Story Behind The Song

Decades since being a Michael Jackson fan in junior high, I was surprised at the creeper effect within days of how his death hit me, along with millions of others, and I explored what is exact in musical creation along with its mysterious power to move people to tears; and spent a couple days crying and writing thoughts about how mathematical AND magical it all is.

Song Description

In this fascinating, melodic duet with China Forbes (of Pink Martini), a beautiful piano motif builds into a fully orchestrated poignant song about the power of music in the context of the reaction to Michael Jackson's death. Petra Haden contributes backup vocals and Gregg Williams plays tasteful drums under the old school arrangement of piano, strings, flute and different guitars while gorgeous changes and harmonies float above. Of many blatant statements in the lyrics, one noteworthy is "absolutely nobody's a mystery in their own eyes" and the song is a precious heart-tug about raw emotion elicited through music and societal pressures on fame.

Lyrics

My heart is full of sorrow
and there's a deep and hollow
emptiness in the world
your music marked our childhood
leading us through adolescence
with your songs made with precision
sung with such passion
a singular mixture of

math and magic
it's something so familiar and profound
inexplicable and beautiful
now it burns from the inside

Math and magic
I understand a melody is defined
what I may never know
is how people can be so moved
and so changed by it all
I've been told all those things
that I feel since you died
it all means I'm alive

There's logic in vibrations
but it's a mystery why
some music makes us cry
you found the intersection
between getting it right
and all our emotions
48 hours after the news
the floodgates were opened up

Math and magic
connecting grieving, healing
sister souls
over the wires, across the oceans
floating under the clouds in the sky

Math and magic
I go for a Harlem comisseration
there's a picnic with children
and your music playing
as if nothing's happened at all
I've been told all the things
that I feel since you died
it all means I'm alive

Innocent eyes, naive and kind
turned by a shocking, painful life
working together was the cause
now a unifying loss

Cycles of pedestals and of shame
public or private, all the same
every unkind thing that I said
plays a part in this death

Math and magic
there once was a rare
and mysterious, talented man
but he was human as well
absolutely nobody's a mystery
in their own eyes
I've been told
all these things that I feel
since you died
it all means I'm alive

strange to feel so alive
alive

Playlist Creator	Playlist Name	Date Added
Ionut Mirel Udrea	My Top Songs	12/4/2018
Ionut Mirel Udrea	Best Pop Songs	12/4/2018