Who Will Dance On The Floor In The Round?
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We’ve long believed that “Billie Jean” is about as near a perfect pop song as there is — not necessarily the best, but, for our money, one of them.
The opening drum beat — which barely changes throughout the length of the song — is about as straightforward as can be, but it’s so completely in the pocket that little else is needed. Especially once that fucking bass lick kicks in, as effortlessly badass as James Dean lighting a cigarette off a ninja. And we’re only about five seconds in at this point.
Next up is some random “Tchka Tcha Tcha” vocal noises bouncing around the stereo before some synth-strings kick in with some added syncopation. Now with the thirty second mark approaching, the lyrics start: “She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene…”
At this point, the song is already in such a groove, it should be hard to push it any more.
Then the third verse becomes a bridge, almost (but not quite) turning the beat around, that launches us into the chorus. And somewhere along the way a jangly guitar straight out of Remain In Light found its way in. If you haven’t started at least tapping your foot or bobbing your head by now, you probably haven’t got a pulse.
At some point along the way, you may realize the song is about disputed paternity and think, “this is a pop song?” Well, yeah, pop music wasn’t always defined by the Disney Channel.
Here’s the demo of “Billie Jean” included on the 2001 Special Edition of Thriller:
mp3: “Billie Jean (home demo from 1981)” by Michael Jackson
