Christians

"This came down to a prosecutor either so sure Jackson was bad or so offended by Jackson's combination of celebrity and wackiness that he rushed into a case that looked shaky from hello. It looked worse as Tom Sneddon went along, and had become nearly ludicrous by the time Jackson's ex-wife left the stand. No matter how pure Sneddon's motives may have been (and I'm not saying they were, believe me), he began to look like a man pursuing a vendetta, one whose chief hope of securing a conviction lay in the obvious fact that the trial was a sideshow and the accused was … well, a freak."

"What I'm asking is whether this is still a country where a peculiar person such as Michael Jackson can get a fair shake and be considered innocent until proven guilty … or is this just a 21st-century American barnyard where we all feel free to turn on the moonwalking rooster … and peck it to death?"

"I'm upset at the way he's being treated in the media. I think they're really trying to slander his name, and I really think that's unfair for the way that he's contributed to the American culture since the day he was born. I think he deserves much more than that."

"I think Michael Jackson has influenced every performer on the face of the earth. What he really inspired me to do and influenced me to do is my best, and I feel like what he represented is quality and craftsmanship with his performance. He was one of the best performers of all time and it was because he put in work, he put in time, he was creative, and he wanted to be the best."

"Go to any village, any corner in India and you'll find everyone is familiar with the name Michael Jackson. There is no musician who can replace MJ."

"A thousand years from now, when the history of popular music is examined, no single performer will be as remembered and as celebrated as Michael Jackson."

"Just as Mozart could hear whole symphonies in his head, Jackson fully realized his songs before they were put down on paper. Jackson created some of the greatest pop anthems of all time, that only adds to the sense that what MJ had was a special, special gift."

"He is a very smart cookie, Michael. He knows what he wants, he knows what he is doing. I have nothing but admiration. Also, he is a very kind person."

"It was sort of frightening. He was so young. He didn't go out and play much. So if you want me to tell you the truth, I don't know where he got it. He just knew."

"He was so energetic that at five years old, he was like a leader. We saw that. So we said, 'Hey, Michael, you be the lead guy.' The audience ate it up. He was into those James Brown things at the time, you know. The speed was the thing. He would see somebody do something, and he could do it right away."

"Michael Jackson is literally walking in the shoes that no Black person has ever walked in before. If he ever writes an autobiography, it will be one of the most interesting ever. A Black man with no real formal education becomes the most powerful man in the industry, despite hatred, racism, enemies in his own camps and a media willing to be bought to the highest bidder."

"Michael Jackson gave us pride. He gave us pride in our blackness, gave us pride that we can look good and be cool and be worldwide. Michael Jackson is a fucking icon. And I believe they took Michael Jackson down because he had too much power."

"I don't think MJ knew just how much his music shaped a whole generation of Arabs — just how many fans he had here and just how devoted they remained throughout his ordeals. We might not have heard of The Beatles or Elvis Presley, but we sure knew Michael Jackson."

"In some ways Michael reminds me of the walking wounded. He's an extremely fragile person. I think that just getting on with life, making contact with people, is hard enough, much less to be worried about whither goest the world."

"He was adamantly against drugs and alcohol, he was extremely straight-laced; I couldn’t even swear around him. Being with Michael brought me back to my innocence."

"He's my biggest influence so that's why I'm very defensive. I'm ready to fight about Michael Jackson"

"What Michael Jackson did, almost pre-hip hop, is profound. What he does for black music in the beginning is mind-boggling"

"We're close, he's a good friend of mine, we definitely have a connection that most people don't have..."

"One important difference between Jackson's career and those of many others is that he was a child star who became an adult star – a very difficult transition to pull off."

"He will always be the King of Pop. He has not abdicated, nor has he been usurped."

"And if he is not credited for composing the music, it's because he was not happy with the result sound coming out of the console. At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music..."

"My wish is to meet him in heaven when I pass on"

"Though the allegations of sexual assault surrounding Jackson are serious, can you really cancel someone whose influence runs so deep and who is so omnipresent? Jenna Wortham, a culture writer for the New York Times, contemplated this question on the podcast "Still Processing." She says she's managed to cut out such entertainers as Allen, Louis CK and Chris Brown -- but Jackson is still everywhere. His songs influenced generations of musicians. It simply isn't possible to totally cancel him."

"You are the sun, you make me shine, or more like the stars, that twinkle at night. You are the moon that glows in my heart. You're my daytime, my night-time, my world...you are my life."

"Speechless, speechless, That's how you make me feel, When I'm with you I am far away, And nothing is for real."

"You can't believe it, you can't conceive it, And you can't touch me, 'cause I'm untouchable, And I know you hate it, and you can't take it, You'll never break me, 'cause I'm unbreakable."

"Just because you read it in a magazine, Or see it on a TV screen Don't make it factual."

"People say I'm strange that way, 'Cause I love such elementary things, It's been my fate to compensate For the childhood I've never known."

"Before you judge me, try hard to love me, Look within your heart then ask, Have you seen my childhood?"

"Did you ever stop to notice All the children dead from war? Did you ever stop to notice This crying earth, these weeping shores?"

"What about sunrise, what about rain? What about all the things that you said we were to gain? What about flowering fields, is there a time? What about all the dreams that you said was yours and mine?"

"How does it feel, When you're alone and you're cold inside?"

"Some things in life they just don't wanna see But if Martin Luther was livin' He wouldn't let this be."

"You know I really do hate to say it, The government don't wanna see, But if Roosevelt was livin' He wouldn't let this be, no, no."

"Beat me, hate me You can never break me Will me, thrill me You can never kill me."

"Skin head Dead head, Everybody gone bad, Situation, Aggravation , Everybody allegation, In the suite, On the news, Everybody dogfood, Bang Bang, Shot dead, Everybody gone mad ,"

"All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us."

"Stop pressuring me, just stop pressuring me, Stop pressuring me, Make me wanna scream."

"With such confusions, don't it make you wanna scream? Your bash abusing victimize within the scheme, You try to cope with every lie they scrutinize, Oh, brother, please have mercy, 'Cause I just can't take it!"

"In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, Will you still care? Will you be there? In my trials and my tribulations, Through our doubts and frustrations, In my violence and my turbulence, Through my fear and my confessions, And my anguish and my pain, Through my joy and my sorrow, In the promise of another tomorrow, I'll never let you part, For you're always in my heart."

"Love is a feeling, Give it when I want it, 'Cause I'm on fire, Quench my desire, Love is a woman, I don't want to give in, Give in to me, give in to me."

"And it doesn't seem to matter, and it doesn't seem right, 'Cause the will has brought no fortune, still I cry alone at night, Don't you judge of my composure, 'cause I'm bothered every day, And she didn't leave a letter, she just up and ran away."

"They print my message in the Saturday Sun, I had to tell them I ain't second to none, And I told about equality, And its true, either you're wrong or you're right."

"I took my baby on a Saturday bang, Boy, is that girl with you? Yes, we're one and the same. Well, I believe in miracles, And a miracle has happened tonight, But if you're thinking about my baby, It don't matter if you're black or white."

"Heal the world, make it a better place, For you and for me and the entire human race, There are people dying, but if you care enough for the living, Make a better place for you and for me."

"Just promise me, whatever we say Or do to each other, From now, we make a vow to just Keep it in the closet."

"It ain't too much stuff, Jam, it ain't too much, It ain't too much for me to jam!"

"I have to find my peace 'cause no-one seems to let me be, False prophets cry of doom, what are the possibilities? I told my brothers 'There'll be problem times and tears for fears, We must live each day like it's the last, Go with it, go with it, jam!"

"Susie got your number And Susie ain't your friend Look who took you under With seven inches in Blood is on the dance floor Blood is on the knife Susie's got your number And Susie says it's right."

"So, just leave me alone, Leave me alone, Leave me alone, Leave me alone, stop it, Just stop doggin' me around."