Move Over King Crow ~ Make Way for King Pop
I find these lyrics providential for MJ. From his initial jaunt down the yellow brick road with Diana Ross at his side, to his glorious Moonwalk strides at Motown 25 and beyond, Michael eased on down the road, didn’t lose no ground, and kept on keepin’ on♥
Refrain: Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road Don’t you carry nothing That might be a load Come on, ease on down, ease on down, down the roadPick your left foot up When your right foot’s down Come on legs keep movin’ Don’t you lose no ground You just keep on keepin’ On the road that you choose Don’t you give up walkin’ ’cause you gave up shoes, no Refrain ’cause there maybe times When you think you lost your mind And the steps you’re takin’ Leave you three, four steps behind But the road you’re walking Might be long sometimes You just keep on steppin’ And you’ll just be fine, yeah Refrain Well there maybe times When you wish you wasn’t born And you wake one morning Just to find your courage’s gone But just know that feeling Only last a little while You stick with us And we’ll show you how to smile, yeah Get ’em up, goin’ down, ease on down…
♥♥♥♥♥
What a joy that Dorothy’s fun-loving Scarecrow friend can dance like Michael Jackson! His ability to simultaneously kick up his heels while singing “Ease On Down the Road” elicits endearing affection. Far from being afraid, even the king crows of the cornfield loved him!
Michael breathed life into the Scarecrow while expanding his own musical style. On his own for the first time, after parting from his brothers and The Jackson 5, Michael embarked on his solo career. Working with Quincy Jones on the set of The Wiz would be the first of many projects that the two would share.
It is obvious that Michael had already been studying the likes of Charlie Chaplin and the greats of stage and silent film. Michael developed his Scarecrow into a clumsy, goofy, shy, malleable and earnest character. Until he started singing and dancing, you actually felt sorry for him, the victim of the cornfield. When he gets freed from the confines of his wooden pole, and the bullying of the big, black birds, he bumbles, buckles his legs and then he does a series of tight, perfect pirouettes. Michael dances up the yellow brick road with his mentor and friend, Diana Ross, on the precipice of his astronomical solo fame.
It would be only a year later that the success of Off The Wall would launch Michael into his very own Land of Oz, a terrain which held the promise of eternal glory. Move over King Crows of the Cornfield…make way for the King of Pop!