Liberian girl
| Liberian girl | |
|---|---|
| Michael Jackson | |
| publication | 3rd July 1989 |
| length | 3:53 (album version), 3:40 (edit) 5:05 (12 "-Edit) |
| Genre (s) | Pop music , contemporary R&B |
| Author (s) | Michael Jackson |
| album | bath |
Liberian Girl is an R & B - pop ballad from Michael Jackson . It was released on July 3, 1989 as the ninth and final single from the album Bad , but not in the USA and Canada . In Europe the song achieved some success. It reached number 13 in Great Britain and number 1 in the charts in Ireland . In Switzerland the song reached number 12, in France number 15. In Germany the song came in number 23.
history
Liberian Girl , a love ballad was written by Michael Jackson in 1983 and was for the album Victory of the Jackson Five in conversation. The song begins with spoken words in Swahili : “Naku Penda pia, Naku Taka pia, Mpenziwe!” (“I love you too, I want you too, my beloved!”). These were spoken by the South African singer Letta Mbulu ; in fact, Swahili is not usually spoken in Liberia .
Response in Liberia
The song was received positively in Liberia and women across the country found the song empowering. Liberian Mrs. Margaret Carson said in an interview with the Washington Times: "When this song came out ... the Liberian girls were so amazed to hear a great musician like Michael Jackson think about a small country in Africa. It gave us hope especially when things went bad ... It made us feel like we were still part of the world. "
Music video
A music video directed by James Yukich was filmed for the piece, which was highly regarded at the time. Numerous celebrities waited in the plot of the video on a film set for Michael Jackson, but he cannot be seen. Only at the end of the video is Jackson shown sitting on a camera crane, laughing. According to the credits, the celebrities include:
- Beverly Johnson
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner
- Sherman Hemsley
- Brigitte Nielsen
- Paula Abdul
- Carl Weathers
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Quincy Jones
- Jackie Collins
- Amy Irving
- Jasmine Guy
- Rosanna Arquette
- Lou Diamond Phillips
- Olivia Newton-John
- John Travolta
- Corey Feldman
- Steven Spielberg
- Debbie Gibson
- Rick Schroder
- Blair Underwood
- Weird Al Yankovic
- Bubbles
- Suzanne Somers
- Lou Ferrigno
- Don King and "Son"
- Mayim Bialik
- Virginia Madsen
- David Copperfield
- Billy Dee Williams
- Richard and Emily Dreyfuss
- Danny Glover
- Olivia Hussey
- Dan Aykroyd
- Steve Guttenberg
The music video is u. a. included on HIStory on Film, Volume II and Michael Jackson's Vision DVDs .