Listen to Michael Jackson's real voice with no autotune
The Meaning Behind Michael Jackson’s 1983 Classic “Beat It”
Michael Jackson’s sixth album introduced one of the most expensive music videos (with a $1 million budget) at the time “Thriller,” and one focused more on choreography, and costume design—and the first to run like a short film at 13 minutes around a zombified storyline. Thriller also gave Jackson the most hits off a single album with “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” “Human Nature,” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” his Paul McCartney duet on “The Girl is Mine,” and the harder rocking “Beat It.”
Though the word “beat” can connote an act of violence, the meaning behind the song, written entirely by Michael Jackson and co-produced with Quincy Jones, is actually centered around avoiding violence at all costs and pulling oneself away from a fight.
Told from the perspective of a man who often finds himself in situations where he’s either the winner or loser, in the opening verses, Jackson is telling a young man, who has joined a gang and is still trying to prove himself, to stay away.
They told him, “Don’t you ever come around here”
“Don’t wanna see your face, you better disappear”
The fire’s in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it
You better run, you better do what you can
Don’t wanna see no blood, don’t be a macho man
If you wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
As the song progresses, it’s a battle of good versus evil, showcasing the pressure many men face to stand up for themselves (and fight) or be considered weak and how this can continue a vicious cycle of violence.
They’re out to get you, better leave while you can
Don’t wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
If you wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it
You have to show them that you’re really not scared
You’re playin’ with your life, this ain’t no truth or dare
We were vacationing in Jamaica. I was sitting next to a guy at the little tiki bar at our hotel. As we were having a conversation I noticed he would tap his cigarette ashes onto the bar instead of using the ashtray. He then yelled to the bartender..” hey boy! Get over here and clean this up!” Which he did. I immediately got up and sat on the other side of the bar. So rude and embarrassing.
----------------------------
I grew up on a ranch and trained all of our horses. We used to team pen (team penning is a rodeo event) and have met a ton of people from all over the United States, even Canada. One summer I met a very handsome guy at a penning, “Jake”, and was pleasantly surprised to find out he only lived an hour away from me. We had amazing chemistry and started seeing each other as often as we could. After two months of dating, he invited me out to his place to spend the weekend. I fancied myself madly in love already, so I eagerly packed my bags and drove up.
When I got there, he was working with a young colt in the round pen. I stood at the rail and watched, curious about his technique. You can learn just about all you’ll ever need to know about someone by how they treat animals while training, even what kind of lover they are. I thought that based on what I had seen of him so far, Jake was a gentle and loving soul, and expected to see that as he worked.
Something about Jake was off, he seemed agitated and jumpy. So did the horse. I was about to ask if he wanted some help or to take a break when out of nowhere… WHAM!!… Jake suddenly lashed out with the lead rope and hit the colt in the face with it. He started yelling and cursing, was extremely frustrated, and actually tried to kick the poor horse at one point.
Horrified, I immediately got back in my truck and left. I heard him call out to me, asking where I was going, then when I ignored him he yelled, “Fine, just leave then, you weak bitch. If you can’t stomach this, then you have no business being in my life!” As well as some choice curse words flung at my back. I was terrified he might try to chase me down, he sounded that unhinged. I just wanted as much distance between us as possible. My phone went off several times during the drive but felt too scared to even talk to him on the phone. When I got home and finally checked it, I saw that I had 5 missed calls, 5 voicemails, and 12 text messages, each one more nasty than the last. I blocked his number and then called the sheriff in his town to report what I had seen. The woman I spoke to said that it wasn’t the first time they had received complaints about Jake. I don’t know what happened with that investigation or if there even was one conducted.
After that, I saw him a couple of times at pennings, but we pretended to not see one another. When I moved and quit penning, I remember feeling a bit relieved knowing I’d probably never run into him again. I was always afraid he would hurt me in retaliation and anger.
Since then I’ve met two of his ex-girlfriends and both confirmed that when he got drunk or had even just a little bit of alcohol in his system, he would lose his temper and beat them. It happened several times before they finally got themselves away from him. One of them pressed charges and he did jail time for it. I also learned that no one would sell him their horses, because he’s known to be violent towards them. I sure wish someone had warned me about him. I’m just grateful it ended before it began.
That is probably one of the biggest red flags there is: If someone can be cruel and violent towards an animal, they can damn well be cruel and violent towards you or a child.
He got back in the van, excited and out of breath. "Dad, those three men were at D-Day. One was a paratrooper, one was a pilot, and the other stormed the beach. Isn't that awesome?!"
So here’s to my now teenage son, who is showing me every day how to be a man." นี่คือลูกชายของผมที่กำลังเป็นวัยรุ่น ผู้ที่คอยแสดงให้ผมเห็นทุกวันว่าจะเป็นลูกผู้ชายได้อย่างไร”
“My brother and I were both placed into foster homes at a young age. He was lucky—he went to a family called the Ripleys. I went through four different homes in three years, and each one was worse than the next. I’d get to see my brother every few months. Ms. Ripley would take us for lunch at McDonald', and that’s when she first noticed the scars all over my body. She immediately made arrangements for me to join their family. Back then the word ‘family’ didn’t mean much to me. But the Ripleys made me feel welcome in their home.
Whenever I did something wrong, Ms. Ripley would sit me down and explain why it wasn’t OK. But then she’d say: ‘You’re not going anywhere. Because you belong to us now.’ Shortly after I joined the family, Mr. Ripley was diagnosed with cancer. And later that year he passed away. Ms. Ripley’s entire world fell apart. They’d been high school sweethearts. And now she was alone with two foster kids. Nobody would have blamed her for taking us back.
But instead, she took us to court and made it permanent. The three of us moved into a single-wide trailer in Mississippi, and that’s where she raised us. She worked whatever odd jobs she could find. We never had much, but we went to the movies. We had family game nights. She kept us busy with Little League and Boy Scouts. She must have been super stressed, but that’s not at all what I remember.
แต่เธอกลับพาเราไปที่ศาลและทำให้ (สถานะครอบครัวของเรา)ถาวร เราสามคนย้ายไปอยู่ในรถพ่วงขนาดกว้างเดี่ยวในมิสซิสซิปปี้ และนั่นคือสิ่งที่เธอเลี้ยงดูเรา เธอทำงานอะไรก็ตามที่เธอหาได้ เราไม่มีอะไรมากแต่เราไปดูหนัง เรามีคืนเกมกับครอบครัว เธอทำให้เรายุ่งกับ Little League และ Boy Scouts เธอคงเครียดมาก แต่นั่นไม่ใช่สิ่งที่ผมจำได้เลย
I just remember the affirmation that she gave me. It was always: ‘You’re smart.’ And ‘You’re handsome.’ And ‘You survived all that stuff because you’re strong.’ She cried when I joined the Marines, but she knew it was my best chance for a college education. And eventually, I graduated from law school.
Last year I had a daughter of my own. And that really put me into an emotional tailspin. Because I realized how every little choice I make is going to affect her future. And then I started thinking about how different my life could have been. Because my early development had been the opposite of what a child’s should be. I should be broken, but I’m not. Because thirty years ago my Mom decided to keep me. And somehow, despite all her sadness and heartbreak, she poured enough love into me so that I could heal.”
Today while at the gas station I overheard a lady in her late 20s telling 2 other men to leave her alone so I decided to walk over to them and I asked her "How was the meeting today darling? " she looked at me and said, " it was good, I'll tell you more about it when we get home in a few ". I replied, "Wonderful I'll pick up your favorite for dinner".
The two guys left in a hurry and she told me "You have no idea how much that meant to me .... thank you." I said "You're very welcome ma'am .... you can never be too careful. "
I made sure the guys left before I walked back to my car and as I was walking back all I could do was think " I hope a man does that for my future daughter one day".
For the past 6 years, a dog named Capitan has slept on the grave of his owner every night. His owner, Miguel Guzman died in 2006 and Capitan disappeared shortly after the family attended the funeral services. They searched everywhere and put out flyers to try and find him. But no one had seen him.
A week later, some people who were at the cemetery late one evening spotted Capitan lying on the grave and they contacted the groundskeeper at the cemetery. The cemetery notified the family who promptly came to pick him up and take him home. But each night he would cry and scratch frantically at the door to go out and he wouldn't return home until morning. It was later discovered that Capitan would walk the 3 miles back to the cemetery each night to guard his master's grave.
It has been 7 years now. The cemetery does not close the gates until he arrives each night promptly at 6 pm. He sleeps there all night guarding the grave until the groundkeeper opens the gate in the morning. This is a true picture of Capitan.
