanglements with this woman, in the very next breath he’s expressing his hurt feelings over the way she treats him. And we see this in the video as well. On the surface, it’s just a simple performance video but there are some interesting things happening in the background that really catch my eye. Interspersed with the “concert” are these really sexy shots of various couples kissing and touching each other. Then suddenly one of those couples is in the midst of a heated argument. The man is very upset with his girlfriend and we – the off-screen audience – can really feel his frustration. There are shots of people laughing – presumably at him – as they whisper and stare. He storms off and begins throwing things around.
Willa, continuing to view this song/video with this dual interpretation in mind, those lines in the second verse and in the bridge of the song make so much sense if he’s talking to that segment of his audience I mentioned earlier.
Willa:  Oh, I agree, Joie. Can you imagine putting your heart and soul into an album, and then having snarky critics mock you for your efforts? Just imagine what that would feel like. And that’s exactly what I think of every time I hear that line, “You and your friends / Were laughing at me in town.” He was a visionary:  he knew the value of his work, he knew it was ahead of its time, and he knew those critics were wrong. But still, that had to sting – to work so hard on something and have it be so horribly misunderstood and under-appreciated. But he was also very knowledgeable about art history, and he knew critics would come to appreciate his work some day. And that’s what I think of when I hear the lines, “You won’t be laughing, girl / When I’m not around.” And it’s proven to be true. We can see it happening already. Now that he’s gone, a lot of people are discovering or rediscovering his work, and starting to realize just how incredible and important it is.
Joie:  That is so true! And isn’t it amazing? Why is it that we never seem to appreciate the good things until they’re gone and it’s much too late? It makes me think of something my grandmother used to say quite a bit. She would always say ‘give me my flowers while I’m still here to enjoy them.’ And when I was younger, I didn’t really understand that. But now that I’m older and I’ve lost a few people who meant a great deal to me – her included – I understand so completely. What is it about human nature that makes us take so much for granted?
But getting back to what you were saying about putting your heart and soul into an album only to have critics mock your efforts … no, I can’t even begin to imagine what that must feel like. I mean, I would think it must be such a huge act of courage to devote yourself to your art – to labor over it and pour your soul into it, as you said – and then to actually be brave enough to share it with the world. Just writing this blog with you was such a major step outside of my comfort zone, Willa. And you remember how nervous I was about that!
Willa:  Oh, me too!
Joie:  I can’t imagine doing anything on the scale that Michael was doing it. That man just amazes me every time I think about his life and all that he accomplished. It just boggles my mind.
Willa:  I agree, and I think that in Give In to Me he’s dealing with both the exhilaration and the pain of that – of creating art that is witnessed by millions of people who may or may not understand it – by connecting it with all the intensely felt emotions surrounding sexual desire.
But I don’t think this is just a metaphor for him. I think he really did see a connection between artistic passion and sexual passion. In a wonderful 1982 interview with Gerri Hirshey, he told her,
“Being on stage is magic. There’s nothing like it. You feel the energy of everybody who’s out there. You feel it all over your body. When the lights hit you, it’s all over, I swear it is.”
Hirshey notes that, as he talks, “He is smiling now, sitting upright, trying to explain weightlessness to the earth-bound.” His mother told Hirshey that he fasted and danced for hours every Sunday, “a weekly ritual that leaves her son laid out, sweating, laughing and crying.” Hirshey goes on to write,
“It is also a ritual very similar to Michael’s performances. … There is nothing tentative about his solo turns. He can tuck his long, thin frame into a figure skater’s spin without benefit of ice or skates. Aided by the burn and flash of silvery body suits, he seems to change molecular structure at will, all robot angles one second and rippling curves the next. So sure is the body that his eyes are often closed, his face turned upward to some unseen muse. The bony chest heaves. He pants, bumps and squeals. He has been known to leap offstage and climb the rigging. At home, in his room, he dances until he falls down.”
In another interview, he talked about how, when he’s on stage and the lights hit him, it just feels electric – like electricity is playing across his skin – and that’s represented visually in Give In to Me. Especially near the end, we see blue streaks of electricity racing across the surface of his body. It’s really erotic, the way he describes the experience of being on stage, and I think in Give In to Me he’s trying to share that feeling with those of us who’ve never performed – as Hirshey put it so well, he’s “trying to explain weightlessness to the earth-bound.”
Joie:  What he’s trying to describe in that interview is the feeling of ecstasy.
Willa:  Exactly. He’s trying to express an inexplicable feeling to those of us who’ve never experienced it. I see something very similar in the beginning of Martin Bashir’s notorious documentary. I know a lot of people are morally opposed to watching the Bashir documentary, and I can understand that, but if you want to see the intro part, here it is.
About 30 seconds in there’s the reference to “classical” music that Utravioletrae mentioned in an intriguing comment last week. About 3 minutes in he tries to explain his creative process to Bashir, which is both fascinating and frustrating. And then about 11 minutes in he tells Bashir, “I love climbing trees. I think it’s my favorite thing. Having water balloon fights and climbing trees. I think those two are my favorite.”  Bashir immediately sensationalizes it, of course, saying, “Don’t you prefer making love?”  Michael Jackson just looks at him with this indulgent little smile and very patiently explains that he’s talking about hobbies, not passions. As he says, climbing trees is one of his favorite things “as my pastime fun. I can’t compare it to performing. Other people like to play football or basketball. I like to climb trees.”
What catches my attention in this conversation is that, for Bashir, the ultimate expression of passion is “making love.” But Michael Jackson knows a passion that goes even beyond that – the agony and the ecstasy of creative passion. It’s a type of passion Bashir will never know, and he doesn’t understand it and even kind of ridicules it. But I look at that scene and think, wow, Michael Jackson experienced intensities of emotion most of us can’t even imagine.
Joie:  And you’re probably very right about that, Willa. He did experience things in his life – both highs and lows – that most of us will never be able to begin to comprehend. And again, it just boggles my mind when I sit and think about the events of his life and his amazing career.
And, it is very interesting – and also very telling – that he obviously equates making love with performing. “I can’t compare it to performing,” he says. Bashir is talking about sex and, in Michael’s mind, “making love” equals being onstage. To him, that’s the only thing that can rival all the intense emotions one goes through when caught up in a sexual passion. That is fascinating!
But getting back to the video for a minute, I have to say that this has always been one of my very favorite short films. I love how dark and intense it feels, and I love the whole “concert” set up and watching Michael interact both with the fans in the crowd and with the other musicians on stage with him. You know, Michael himself said that this entire video was shot in just about two hours, which shocks me. When it debuted during his famous interview with Oprah, this is what they said about it:
Oprah: Sexy.
Michael: Yeah.
Oprah: So, we want to know how it starts on a piece of paper … quench my desire … and turns into that.  
Michael: Well, “Give In To Me,” I wanted to write another song, you know, that was kinda exciting and fun and had a rock edge to it. You know, like when I did “Beat It” and “Black or White.” And Slash, who’s a dear friend of mine … I wanted him to play guitar [on it]. We got together and we went to Germany and we shot this thing in just like two hours. We had no time at all to shoot it. We wanted it to be exciting and fantastical and fans, you know, like it’s a rock concert and that’s how it ends up, that’s the result.  
He makes it all sound so effortless, doesn’t he? Like, ‘oh anybody can do that!’ I just crack up every time I read that.
Willa:  He really does, though he almost always understated things in interviews, so it’s completely in character for him to say that. But even so, it was only the concert footage that they were able to shoot in two hours – and as you pointed out earlier, there’s a lot more going on in this video than just the concert footage. There are all those steamy scenes, and then the way he juxtaposes them is so interesting.
Joie:  The video was directed by Andy Moharan and features not only Slash, who at the time was still with rock group Guns ‘N Roses, but also GnR’s Gilby Clarke makes an uncredited appearance as well as Teddy Andreadis, who was GnR’s touring keyboardist at the time. So the concert scenes really have an authentic feel to them with all the talent on the stage and the excitement from the screaming fans in the crowd.
Willa:  It’s true, it does, and that intense excitement is really important to this video, both experientially and thematically. He wants us to feel what he feels. He wants us to experience the intensity of the artistic passion he feels on stage, and he creates that intensity through the screaming crowd, and the steamy scenes of couples in a sexual passion, and the jolts of lightning playing across his skin, and his incredible voice, and the way his body moves, and, wow – I can understand why this is one of your favorite videos, Joie! I think I need a drink of water – really cold water.
Joie:  Mmm, it is getting warm in here, isn’t it?
Willa:  It really is! But I want to get back to those steamy scenes you were describing earlier, Joie, and how that one couple is fighting. I’d never really noticed that until you mentioned it and then described it in detail, but I went back and looked and, you’re right, those scenes are so interesting, especially the way he echoes on stage what they’re doing off stage. At the beginning, the guy is murmuring reassurances to his girlfriend, trying to soothe things over, as Michael Jackson sings softly into the microphone:
She always takes it with a heart of stone ‘Cause all she does is throws it back to me I spent a lifetime looking for someone Don’t try to understand me Just simply do the things I say
Then, as the woman slaps the man’s face and begins arguing with him, Michael Jackson’s voice becomes much louder and harsher as he breaks into the chorus:
Love is a feeling Give it when I want it ‘Cause I’m on fire Quench my desire Give it when I want it Talk to me, woman Give in to me Give in to me
Frankly, if someone talked to me like that, I’d feel really hurt and maybe want to slap his face too. I’ve never actually slapped anyone before, but I just might if they acted like that!  And then, as the man rubs his face from the slap, Michael Jackson’s voice softens and he begins quietly singing the second verse, which you quoted earlier:
You always knew just how to make me cry And never did I ask you questions why It seems you get your kicks from hurting me Don’t try to understand me Because your words just aren’t enough
So he’s telling us this isn’t just a one-time argument but a perpetual problem – as he sings, “You always knew just how to make me cry.”  And as he sings this verse, we see the couple trying to reconcile, but there’s an iron fence between them. There’s a barrier they can’t get through, though they grab it and shake it. They can speak through it, but their “words just aren’t enough.” Finally, the man staggers away in frustration, leans on the fence, kicks at it. By this point he’s inarticulate – there’s nothing more to say – and so is Michael Jackson. The electric guitar goes off on a raging solo while he remains completely silent, spinning and hugging himself on stage.
This is when things get really interesting, because suddenly the on screen images and off screen images diverge. So far, what’s happening on stage has precisely paralleled what’s happening off stage. But now it bifurcates. Off stage, the man reunites with his girlfriend, sort of: he’s trying to kiss her through the iron fence and they’re making the best of it, but they both seem pretty frustrated and unsatisfied. But on stage – oh my gosh. I need another long drink of cold water because Michael Jackson is, like, climaxing on stage: the electric guitars are going crazy, he’s in a dancing frenzy, blue electricity is sizzling all over his body, pyrotechnics are going off, steam is shooting up around him, and his voice is throbbing, “Give in to me. Give in to me. Give in to me.” Oh my. It is intense.
Joie:  Wow. … That was … good, Willa. That … was really … really … good. I hope it was good for you too!
Willa:  Actually, I’m feeling kinda woozy. No wonder he sold a gazillion records. So part of me wants to just settle in with a nice pitcher of iced tea and watch this video over and over again – just do what he says, “give in” to the experience, and just immerse myself in it and enjoy it. Believe me, I have no problem with that at all!
But then the English major part of me wants to figure out what it means, and it seems like he’s saying that, while sexual passion has its limits, artistic passion doesn’t. We live in an imperfect world with imperfect relationships, where it’s very difficult for people to really connect and understand each other, and our sex lives reflect that. Sexual relationships can be beautiful and exhilarating and nourishing to the spirit, like you’re closer to the person you love than you ever dreamed possible, but they can also be confusing and painful and frustrating, like you’re trying to kiss the person you love through an iron fence. But in many ways, art is a heightened version of real life. So artistically, you can take that frustration, sublimate it, release it through art, and discover a passion beyond sexual desire.
Joie:  Well, I think I agree with you 100% on this one. I think he was attempting to share what it feels like for him – being onstage – with the rest of us mere mortals. He was trying to explain that feeling of ecstasy he experienced when performing, and boy, did he do a great job of it! You know, like I said, this has always been one of my favorite videos but, I could never really explain why. I’ve never sat and dissected it like this before. Now that we have, I feel spent and I’m fighting the urge to cuddle. I will never be able to watch this video the same way again.

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