Michael Jackson - Earth Song vs. Gustav Mahler - Das Lied Von Der Erde

Ha! There's another link between the two artists:

Michael Jackson - 10 albums
Gustav Mahler - 10 symphonies

Both died at the age of 50 too iirc.

Yes, wikipedia confirms both to be true. Michael Jackson's child didn't die of scarlet fever - perhaps inevitably - though.

mahler also had a pet monkey, iirc

Michael Jackson was actually obsessed with Viennese composers irl.

http://www.michaeljacksoncelebrityclothing.com/MJ-Pics/michael%20jackson%20earth%20song%20shirt/mj-earth_song_shirt-1.jpg

^ This is his reconstruction of the death of Anton Webern

Both were also child prodigies - Mahler had his first public performance at the age of 10.

And the Jackson 5 were signed to Motown when Michael was 10.

There's the early fascination with birds - Mahler's cuckoo in the First Symphony, Michael Jackson's Rockin' Robin of his first solo album.

good thread

both had a pet chimp

Mahler astonished watchers with his solo dance set at the Viennese Composers Revue of 1879

Quicy Jones beat Mahler to a bloody pulp for putting in "yet another fucking landler" when they worked on the fifth symphony

Christa Ludwig's rendition of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is almost up with her doing "Urlicht".

http://www.studio8.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/michael-jackson-crotch.jpg

^ In rehearsal for 50 nights of Des Knaben Wunderhorn at the O2 arena.

Jackson's three crotch thrusts at the end of the 6th symphony foreshadowed the rise of Nazism.

This thread = totally fucking righteous.

I can't choose between these 2 honestly

Really? That surprises me. :-)

Honestly love them both in their different ways and am not gonna be swayed by Mahler's "seriousness"

People complaining about "Earth Song"'s shlocky messianic melodrama are hugely missing the point imo

Well no, I'm not coming from a high vs. low angle, it's just more, Das Lied is a masterpiece - for me personally, Gustav's greatest achievement - whereas, Earth Song, even from a MJ fan point of view, is hardly a career highlight.

And I'm all for shlock on many occasions, just Earth Song's particular brand doesn't work for me.

Given that we're not comparing like for like I'm okay with loving them in their own ways.

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So I am haunted by the thought of Elvis Costello singing “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde” and I want to smash my head in with a hammer.