Man in the Mirror

"Man in the Mirror"
Single by Michael Jackson
from the album Bad
B-side"Man in the Mirror" (instrumental)
ReleasedJanuary 16, 1988
RecordedMay 1987
StudioWestlake (studio D), Los Angeles
Genre
Length
  • 5:19 (album version)
  • 5:04 (7" single mix)
LabelEpic
Songwriters
Producers
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"The Way You Make Me Feel"
(1987)		 "Man in the Mirror"
(1988)		 "Dirty Diana"
(1988)
Music video
"Man in the Mirror" on YouTube

"Man in the Mirror" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson. It was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. It was released in January 1988 as the fourth single from Jackson's seventh solo album, Bad (1987). The video consists of a montage of historical events and figures.

In the US, "Man in the Mirror" became Jackson's ninth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum. It was nominated for Record of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards. It reached number 21 on the UK singles chart in 1988, and reached number 2 there following Jackson's death in 2009. An instrumental version was played at Jackson's memorial service.

Writing and recording

"Man in the Mirror" was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett. Jackson's producer, Quincy Jones, invited Garrett to his home with a group of other songwriters and asked them to write material for Jackson's next album. Garrett recalled that Jones told the group: "I just want hits, that's all I want."

Garrett took the brief to Ballard, her writing partner, who began playing a keyboard figure; Garrett wrote the lyrics. The two recorded a demo over the course of a week, with Garrett on vocals. Garrett delivered the tape to Jones, who called back a few hours later to tell her he approved. At Jackson's request, Garrett and Ballard wrote a longer middle eight and modified the lyrics. Jones enlisted the Andraé Crouch Choir to record gospel vocals.

The song runs for 5 minutes and 19 seconds and the sheet music for the song shows the key of G major. After 2 minutes and 53 seconds, the key goes up a semitone, changing to A-flat major.

Critical response

Ed Hogan of AllMusic called it "gentle". Rolling Stone's Davitt Sigerson thought it was one of Jackson's greatest works: "On 'Man in the Mirror,' a song he did not write, Jackson goes a step further and offers a straightforward homily of personal commitment". Jon Pareles of The New York Times called it a "catchy, uplifting piece of pop-gospel". He that it was "pseudopolitical ... an old phenomenon that has gone big time in the 1980s. Performers now love the moral high ground, and their listeners like to think they're filled with high-minded compassion."

In 2009, Josh Tyrangiel from Time named "Man in the Mirror" among Jackson's ten best songs and "one of Jackson's most powerful vocals and accessible social statements, not to mention the best-ever use of a gospel choir in a pop song". In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert said it contained "one of the greatest key changes in music history".

Music video

The music video was conceived, directed, produced and edited by Don Wilson. It consists of a montage of historical events and figures, including African famines, Adolf Hitler, the American Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., the Kent State shootings, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, the Iran hostage crisis, Muammar Gaddafi, Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, John Lennon, Nelson Mandela, Pieter Botha, Lech Wałęsa, the June Democratic Struggle, the Camp David Accords, INF Treaty and the rescue of Jessica McClure. Wilson said:

I soon understood that much of the [archival] footage had been seen on news programs, and I needed to present it in a way that made it compelling and watchable. I decided to make the video "reversible". What I mean is if one were to play the video in reverse they'd notice that it begins with purity and innocence, and man's inaction and injustices create chaos, hopelessness and war. I wanted people to feel tearful and affected, and maybe for a second they'd think about doing something to change things.

In The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote that "Man in the Mirror" was "the most offensive music video clip ever", arguing that it repurposed suffering for commercial gain.

Chart performance

"Man in the Mirror" was the fourth consecutive U.S. number-one single from Bad. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 6, 1988. It reached number 1 on March 26, 1988, remaining there for two weeks. "Man in the Mirror" reached number 21 on the UK singles chart in 1988; following Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, it reached number 2. In Australia, it charted at number 39; after Jackson's death, it reached number 8. It was also the top single in iTunes downloads in the US and the UK following Jackson's death. An instrumental version was played at Jackson's memorial service. "Man in the Mirror" had sold 567,280 copies in the UK as of January 2016.

Track listing

  1. "Man in the Mirror" (single version) – 5:04
  2. "Man in the Mirror" (album version) – 5:19
  3. "Man in the Mirror" (instrumental) – 5:19
  1. "Man in the Mirror" (single version) – 5:04
  1. "Man in the Mirror" – 4:55
  2. "Man in the Mirror" (instrumental) – 4:55

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) 3× Platinum 240,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) 2× Platinum 180,000‡
Germany (BVMI) Gold 300,000‡
Italy (FIMI) Gold 50,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON) 2× Platinum+Gold 150,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) 3× Platinum 90,000‡
Spain (Promusicae) Gold 50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) 3× Platinum 1,800,000‡
United States (RIAA) 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

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