For Michael Jackson

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:40:28 GMT

I grew up in Armenia. & nbsp;Then-one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union. & nbsp;I was in my teens, when Michael & nbsp;Jackson became a King. Most of us never seen him on TV until much later. We only knew his voice. We learned how to spell his name in English. Some rebels would carve his name under the school desks.

I didn't ,of course, ruin desks, but I remember pressing the key of the cassette player to repeat a song again and again. My friend who could draw really well, kept drawing his eyes, after she saw him, of course.

Now I live in US. This year I decided to teach my school singing class Michael's song Heal the World. It's an & nbsp;elementary school, and many kids only & nbsp;thought of him that he is a freak and looks like a woman. I told them not to think about that and & nbsp;just to sing the song . & nbsp;While working on the song my students understood & nbsp;that his music was bigger than the image the press and the society has built in recent years. When we performed it at the end of the year concert some parents loved it, and some raised eyebrows. But I never believed that a person of such pure talent could molest a child.

This all frenzy now reminded me a line from a Russian movie: The Adventures of & nbsp;Baron Munkhauzen. Here it is: Do you necessarily need to kill him to understand that he is alive!!!

Peace to you Michael. Many say you were lonely in this world, but many of us, musicians, & nbsp;feel lonely without you.

P. S. If & nbsp;my English is imperfect, I apologize. I didn't want to give this to anyone to edit. Wanted to keep it as it came.

Christine

Christine Kharazian on Violinist.com

For Michael Jackson