In His Own Words
Michael Jackson, drawing (1972). Credit: Jim Britt photo. Used with permission.
Pain
The Glenda Tapes, ca. 1991
Your eyes… when you show someone your eyes, you let them look through your soul. I didn’t want anyone to look into my soul, y’know? I didn’t want anybody to see that about me. And there’s a lot of pain and stuff and I’m very scared.
Source: audio recordings/transcripts
Photograph: Sour Moha, Unsplash/CC.
Karen Faye post on Insta (Jan 24, 2017) MJ texts (June 17, 2008)
Face
The Shmuley Tapes, ca. 2001
When my picture came up on the computer, it made me sick when I saw it. […] I am like a lizard. It is horrible. I never like it. I wish I could never be photographed or seen.
Source: audio recordings/transcripts
Relationships
The Glenda Tapes, ca. 1991
I want to be with someone…I want to know what a relationship is all about before I die, can’t you understand that girl? I never had… I mean I’ve been with Tate… I’ve been, well not with… I been with Tate. I thought I was with Diana… that was just in my own mind.
Source: audio recordings/transcripts
Diana Ross Special, Upside Down (1981)
Jackson 5 + Randy (between 1972-1974). Photograph: CC.
Childhood
Inscription in the Book ‘Boys Will Be Boys’
Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys’ faces. This is the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children.
M.J.
Source: court transcripts
Marriage
To Lisa Marie Presley, ca. 1995
Oh, that’s great. I call home and talk to my wife, and she tells me I’m a snake.
Source: Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough: ‘Unto the Great Unknown’
MJ with Karen Faye at Motown Cafe, NY (1996)
MJ (March 1981)
Business
After Business Meeting with Brasilian Officials, They Don’t Care About Us MV, 1995
Damn I thought those motherfuckers weren’t gonna never leave.
Source: audio recording/transcript NYPL ‘After the Dance’ panel, 2010