Blogocentric Formulations

I'm not going to spend my life being a color

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DAY 1

Song: "Black or White"
Artist: Michael Jackson
Album: Dangerous (1991)

This song takes me back... to elementary school, to the Columbia House mail-order music club I used to subscribe to, and to the cassette tapes I used to order through said mail-order music club. "Dangerous" was one of the "Buy Eight Albums for 1 Cent" promotion that enticed people to sign-up for the service, and it was one of the first albums I actually bought for myself.

While "Remember the Time" and "Heal the World" were regulars features on my stereo's dual tape deck, the song that I listened to over and over and practically wore out the magnetic tape listening to was "Black and White." I loved the lyrics, loved the message of the song, and - thanks to finding it on YouTube in order to post a link - loved the music video complete with an intro featuring Macaulay Culkin and George Wendt.

I'm about 50/50 on Michael Jackson. There aren't a lot of songs I sort-of like; I either love them or... don't love them. "Black or White" is definitely in the "love" category. Even today when it comes up on my shuffled iTunes library, it still takes me back to those times when I'd blast the song in my brand new bedroom (I got this album soon after my parents had an addition to the house built so my brother and I didn't have to share a room anymore), reading a book or writing in a journal.