He was onstage, working, at such an early age that he was truly never allowed to be a kid. In one interview, I heard him say that he would be in a hotel room, preparing to do a concert, looking out the window at the kids playing in the park, so jealous of their freedom to be carefree, silly and well, just plain kids.
He was such a talent. Then, the older he got, it seemed the younger he became! He hung out with children he considered his peers, created Neverland, and kept changing his appearance, because he never liked what the mirror reflected back to him. We, the public, were no longer in awe. We laughed at him, shook our heads, pointed our fingers and called him a freak. And he knew that. In this beautiful song, he says, "People say I'm not OK, because I love such el-e-mentary things. It's been my fate to comp-en-sate for the childhood, I've never known."
Speaking of childhoods, last Sunday on the television show, CBS Sunday Morning (what a great show! You must record it, if you don't already!) they profiled Sandra Boynton. You may not know the name, but I'm certain that you've seen her (Boynton) greeting cards. (She's made over 4000, in addition to writing books and music.) On the show, she talked about how great her childhood was and that her work all stems from that "nurturing space" and "sense of safety" she was lucky enough to have, back in the 50's. Then, the interviewer said, the key to all Boynton's success is "childlike innocence and the wisdom to hold onto it forever."
That got me thinking about how our childhoods (or lack of) so dramatically affect us the rest of our lives. Michael Jackson, as did Boynton, tried to hold onto HIS childlike innocence forever, but what a difference in how he did that. He tried to recreate a childhood that he never had in the first place! Lucky Boynton. Unlucky Michael. Happy tears for what both these creative artists, and others as fortunate, have brought to the world; sad tears for the unfortunate ones, whose childhoods have left them less than whole.
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