Liberian Girl

"Liberian Girl"
Single by Michael Jackson
from the album Bad
B-side "Girlfriend"
Released July 4, 1989
Format CD single, 12"
Recorded 1987
Genre R&B
Length 3:53 (album version)
3:40 (edit)
Label Epic, CBS
Writer(s) Michael Jackson
Producer(s) Quincy Jones
Michael Jackson (co-producer)
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"2300 Jackson Street"
(1989)		 "Liberian Girl"
(1989)		 "Black or White"
(1991)
Music video
"Liberian Girl" on YouTube

"Liberian Girl" was the ninth single released from American recording artist Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad. The song was written as early as 1983 and was among those considered for The Jacksons' Victory album. It was reworked and rewritten for Bad. The song was released as a single in Europe and Australia.

Critical reception

The New York Times editor Jon Pareles wrote that a melody line from Billie Jean reappears in this song.[1] Rolling Stone's Davitt Sigerson praised the song: "'Liberian Girl' — is Michael's filler, which makes it richer, sexier, better than Thriller's forgettables" and he also described that it "glistens with gratitude for the existence of a loved one."[2] In 2003, Q Magazine ranked the song at number 1,001 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[3]

Reaction in Liberia

The song received a positive reception in Liberia,[4] with women from the country viewing the song as empowering.[4] Liberian woman Margaret Carson said in an interview with the Washington Times "When that music came out … the Liberian girls were so astonished to hear a great musician like Michael Jackson thinking about a little country in Africa. It gave us hope, especially when things went bad … . It make us to feel that we are still part of the world."[4]

Chart performance

Chart (1989) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 50
Dutch Singles Chart 14
French Singles Chart 15
Irish Singles Chart 1
Swiss Singles Chart[5] 12
UK Singles Chart 13
Chart (2009) Peak
position
French Digital Singles Chart[6] 34
Swiss Singles Chart[5] 36
UK Singles Chart[7] 86

Music video

Directed by Jim Yukich, the video for the song featured many of Jackson's celebrity friends who gather on a soundstage to film the music video for "Liberian Girl", only to discover that Jackson was filming them all along. As named in the closing titles, the following people are listed in order of appearance:

There was also a mummy with three arms that was shown during the video. In the ending credits the mummy was credited with a question mark.

The music video of the song was included on the video albums: HIStory on Film, Volume II, Vision and the Target version DVD of Bad 25.

Track listing

  1. "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40
  2. "Girlfriend" – 3:05
  1. "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40
  2. "Get on the Floor" – 4:44
  3. "Girlfriend" – 3:05
  1. "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40
  2. "Girlfriend" – 3:05
  3. "The Lady in My Life" – 5:00
  4. "Get on the Floor" – 4:44

Covers and sampling

"Liberian Girl" has been sampled and covered by various musicians:

Personnel

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.