P.Y.T.

I've come to a moral crossroad, and I don't know what to do. My search for new (to me) music has been taking me to some odd corners of the spectrum. For example, I recently purchased two Klezmer albums and three Devo offerings, and while they didn't do much for me, they aren't my cause for consternation.

I had somehow gotten a Michael Jackson song in my head. Not knowing the title, I went to iTunes to see if I could find it. Using the preview feature (which btw is waaaaay better than Amazon's), I was able to find the song, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" from the album, Thriller.

I purchased the song and it turned out to be a pretty good tune, but in my searching, I found another promising track. So I downloaded that as well and was rewarded with a bangin' tune!

I have never been a huge MJ fan, not owning any albums past Off the Wall. My memory of 80s pop culture is also spotty at best, but I couldn't for the life of me remember hearing this song. Certainly this song stands up with his best, and I felt practically cheated that DJs, club or wedding, have never busted out this track in favor of over-played hits like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean."

To give you a window into my head, when I hear a song, the first things I usually focus on are the melody, instrumentation and production. Lyrics come last. The song in question is "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".

After listening to and enjoying the song a few times, I hit rewind on my iPod to try and decipher the lyrics. Then, it struck me. In light of recent history, the title alone gave me cause for alarm (and made me start laughing on the bus). Images of a naked MJ crooning this song to Macaulay Culkin while cradling a chimp danced through my head. The actual lyrics didn't help, a portion of which I shall sample for you:

"Nothin' can stop this burnin'
Desire to be with you
Gotta get to you baby
Won't you come, it's emergency
Cool my fire yearnin'
Honey, come set me free
Don't you know now is the perfect time
We can dim the lights
Just to make it right
In the night
Hit the lovin' spot
I'll give you all I've got"

So here I am. Is it wrong for me to like this song, given the events and revelations of the past 15+ years? By actually paying money for this, am I also guilty of his (alleged) crimes?

In the end, I hope this will go towards the payment of his settlements to various lawsuits, and maybe everyone can get their lives back on track. I had hoped that writing this down would help me sort this out, but my feelings are still confused. I feel dirty.