Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror - Lyrics Meaning

This song was released as a single in the spring of 1988. From Jackson's seventh solo album, "Bad," it became one of his most highly praised songs and received a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year. It was only warmly received in the UK, however, where it fizzled out at #21 on the charts. After Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, it made a comeback and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song was written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard. While driving to a recording session for another Jackson song, Garrett said she saw a face in the car's mirror, and that's what gave her the idea to write the song for Jackson's new album.

Rather than performing in the video, Jackson chose for some reason to only make a cameo appearance near the end of it. Instead, he decided to feature a montage of film footage from prominent news events and newsmakers.

Jackson's message in "Man in the Mirror" is quite clear. He shows examples of situations where the world could be made a better place, cases where the need is obvious, but the people often choose to pretend they don't see it and keep on walking. Jackson challenges us to look within ourselves and make a decision to change for the better for the good of all mankind.

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways