Despite his downfall, certain of his songs have been deemed too good to lose, and Billie Jean tops the listRead our 100 greatest list as it counts downBillie Jean is not cancelled. Whatever personal arrangement you may have come to regarding the life and
music of Michael Jackson, the culture at large has made its decision. In radio stations, gyms, cafes and wedding dancefloors (at least when they were open) certain of his songs have been deemed too good to lose, and Billie Jean tops the list. On one level that makes sense: it’s Jackson’s biggest-selling solo single, and one of the biggest hits by anyone ever. Yet it remains a thoroughly bizarre record, spawned in the darker precincts of Jackson’s imagination.
Billie Jean was his Rubicon. From the Jackson 5’s first singles through to Off the Wall’s hymns to the weekend, Jackson had a preternatural gift for making people feel good. Billie Jean, however, reeks with the paranoia that came to dominate Jackson’s career. It is a hunted, haunted song about a paternity claim, which forsakes the lushness of his earlier work for stark, neurotic future-funk. While Thriller’s title track is cartoonishly scary, Billie Jean is authentically scared.