B-side "She Drives Me Wild" Genre Soft rock
gospel | Format CD, cassette, 7", 12" | |
Released November 23, 1992 (1992-11-23) Recorded December 15, 1990 – October 29, 1991 Length 6:25 (album version)
4:32 (7" edit)
4:55 (7" edit with intro) | ||
"Heal the World" is a song from Michael Jackson's album Dangerous, released in 1991.
Contents
In a 2001 Internet chat with fans, Jackson said that "Heal the World" is the song he was most proud to have created. He also created the Heal the World Foundation, a charitable organization which was designed to improve the lives of children. The organization was also meant to teach children how to help others. This concept of 'betterment for all' would become a centerpiece for the Dangerous World Tour. In the documentary Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson said he created the song in his "Giving Tree" at Neverland Ranch.
An ensemble performance of "We Are the World" and "Heal the World" closed Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. The song was performed as rehearsed by Jackson at the venue just weeks earlier, in preparation for his planned "This Is It" concerts in London along with "Dirty Diana". R&B singer Ciara sang the song as a tribute to Jackson at the 2009 BET Awards.
The song was played at the funeral of James Bulger, and Jackson also donated the song to be used as the anthem for the charity the James Bulger Red Balloon Centre, a school for children to go to if they are being bullied or have learning difficulties.
Composition
This song is written in the key of A major, and it spans from E4 to C#6. It has a tempo of 80 beats per minute.
Reception
The song reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in December 1992, kept off the number one position by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". It peaked number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called this song "middle-class soft." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly praised the song: "And when his voice isn't competing with drum machines, it has rarely sounded stronger-achingly pure on Heal the World," Rolling Stone's Alan Light was not satisfied, calling it "a Hallmark-card knockoff of "We Are the World."
Music video
The music video (directed by Joe Pytka) features children living in countries suffering from unrest, especially Burundi. It is also one of only a handful of Michael Jackson's videos not to feature Jackson himself, the others being "Cry", "HIStory" and "Man in the Mirror". (The clips for "HIStory" and "Man in the Mirror" only feature Michael Jackson in archival footage). The version of the video included on Dangerous: The Short Films and Michael Jackson's Vision contains an introductory video that features a speech from Jackson taken from the special "spoken word" version of the track. This version was not included on Video Greatest Hits – HIStory featuring the music video. Jackson performed the song in the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show with a 35,000 person flash card performance.