SPEECHLESS - Michael Jackson's Psalm?

 

 

  Michael Jackson is considered not only one of the best entertainers of all time but also one of the most influential people in the world.  His music transcends boundaries and limitations placed on many artists, even in music today.  He has set records within the entertainment industry, as well as broken records with his humanitarian efforts.  So, it wouldn't be too far fetched to say he was well in his rights to be crowned the 'king of pop'.  With the state music is in, I wish he were still here.  Combing through some of his musical works, I remembered how the song "Speechless" made me feel the first time I heard it. It reminded me of one of  king David's Psalms, in the Old Testament.  So, of course, I am attempting to prove this association through an allusion of Michael's lyrics in 'Speechless' in conjunction with the OT literary works in Psalms.  In order to do this, I will have to provide an explication of the song in question.

 

I must begin with the song's origins. In a 2001 interview with Vibe Magazine, Michael explained that he wrote this song after having a water balloon fight with kids in Germany. Below is his actual statement:

   Vibe: Tell me about the new CD Invincible. “ Speechless.”
Michael: You’ll be surprised. I had a big water balloon fight, I’m serious, in Germany and what inspires me is fun. I was with these kids and we had big water balloon fight and I was so happy after the fight that I ran upstairs in their house and wrote “Speechless.” That’s what inspired the song. I hate to say that because it’s such a romantic song. But, it was the fight that did it. I’d had fun, I was happy, and I wrote it in it’s entirety right there. I felt it would be good enough for the album. Out of this bliss comes magic, comes wonderment, comes creativity. It’s about having fun, it really is.

Very quickly, here is a quote to complete the previous statement.
"When I see children, I see the face of God. That's why I love them so much. That's what I see." (Ebony/Jet Interview, 2002)

Press Play For Song:

Lyrics:

Your love is magical, that's how I feel

But I have not the words here to explain

Gone is the grace for expressions of passion

But there are world's and worlds of ways to explain

To tell you how I feel

 

But I am speechless, speechless

That's how you make me feel

Though I'm with you, I am far away

And nothing is for real

When I'm with you, I'm lost for words

I don't know what to say

My head's spinning, like a carousel

So silently I pray

 

Helpless and hopeless, that's how I feel inside

Nothing's real, but all is possible

If God is on my side

When I'm with you, I'm in the light

Where I cannot be found

It's as though, I am standing in

The place called Hallowed Ground

 

Speechless, speechless

That's how you make me feel

Though I'm with you, I am far away

And nothing is for real

 

I go anywhere and do anything

Just to touch your face

There's no mountain high, I cannot climb

I'm humbled in your grace.

 

Speechless, Speechless

That's how you make me feel

Though I'm with you, I am lost for words

And nothing is for real

Speechless, speechless

That's how you make me feel

Though I'm with you, I am far away

And nothing is for real

 

Your love is magical, that's how I feel

But in your presence I am lost for words

Words like, like, I Love You.  

 

 

 

Speechless is obviously a lyric poem purely by design.

 

'Your love is magical, that's how I feel. But I have not the words here to explain. Gone is the grace for expressions of passion. But there are worlds and worlds of ways to explain. To tell you how I feel."  These lines are expressed as an Antithetic parallelism. In trying to express a feeling, the writer is so overwhelmed he cannot use words that are 'here' (this world) so he seems to want to search for words he still doesn't have access to, which belong to other worlds.  Rendering the writer in a contradictory state. These first few lines are also in A Capella could be categorized as a soliloquy. 

 

"But I am speechless, speechless, that's how you make me feel. Though I'm with you I am far away and nothing is for real." This is great imagery as it evokes an emotion that cannot be sensed but imagined.

 

"When I'm with you, I'm lost for words. I don't know what to say." This is a synonymous parallelism.  In restating the first line with the second, only making use of different words, the audience is able to understand the manifestation of a deeper connection and meaning evolving between the writer and his subject.

 

"My head's spinning like a carousel, so silently I pray."  In this simile, he brings back the jovial induced feeling caused by the carousel, yet, in this imagery, it remains only the mind or his head that causes the feeling through imagination like that of a child, whom the writer has spiritually connected with God.

 

"Helpless and hopeless, that's how I feel inside. Nothing's real but all is possible if God is on my side." This could also be a form of antithetic parallelism. Michael explicitly views his present state as being left with little to no possibility or hope to recover from being rendered speechless. However; he regains hope and momentum with the rational understanding of God's abilities and splendor.  God, whom once again is directly connected in his vision to children, the subject of this lyric poem. 

 

"When I'm with you, I'm in the light. I cannot be found. It's as though, I'm standing in, the place called Hallowed Ground"  If the writer has accredited kids with the ingenious quality of the spirit and purity of God, then these lines are essential to the plot. Here is imagery cascading lively in it's most decadent moments.  The contradictory tone of being with someone who's light is so bright and pure places the writer somewhere he cannot be found is monumental. Therefore, 'When I'm with you, I'm in the light, I cannot be found', is an antithetic parallelism.  The second portion of lines, 'It's as though, I'm standing in, the place called Hallowed Ground"; however, lean more in favor for emblematic parallelism.  



"I go anywhere and do anything, just to touch your face. There's no mountain high, I cannot climb. I'm humbled in Your Grace."  Here Michael has risen the subject in a climatic event.  Expressing that he would do anything, even demoralizing the feat of climbing a mountain, just to have the sensory of touching a face.  This imagery, symbolizes the heights that a person is elevated in the presence of 'God'.  Echoing back to 'all is possible, if God is on my side', addresses the realization of the omnipresence of Yahweh and completes the idealism presented in the writer's original claim. 

 

"Your love is magical. That's how I feel. But in your presence I am lost for words, words like, I Love You."  These last lines are also A Cappella.  When I hear this ending I feel as if the singer/writer has been reduced to his former soliloquy in the beginning; however, has found some kind of favor in his conclusion.  Within the simile of 'love is magical', somehow Michael succumbs to three magical words, he was once at a loss for, 'Words like, I Love you.'  At some point in his journey, he has realized the words he needed were there all along. He didn't have to search far.  He just had to claim them, even if it took an entire ode to God and the youngest of creation to do it. ( I was rooting for Michael the whole time.  True fan until the end.)

 

This entire song is like a prayer.  When you search for the answer and the only place you know to obtain it lies hidden in the silence of meditative prayer.