Though the spooky soundscape; a thumping in the floor, a creep behind the door; suggests otherwise, this isn’t just a song about ghosts. The term seems to be a metaphor for something deeper, something real. “Who gave you the right to shake my family tree,” the controversial King Of Pop asks rhetorically, “Tell me; are you the ghost of jealousy?” He’s apparently addressing his many detractors, but the point is nearly lost in the groove.

The beat, produced by Teddy Riley, is as cold as the concept and the bridge conjures 1970s funk, but it’s the aforementioned chorus; not the words themselves but their harmonic melodies; that haunts. It’s a majestic masterpiece; one of the best I’ve heard, in my life, from Michael Jackson or anyone else. There’s just something (special) about the way it’s layered that, at the right moment, can literally send chills down your spine.

my rating : 5 of 5

1997