SONG That's What You Get For Being PoliteWRITTEN BY Michael and Randy Jackson
PERFORMED BY The Jacksons
APPEARS ON Destiny (1978)
Somewhere along the line I planned on writing about this song because it’s one of my top ten favorites. After the events of yesterday I decided to do it a little early. Before Hurricane Katrina I had a vinyl album collection of somewhere close to 300 LPs. I love playing records. Some of the albums I had came from family members that no longer wanted them. My favorite album to play out of that group was the Destiny album by The Jacksons. I thought it was cool I was playing the same exact album that I did as a child when I used to sneak into the back room and play records. I was also proud of the fact that it was one of the few I didn’t scratch up so it would make it through every song.
That’s What You Get for Being Polite was my favorite song on this album. I’ve become fonder of it as I have gotten older and experienced a few things. It’s a story of a man whose quest for love and fear of being lonely causes him to do things he may not want to do. I can relate to that a little bit. It also describes the pain of a man that doesn’t really know who he is. This was the first album by the group on the Epic label. There two albums on the CBS label after leaving Motown. It was also the first time they were giving creative freedom to write and produce their own songs. This song was written by Michael and Randy Jackson. Michael was 20 years old when he wrote this but giving the way his life was he probably had experienced way too many things that a normal child hadn’t. In my opinion the lyrics to this song represent how he probably lived his entire life.
He was a famous entertainer and there will probably never be another entertainer who will be as big as he was during the Thriller era. I can’t help wondering though if he ever thought how unfair it was that since the age of 5 he didn’t have the opportunity to figure out who he really was without millions of people watching. I think he was trying to tell everybody that all he really wanted was just a chance to find out who he really was but knew there wasn’t a chance of that happening. He disguised it as a love song with lyrics about buying things for girls but the way his life played out fits the tone of this song perfectly.
-Cliff
LYRICS
Jack still cries day and night
Jack's not happy with his life
He want to do this, he want to do that
You want to be kind, but ends up flat for love
For love
He tries so hard to give a lot
He wants to be what he is not
Love's not harsh and love's not bad
And what's he doing for love is so bad
(He wants to be so bad)
(He wants to be so bad) All the time getting in
Things he can't get out
Something deep inside of him
Eating up the pride of him
That makes him buy things for the girls
(That's what you get for being polite)
(For being polite)
Jack still sits all alone
He lives the world that is his own
He's lost in thought of who to be
I wish to God that he would see just love
Give him love
He tries so hard to give a lot
He wants to be what he is not
Love's not harsh and love's not bad
And what's he doing for love is so sad
(He wants to be so bad)
(He wants to be so bad) All the time getting in
Things he can't get out
Something deep inside of him
Eating up the pride of him
That makes him buy things for the girls
(That's what you get for being polite)
(For being polite)
(Jack still) Tryin' to make you happy, but...
(Jack still) Tryin' to make you happy, but...
(Jack still) Tryin' to make you happy, but he's not, but he's not
(Jack still) Tryin' to make you, but don't you know he cries
(Jack still) Don't you know he's scared
(Jack still) It's often for his love, it's for his love
Don't you know he often cries about you
He cries about me
He cries about you (You) and me (And me)
And every little thing that's in his way
He cries about me
He cries about you (You) and me (And me)
Know that he deserves to cry
(Jack still) Don't you know he cries
(Jack still) Don't you know he's scared
(Jack still) It's often for his love, yeah, yeah
Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know
Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know, don't you know
He cries, he cries because there is a lack of love
I believe Michael Jackson was always misunderstood and in many ways had to be something he was not. But he was one thing, a musical genius, and when he was on stage he left his sadness and shyness behind.
ReplyDeleteReading them the day after Michael's death, these lyrics are eerie.
ReplyDeleteI watched this video this morning, from the Jacksons' first appearance on American Bandstand. Michael looks so wholesome and open -- you have to wonder what happened to him.
Very thoughtful post. I always like the way you bring the personal into your writing.
OMG, I had forgotten about this song, until I heard a clip of it. Michael was definately Jack, And I weep when I think of how lonely he was. I truly hope that Michael is resting in peace,no more turmoil. And I hope the love he had for his children was sufficient enough for him.
ReplyDeleteDitto to the previous comments. Learned about this song from reading The Michael Jackson Opus which I just received. This book is so worth every penney I spent! I don't know that Michael Jackson ever found HIS path, but he kept walking the paths he found as he searched. And I agree he was Jack, but when I listened to the lyrics with the melody line, my first reaction was that I wonder, if he had, had total control, would he have set the lyrics to that melody? Rest in peace, Michael Jackson. You are "home" now.
ReplyDeleteluv u mj
ReplyDeleteDestiny, along with Triumph (likewise by the Jacksons), is my favorite album right now, which I play on repeat. I am a Michael Jackson fan of 25 years, but interestingly it's only now, as I grew older, that I started to appreciate more these hidden gems in Michael's catalog. Heartbreak Hotel (from the Triumph album) is easily among Michael's top 10 songs ever. Such a genius composition!
ReplyDeleteOn Destiny I like the Bless His Soul and That's What You Get For Being Polite the most. The first one is credited to The Jacksons, the second to Michael and Randy, but I think they are signature Michael songs. That's What You Get is about Michael and his eternal quest to find love in a cold, selfish and unloving world. I have no doubt about it that he (and not Randy) wrote the lyrics of this song. And I feel similarly about Bless His Soul.
Heartbreakingly honest and beautiful songs. People want to learn about Michael from tabloids, but they will never understand him through tabloid stories. In his songs however, he opens his heart to us. We only have to listen.