Earth Song
| "Earth Song" | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||
| Single by Michael Jackson | ||||||||||||||
| from the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I | ||||||||||||||
| Released | November 27, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Format | CD single, Cassette, 12", 7" | |||||||||||||
| Genre | Blues,gospel | |||||||||||||
| Length | 6:46 (Album version) 5:02 (Radio edit) |
|||||||||||||
| Label | Epic | |||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Michael Jackson | |||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Michael Jackson, David Foster, Bill Bottrell (co-producer) | |||||||||||||
| Michael Jackson singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
"Earth Song" is the third single from Michael Jackson's album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. It is the fifth song on the second disc of the album. It is a ballad that incorporates elements of blues, gospel and opera. Jackson had a long-standing history of releasing socially conscious material such as "We Are the World", "Man in the Mirror" and "Heal the World". However, "Earth Song" was the first that overtly dealt with the environment and animal welfare. "Earth Song" was made for the Dangerous album but it failed to make the final cut. The song was written and composed by Jackson; the task of production was split between Jackson, David Foster and Bill Bottrell.
"Earth Song" was accompanied by a lavish music video shot in four geographical regions. It centered on the destruction and rebirth of Earth and went on to receive a Grammy nomination in 1997. The song was a top five hit in most European countries. It remains Jackson's best-selling single in the United Kingdom, and was the country's number-one Christmas single in 1995. "Earth Song" was not released as a single in the United States. Jackson went on to receive recognition from various animal and environmental organizations.
In 2011 the song was paired-up with the poem "Planet Earth" (previously released on Michael Jackson's This Is It, in 2009) and released as a song in the remix album Immortal. The song was the last song to be rehearsed by Jackson, shortly after midnight on June 25, 2009, making it the final song ever performed by Michael Jackson.
Jackson already had a long-standing history of writing charitable or socially conscious material. As a child, he had recorded the song "In Our Small Way" for his first album Got to Be There. As an adult, Jackson used his fame and wealth to promote various causes. In 1985, he co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in Africa and the US. The single became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief. It was also the first time Jackson was seen as a humanitarian. All of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity. Jackson founded the "Heal the World Foundation" in 1992, inspired by his charity single of the same name.
...
Wikipedia