Leave Me Alone (song)
Encyclopedia
"Leave Me Alone" is a single by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson
. The song was featured on Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad
in 1987, and was as the eighth single from the album in February 1989, but was released outside of the United States and Canada. "Leave Me Alone" only appeared on all CD
versions of the Bad album as a bonus track
, as well as on the 2001 cassette edition. The song was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones
(with Jackson serving as co-producer).
Internationally, the song was a success, peaking at number one and two in Spain and the United Kingdom respectively and charting at top ten in New Zealand and Italy. "Leave Me Alone" was generally well received by contemporary music critics. A short film was released for the song. In the film, Jackson pokes fun at the false rumors about him such as the stories about him purchasing the bones of "The Elephant Man" and his cosmetic surgeries. The short film was the recipient of a Grammy Award
in 1990 for Best Short Form Music Video. Despite the success of the single, the song never appeared on any of Jackson's world concert tours.
. Beginning in 1986, the tabloids began to publish false stories about Jackson, one of the first being a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process. A picture leaked out to the media of him lying down in a hyberbaric chamber at a hospital he visited. An unknown person took the picture of Jackson while he was testing out the chamber out of curiosity.
When Jackson bought a pet chimpanzee
named Bubbles
, the media viewed it as evidence of Jackson's increasing detachment from reality. It was also reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph "The Elephant Man" Merrick
; Jackson stated that the story was "a complete lie". These stories inspired the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson acquired the following year, and would come to despise. Another frequent response from the media was about Jackson's plastic surgery. Jackson's manager said of the media's criticism towards the topic, "So many terrible things have been written. Okay, so he had his nose fixed, and the cleft — big deal. I got news for you, my nose has broke five times. It's been fixed twice. Who gives a shit? Who cares? Elvis
had his nose done. Marilyn Monroe
had her nose done, had her breasts done? Everybody's had it done."
The song has been viewed as having a "paranoia theme", a theme that Jackson had frequently used on previous studio albums. The Atlantic felt that Jackson showed "obvious expressions of distrust" in the song and that the song was one of multiple songs where Jackson's "persistent loneliness in his music" was "prominent". In 2009, J. Edward Keyes, of Rolling Stone
, described "Leave Me Alone" as sounding like "vintage Michael" and the song works because of its music, "a batch of thick chords for Jackson to vamp over". Keyes noted that the song was a "kind of darker inversion" of "The Way You Make Me Feel
", and that "Leave Me Alone" was "worked-up and angry, and Jackson's aggressive scraping of the high notes makes plain his frustration."
is moderate and its metronome is 112 beats per minute.
, a writer for Allmusic, stated he felt that "Leave Me Alone" was the best track on Bad, commenting "why are all of his best songs paranoid anthems?" Steve Morse, a writer for The Boston Globe
, described "Leave Me Alone" as a "send-up" of Jackson's feuds with the "paparazzi-filled tabloids." Jon Parales, of The New York Times
, commented that "Leave Me Alone" had an "unmistakable message". After Jackson's death in June 2009, Rolling Stone listed "Leave Me Alone" as being one of Jackson's most monumental work, and the song's composition was generally praised.
"Leave Me Alone" performed well on various charts. It was released as a single outside of the United States and Canada. The song, similar to Bads previous singles, proved to be a commercial success internationally. "Leave Me Alone"'s most successful territory was Spain, where the song peaked at number one; it stayed at the top position for one week. The song saw similar chart success on the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norwegian, Italian and Switzerland charts, peaking within the top ten at number two, five, six, eight and ten. "Leave Me Alone" also peaked within the top twenty in Sweden, France, and Austrian, peaking at number fifteen, seventeen and nineteen. The single was least successful in Australia, where the song peaked at number thirty-seven.
for "Leave Me Alone", was directed by Jim Blashfield
and Paul Diener and released in early 1989. The video was also featured in the 1988 film Moonwalker
. In essence, the video is an amusement park
consisting of stylistically crude images based around Jackson's successful career since 1982's Thriller
. There is an emphasis on the tabloid view of Jackson's personal life and public image, referring to the nickname "Wacko Jacko" given to him by the press, and the various headlines associated with him in the 1980s. Lampooning rumours that he tried to purchase Joseph Merrick
's bones, Jackson dances with stop motion
"Elephant Man" bones in the video. This particular segment (without the image of the bones) was used for the single's cover art, and the boneless video segment was featured in Moonwalker trailer.
In the video, there are images of shrines to actress Elizabeth Taylor
, a real life close friend of Jackson. Throughout the video newspaper headlines, published by "National Intruder", with bizarre titles are shown, such as "Michael's Space-Age Diet" and "Michael Proposes to Liz". Another notable scene in the music video was a nose being chased by a surgical scalpel, which was reference to Jackson's plastic surgery being criticized by the media. At the end of the video, it is revealed that a gigantic Jackson himself is the amusement park. He breaks free, tearing the park to pieces. That scene is a somewhat reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels
, where Gulliver eventually breaks free from the Lilliputians' grasp from Lilliput
.
"Leave Me Alone" was the recipient of multiple nominations for its music video. The video won a Grammy Award
in 1990 for Best Short Form Music Video
at the 32nd Grammy Awards. The video also received six nominations at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards
for Video of the Year, Viewers' Choice, Breakthrough Video, Best Editing and Best Art Direction; the video won Best Special Effects. The video lost its six nominations to Neil Young's "This Note Is for You" ("Video of the Year"), Art of Noise ("Breakthrough Video"), Paula Abdul ("Best Editing"), and Madonna
's "Express Yourself" ("Best Cinematography", "Best Art Direction") and "Like a Prayer
" ("Viewers' Choice"). Erewine described the music video as being "weirdly claustrophobic" and felt that, "not coincidentally," it was the "best video from the album."
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. The song was featured on Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad
Bad (album)
Bad is the seventh studio album by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world's best-selling album...
in 1987, and was as the eighth single from the album in February 1989, but was released outside of the United States and Canada. "Leave Me Alone" only appeared on all CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
versions of the Bad album as a bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
, as well as on the 2001 cassette edition. The song was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
(with Jackson serving as co-producer).
Internationally, the song was a success, peaking at number one and two in Spain and the United Kingdom respectively and charting at top ten in New Zealand and Italy. "Leave Me Alone" was generally well received by contemporary music critics. A short film was released for the song. In the film, Jackson pokes fun at the false rumors about him such as the stories about him purchasing the bones of "The Elephant Man" and his cosmetic surgeries. The short film was the recipient of a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1990 for Best Short Form Music Video. Despite the success of the single, the song never appeared on any of Jackson's world concert tours.
Background and composition
"Leave Me Alone" was a response to negative and false stories about Jackson that frequently appeared in the media and tabloids post-1986 after the monumental success of ThrillerThriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
. Beginning in 1986, the tabloids began to publish false stories about Jackson, one of the first being a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process. A picture leaked out to the media of him lying down in a hyberbaric chamber at a hospital he visited. An unknown person took the picture of Jackson while he was testing out the chamber out of curiosity.
When Jackson bought a pet chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
named Bubbles
Bubbles (chimpanzee)
Bubbles is a common chimpanzee, known for being the one-time pet of American recording artist Michael Jackson. The entertainer adopted the young primate from a Texas research facility in the early 1980s. The singer's attachment to the animal led to media mockery and, among other factors, to a...
, the media viewed it as evidence of Jackson's increasing detachment from reality. It was also reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph "The Elephant Man" Merrick
Joseph Merrick
Joseph Carey Merrick , sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital...
; Jackson stated that the story was "a complete lie". These stories inspired the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson acquired the following year, and would come to despise. Another frequent response from the media was about Jackson's plastic surgery. Jackson's manager said of the media's criticism towards the topic, "So many terrible things have been written. Okay, so he had his nose fixed, and the cleft — big deal. I got news for you, my nose has broke five times. It's been fixed twice. Who gives a shit? Who cares? Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
had his nose done. Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
had her nose done, had her breasts done? Everybody's had it done."
The song has been viewed as having a "paranoia theme", a theme that Jackson had frequently used on previous studio albums. The Atlantic felt that Jackson showed "obvious expressions of distrust" in the song and that the song was one of multiple songs where Jackson's "persistent loneliness in his music" was "prominent". In 2009, J. Edward Keyes, of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, described "Leave Me Alone" as sounding like "vintage Michael" and the song works because of its music, "a batch of thick chords for Jackson to vamp over". Keyes noted that the song was a "kind of darker inversion" of "The Way You Make Me Feel
The Way You Make Me Feel
"The Way You Make Me Feel" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. Released by Epic Records in November 1987, it was the third single from Jackson's seventh studio album Bad. Written and composed by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones , the song is credited as being a pop and R&B...
", and that "Leave Me Alone" was "worked-up and angry, and Jackson's aggressive scraping of the high notes makes plain his frustration."
Instrumentation
Instruments for "Leave Me Alone" include a piano and guitar. The song is set in the key of E minor with Jackson's voice range being sung from Bb3 to Ab5. The song's tempoTempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
is moderate and its metronome is 112 beats per minute.
Critical and commercial reception
"Leave Me Alone" was generally well received by contemporary music critics. Stephen Thomas ErlewineStephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
, a writer for Allmusic, stated he felt that "Leave Me Alone" was the best track on Bad, commenting "why are all of his best songs paranoid anthems?" Steve Morse, a writer for The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, described "Leave Me Alone" as a "send-up" of Jackson's feuds with the "paparazzi-filled tabloids." Jon Parales, of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, commented that "Leave Me Alone" had an "unmistakable message". After Jackson's death in June 2009, Rolling Stone listed "Leave Me Alone" as being one of Jackson's most monumental work, and the song's composition was generally praised.
"Leave Me Alone" performed well on various charts. It was released as a single outside of the United States and Canada. The song, similar to Bads previous singles, proved to be a commercial success internationally. "Leave Me Alone"'s most successful territory was Spain, where the song peaked at number one; it stayed at the top position for one week. The song saw similar chart success on the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norwegian, Italian and Switzerland charts, peaking within the top ten at number two, five, six, eight and ten. "Leave Me Alone" also peaked within the top twenty in Sweden, France, and Austrian, peaking at number fifteen, seventeen and nineteen. The single was least successful in Australia, where the song peaked at number thirty-seven.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Leave Me Alone", was directed by Jim Blashfield
Jim Blashfield
Jim Blashfield is an American filmmaker and media artist, best known for his short films such as Suspicious Circumstances and The Mid-Torso of Inez, and his music videos for musicians Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell, Nu Shooz, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears, "Weird Al"...
and Paul Diener and released in early 1989. The video was also featured in the 1988 film Moonwalker
Moonwalker
Moonwalker, also known as Michael Jackson: Moonwalker, is an American anthology film released in 1988 by singer Michael Jackson....
. In essence, the video is an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
consisting of stylistically crude images based around Jackson's successful career since 1982's Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
. There is an emphasis on the tabloid view of Jackson's personal life and public image, referring to the nickname "Wacko Jacko" given to him by the press, and the various headlines associated with him in the 1980s. Lampooning rumours that he tried to purchase Joseph Merrick
Joseph Merrick
Joseph Carey Merrick , sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital...
's bones, Jackson dances with stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
"Elephant Man" bones in the video. This particular segment (without the image of the bones) was used for the single's cover art, and the boneless video segment was featured in Moonwalker trailer.
In the video, there are images of shrines to actress Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, a real life close friend of Jackson. Throughout the video newspaper headlines, published by "National Intruder", with bizarre titles are shown, such as "Michael's Space-Age Diet" and "Michael Proposes to Liz". Another notable scene in the music video was a nose being chased by a surgical scalpel, which was reference to Jackson's plastic surgery being criticized by the media. At the end of the video, it is revealed that a gigantic Jackson himself is the amusement park. He breaks free, tearing the park to pieces. That scene is a somewhat reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
, where Gulliver eventually breaks free from the Lilliputians' grasp from Lilliput
Lilliput and Blefuscu
Lilliput and Blefuscu are two fictional island nations that appear in the first part of the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The two islands are neighbors in the South Indian Ocean, separated by a channel eight hundred yards wide. Both are inhabited by tiny people who are about...
.
"Leave Me Alone" was the recipient of multiple nominations for its music video. The video won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1990 for Best Short Form Music Video
Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos...
at the 32nd Grammy Awards. The video also received six nominations at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards
1989 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 1989, honoring the best music videos from April 2, 1988, to June 1, 1989. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles....
for Video of the Year, Viewers' Choice, Breakthrough Video, Best Editing and Best Art Direction; the video won Best Special Effects. The video lost its six nominations to Neil Young's "This Note Is for You" ("Video of the Year"), Art of Noise ("Breakthrough Video"), Paula Abdul ("Best Editing"), and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's "Express Yourself" ("Best Cinematography", "Best Art Direction") and "Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer (song)
"Like a Prayer" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna on her fourth studio album of the same name . It was released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records as the album's lead single...
" ("Viewers' Choice"). Erewine described the music video as being "weirdly claustrophobic" and felt that, "not coincidentally," it was the "best video from the album."
Track listing
- 12" single:
- "Leave Me Alone (Extended Dance Mix)" - 7:15
- "Leave Me Alone (Instrumental)" - 7:15
- 7" single:
- "Leave Me Alone" – 4:40
- "Human Nature" – 4:06
- 3" single:
- "Leave Me Alone" – 4:40
- "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" – 6:05
- "Human Nature" – 4:06
- Maxi-CD
- "Leave Me Alone" – 4:40
- "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" – 6:05
- "Human Nature" – 4:06
- "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Extended Mix) - 6:30
- Visionary CD side:
- "Leave Me Alone" - 4:40
- "Another Part of Me" (Extended Dance Mix) - 6:18
- Visionary side:
- "Leave Me Alone" (Music video) - 4:36
Chart performance
| Chart (1989/2006/2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 37 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 15 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
5 |
| French Singles Chart | 17 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 8 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 19 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 10 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
2 |
Personnel
- Written, composed, vocal synthesizer, solo and background vocals by Michael Jackson
- Produced by Quincy Jones
- Co-Produced by Michael Jackson
- Larry Williams: Drum programming, synthesizers
- Paul Jackson, Jr.: Guitar
- Casey Young: Synclavier, synthesizer programming
- Greg Phillinganes: Synthesizer
- Rhythm and vocal arrangements by Michael Jackson
- Source:
External links
- The music video for "Leave Me Alone" at Youtube.comYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....