Music Review: Michael Jackson "Bad"

"Your butt is mine/'Gonna tell you right/Just show your face/In broad daylight/I'm telling you/On how I feel/Gonna hurt your mind/Don't shoot to kill/Come on/Come on/Lay it on me/All right."

Jackson decides to give his enemy a chance to be cruel as he can. Jackson puts him in his place, though. He's met guys this him before. They are all talk but when someone actually fights back, they whimper.

"I'm giving you/On count of three/To show your stuff/Or let it be/I'm telling you/
Just watch your mouth/I know your game/What you're about."

In the pre-chorus, he says he is capable of giving the guy such a verbal smackdown, the guy will be scarred for life.

"Well they say the sky's the limit/And to me that's really true/But my friend you have seen nothin'/Just wait 'til I get through."

Jackson boasts he's vicious and the guy is aware of it. He also gives an advanced warning to anyone else that he will follow through.

"Because I'm bad, I'm bad/Come on/(Bad bad - really, really bad)/You know I'm bad, I'm bad/You know it/(Bad bad - really, really bad)/You know I'm bad, I'm bad/
Come on, you know/(Bad bad - really, really bad)/And the whole world has to/Answer right now/Just to tell you once again/Who's bad."

Nonetheless, Jackson is trying to scare the guy to keep him out of trouble. He tells the guy the authorities are after him and will put him in jail. The guy will be caught in his lies. The guy rejects what Jackson's attempts to reach him. Jackson takes another tack: pop psychology. He tells the guy that he's weak and an insult to his gender. He is causing fights as a way of not dealing with the abuse he grew up with.

"The word is out/You're doin' wrong/Gonna lock you up/Before too long/Your lyin' eyes/Gonna tell you right/So listen up/Don't make a fight/Your talk is cheap/You're not a man/You're throwin' stones/To hide your hands."

After the pre-chorus and chorus are sung again, the lively synthesizer has an extended solo alongside the drum beat.

In the second pre-chorus, Jackson says they can change people's opinions and get rid of the tension existing in their neighborhoods. Then, Jackson encourages him to hit him if doesn't agree with him. Well, so much for the peaceful "we are the world" statement made earlier.

"We can change the world tomorrow/This could be a better place/If you don't like what I'm sayin'/Then won't you slap my face."

The chorus is sung four times to end the single, although the third time has a slight variation. Jackson says he's smooth. Then continues with the original lyrics.


In the 80s, Jackson was continually asserting himself as a tough guy and a force to be reckoned with ("Beat It," "Thriller") both in the music and videos. However, in "Bad" he is believable. It's due to his naturally cocky vocals and the unrelenting drum machine.