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Michael Jackson

A complete unit on Michael Jackson, the most successful entertainer in the history of popular music and one of its most disputed figures. Part one tells the story of his life, from a small house in a steel town to the biggest-selling album ever made. Part two devotes one lesson to each of twenty songs, from the Jackson 5 to his final years. Part three examines his dancing, his voice and the unresolved argument about the man himself. In English, read aloud, at an upper-intermediate (B2) level.

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Michael Jackson29

A complete unit on Michael Jackson, the most successful entertainer in the history of popular music and one of its most

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (1) - The Child of Gary, Indiana

A small house in a steel town, nine children, and a father with a plan.

5 min 562 parole
Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (2) - The Jackson 5 and the Motown Years

A boy of eleven becomes a star, and childhood quietly disappears.

4 min 460 parole
Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (3) - Leaving Motown, Finding a Voice

Growing up in public, and the long search for a sound of his own.

4 min 457 parole
Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (4) - Thriller and the Summit of the World

The best-selling album in history, and the night he walked backwards.

4 min 441 parole
Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (5) - Bad, Dangerous, and the Weight of Fame

A world tour, a ranch called Neverland, and the first great storm.

4 min 462 parole
Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (6) - The Last Act and the Long Argument

A comeback that never happened, and a legacy the world still argues about.

4 min 466 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "I Want You Back": The Sound of a New Beginning

The first hit, the first number one, and a voice that should not have existed.

4 min 461 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "I'll Be There": A Promise Sung by a Child

A ballad about loyalty, sung by a boy who had already stopped being one.

4 min 445 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Ben": A Love Song to a Rat

The strangest number one of his career, and the loneliest.

4 min 425 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough": Breaking Free

The first song he wrote alone, and the sound of an adult stepping out.

4 min 428 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Rock with You": Elegance on the Dance Floor

Disco was dying. This song simply refused to hurry.

3 min 388 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Billie Jean": The Story That Was Not True

A bass line, an accusation, and the most famous denial in pop music.

4 min 414 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Beat It": Courage and the Refusal to Fight

A rock guitar solo, a street gang, and a very unusual idea of bravery.

4 min 420 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Thriller": The Song That Became a Film

Fourteen minutes of horror, comedy and dance that reinvented the music video.

4 min 411 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Human Nature": The Quiet Song

The most delicate thing on the biggest album in the world.

3 min 399 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "We Are the World": One Night, Forty-Five Voices

The most famous charity record ever made, and the ego left at the door.

4 min 407 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Bad": A Word That Means the Opposite

Scorsese, a subway station, and a gentle man trying to sound dangerous.

4 min 427 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "The Way You Make Me Feel": The Shuffle and the Chase

Pure joy, a hand clap, and a video that has aged very badly.

4 min 424 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Man in the Mirror": Change Begins with One Person

He did not write it. It may be the most important song he ever sang.

4 min 432 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Smooth Criminal": A Mystery in a Beat

A crime, an unanswered question, and a man leaning at an impossible angle.

4 min 413 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Black or White": A Song About Skin

A guitar riff, a rap verse, and faces melting into one another.

4 min 433 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Remember the Time": Love and Memory

Ancient Egypt, new jack swing, and the pleasure of looking back.

3 min 393 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Heal the World": The Song He Was Proudest Of

Sentimental, unfashionable, sincerely meant, and hard to dismiss.

4 min 424 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "They Don't Care About Us": Anger and Controversy

A protest song that had to be rewritten, and two films that were banned.

4 min 424 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Earth Song": A Cry for the Planet

Six minutes of grief for a world we are destroying, and no answer at all.

4 min 415 parole
Michael Jackson

Song - "Stranger in Moscow": Loneliness at the Top

Rain, exile, and the most beautiful record of his later years.

4 min 425 parole
Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson the Dancer: The Body as Instrument

He did not invent the moonwalk. He made it impossible to forget.

5 min 542 parole
Michael Jackson

The Voice and the Studio: How the Records Were Made

He could not read a note of music. He heard entire records in his head.

5 min 519 parole
Michael Jackson

The Man Behind the Mask: Fame, Childhood, and the Unfinished Story

How do we listen to the work of an artist we cannot entirely defend?

5 min 565 parole
Nota. I contenuti hanno finalità didattica e non sostituiscono la formazione accreditata né il parere di un professionista. Il testo delle lezioni è lo stesso letto nei video del canale YouTube.