Listen to the radio today and you'll hear plenty of songs about heartbreak, partying, or flex culture. But you won't hear anything like Earth Song. Michael Jackson didn't just write a pop song here; he basically composed a six-minute operatic scream at the world. It’s loud. It’s desperate. Honestly, it’s kinda terrifying if you really listen to the lyrics. Released in 1995 as the third single from his HIHISTORY: Past, Present and Future, Book I album, it wasn't even released as a single in the United States at first. Epic Records thought it was too long, too depressing, or maybe just too much for American radio. They were wrong.
It went straight to number one in the UK. It stayed there for six weeks. People weren't just listening; they were feeling something that pop music usually tries to ignore.
The Raw Anger Behind the Melody
Most "save the planet" songs are soft. They’re gentle acoustic guitar ballads about planting trees or holding hands in a circle. Earth Song is the opposite. It’s aggressive. Jackson starts off with this low, breathy tone, almost like he’s mourning at a funeral. But by the time the bridge hits, he is literally shouting. He’s demanding answers. "What about us?" he asks. He isn't asking a person; he’s asking humanity as a whole.
The song actually had a long gestation period. It didn't just pop out during the HIStory sessions. Jackson actually started working on it under the title "What About Us" back in 1988 during the Bad tour. He was staying at the Hotel Imperial in Vienna, feeling the weight of the world's problems. Bill Bottrell, who worked closely with MJ, recalled how the track evolved over years of layering and emotional refinement. It wasn't a corporate mandate to write a "green" song. It was a personal obsession.
Why This Track Is Musically Weird (In a Good Way)
There is no chorus. Think about that for a second. In a world of pop music built on catchy, repetitive hooks, Earth Song relies on a massive, escalating crescendo. It’s built on a simple chord progression—mostly Abm to C#m—but the tension just keeps ratcheting up. By the time the choir joins in at the end, the song has transformed from a ballad into a gospel-rock hybrid that feels like the world is ending.
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The production is incredibly dense. You’ve got David Paich from Toto on keyboards and Steve Lukather on guitar. These guys weren't just session players; they were architects of sound. They helped create a soundscape that feels vast and hollow at the same time, mimicking the "bleeding Earth" Jackson sings about.
Then there’s the vocal performance. Toward the end, Michael stops singing lyrics entirely. He’s just making these guttural, percussive sounds. Ad-libs. Screams. It’s raw. If you listen to the isolated vocal tracks, you can hear his voice cracking under the strain. He wasn't trying to sound pretty. He was trying to sound broken.
The Music Video That Cost a Fortune
If you remember the 90s, you remember the video. Directed by Nick Brandt, it was one of the most expensive music videos ever made at the time. They filmed on four different continents. They went to the Amazon rainforest, a war zone in Croatia, Tanzania, and New York. They didn't just use stock footage; they actually went to these places to capture the devastation.
There’s a specific scene where MJ is gripping two dead trees while a simulated windstorm blows around him. It looks dramatic because it was. They used massive industrial fans and real debris. It’s a visual representation of a man trying to hold onto a planet that's literally blowing away.
That Controversial 1996 BRIT Awards Performance
You can't talk about Earth Song without mentioning the night Jarvis Cocker, the frontman of Pulp, decided he’d had enough. During Michael’s performance at the BRITs, Cocker ran onto the stage and mooned the audience. His reasoning? He thought Jackson’s "Christ-like" imagery was pretentious and offensive.
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It was a huge scandal. Cocker was detained by police. Jackson was reportedly devastated. Looking back, it highlights the divide in how people saw Michael Jackson at the time. To some, he was a visionary using his platform for global awareness. To others, he was a mega-star with a messiah complex. But even the controversy couldn't stop the song's momentum. It ended up being Jackson’s best-selling single in the UK, even beating out "Billie Jean" and "Thriller."
The Lyrics Nobody Wants to Talk About
Jackson isn't just talking about carbon footprints or recycling here. He goes much deeper. He mentions "Abraham's baby" and "the promised land." He’s tapping into deep, spiritual, and biblical themes of betrayal and lost innocence.
- "What about killing fields / Is there a time?"
- "What about all the peace / That you pledge your only son?"
These aren't easy lyrics. They’re accusatory. He’s calling out the hypocrisy of a society that claims to value life but ignores the "crying Earth" and the "weeping shores." Most pop stars stay away from this stuff because it's "bad for the brand." Michael leaned into it.
The Legacy of a Six-Minute Epic
Does it hold up? In 2026, the answer is a resounding yes. If anything, the song feels more relevant now than it did in 1995. We’re living in the era of climate anxiety and constant global conflict. When Michael sings "I used to dream / I used to glance beyond the stars," it feels like a collective memory of a simpler time that we’ve collectively ruined.
Interestingly, this was the last song Michael Jackson ever performed. He rehearsed it at the Staples Center on June 24, 2009, just hours before he passed away. Footage of that rehearsal in the documentary This Is It shows him directing the crew, perfectionist as always, making sure the "light man" knew exactly when the cues were. He was still fighting for the song's message until the very end.
How to Actually Experience Earth Song Today
If you want to understand why this song matters, don't just put it on as background noise while you’re doing dishes. It doesn't work that way.
- Get some high-quality headphones. The layering of the choir in the final two minutes is insane. You can't hear the individual vocal textures on a phone speaker.
- Watch the 4K remastered video. Seeing the facial expressions of the indigenous people featured in the video adds a layer of reality that the audio alone misses.
- Listen to the "Immortal" version. For a different flavor, the Cirque du Soleil Immortal remix blends the track with more cinematic elements that emphasize the "Earth" sounds.
- Check the credits. Look up the work of Bruce Swedien, the engineer. His "Acusonic" recording process is why the drums hit so hard without drowning out the delicate nature of the intro.
Taking Action Beyond the Music
Music like this is meant to be a catalyst. If you're moved by the message of Earth Song, the best way to honor the "expert" level of craft Michael put into it is to look at the data he was worried about.
- Audit your impact. Use a carbon footprint calculator to see where your life actually stands. It's not about guilt; it's about awareness.
- Support reforestation. Organizations like the Rainforest Alliance (which aligns with the imagery in the video) do the actual work on the ground.
- Study the production. If you're a musician, analyze the chord structure. It’s a masterclass in how to build tension without a standard verse-chorus-verse layout.
- Share the context. Next time you hear it, tell someone about the Vienna hotel room or the 1996 BRIT awards. Context makes the art hit harder.
The song isn't just a relic of the 90s. It’s a standing challenge. Michael Jackson left us with a lot of dance hits, but Earth Song is the one that asks us to wake up.