"Liberian Girl" is the ninth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released from American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's 1987 album '' Bad''. The song was written as early as 1983 and was among those considered for

the Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

' ''

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

'' album. It was reworked and rewritten for ''Bad''. The song was released as a single in Europe, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. Although a commercial success (ranking the Top 15 in several countries), the song was never performed live by Michael Jackson during his

Bad World Tour Bad was the first solo concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson, launched in support of his seventh studio album '' Bad'' (1987). Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts for over 4.4 million fans across ...

or later concerts.

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' editor Jon Pareles wrote that a melody line from "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...

" reappears in this song. ''Rolling Stone''s Davitt Sigerson praised the song: "'Liberian Girl' "is Michael's filler, which makes it richer, sexier, better than ''Thriller's'' forgettables" and he also described that it "glistens with gratitude for the existence of a loved one." In 2003, ''Q'' magazine ranked the song at number 1,001 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".

Reaction in Liberia

The song received a positive reception in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, with women from the country viewing the song as empowering. Liberian woman Margaret Carson said in an interview with ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' "When that music came out … the Liberian girls were so astonished to hear a great musician like Michael Jackson thinking about a little country in Africa. It gave us hope, especially when things went bad … . It made us to feel that we are still part of the world."

Music video

Directed by Jim Yukich and produced by Paul Flattery for FYI (Flattery Yukich Inc.), the

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

for the song was filmed in two days in April 1989 at A&M Chaplin Stage at

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The music video featured many of Jackson's celebrity friends who gather on a soundstage to film the music video for "Liberian Girl", only to discover that Jackson was filming them all along. The following people are listed in order of appearance (ordered by columns): There was also someone dressed as a mummy in the video. In the ending credits the mummy was credited with a question mark. The music video of the song was included on the video albums: ''

HIStory on Film, Volume II ''HIStory on Film, Volume II'' is a collection of music videos by Michael Jackson released by Sony Music Video Enterprises in May 1997. It contains the music videos belonging to Jackson's ninth studio album (''HIStory: Past, Present and Future - ...

'', ''

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

'' and the Target version DVD of ''

Bad 25 ''Bad 25'' is the 25th anniversary edition reissue of American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson's seventh studio album '' Bad'' (1987). This is the second album by Jackson re-released on its 25th anniversary, the first being ''Thriller 25'' (20 ...

''.

Track listings

7-inch # "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40 # "

Girlfriend A girlfriend is a female friend, acquaintance or partner, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the in ...

" – 3:05 12-inch # "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40 # "Get on the Floor" – 4:44 # "Girlfriend" – 3:05 CD single # "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40 # "Girlfriend" – 3:05 # "The Lady in My Life" – 5:00 # "Get on the Floor" – 4:44 CD 3-inch # "Liberian Girl" (edit) – 3:40 # "Get on the Floor" – 4:44 # "Girlfriend" – 3:05

Personnel

* Michael Jackson – Songwriter, co-producer, solo and background vocals, drums, rhythm arrangement, vocal arrangement * Quincy Jones – Producer, rhythm arrangement, synthesizer arrangement * John Barnes – Rhythm arrangement, vocal arrangement, synthesizer arrangement, synthesizers *

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthe ...

– Synthesizers * Miko Brando – Drums * Christopher Currell – Synclavier * Paulinho da Costa – Percussion * Douglas Getschal – Drum programming *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

– Synthesizer arrangement *

Letta Mbulu Letta Mbulu (born 23 August 1942) is a South African jazz singer who has been active since the 1960s. Biography Born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, she has been active as a singer since the 1960s. While still a teenager she toured with th ...

– Swahili chant * David Paich – Synthesizers * Steve Porcaro – Synthesizer programming * John Robinson – Drums *

Caiphus Semenya Caiphus Semenya (born 19 August 1939) is a South African composer and musician. He was born in Alexandra, Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa. He left South Africa for Los Angeles, California, United States, in the 1960s, together with his wife ...

– Swahili chant arrangement * Larry Williams – Synthesizers

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 1987 songs 1989 singles 1980s ballads Michael Jackson songs Songs written by Michael Jackson Song recordings produced by Michael Jackson Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Contemporary R&B ballads Epic Records singles CBS Records singles Macaronic songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Fictional Liberian people