think about this: 1969...40 years ago...Michael Jackson may have been 10...

[islandmkl]

"I Want You Back" sells 6 million copies...the first Jackson 5 single...and Michael is singing about a lover blowing a relationship...at that age, with that voice, with some remarkable understanding...regardless of his personal idiosyncracies, he had 'the gift'...find it and give it a re-listen...

I Want You Back

Uh-huh huh huh huh
Let me tell ya now
Uh-huh

VERSE 1:
When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch
one glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me to take a second look

CHORUS:
Oh baby give me one more chance
(show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me
(back in your heart)
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Yes I do now
(I want you back)
Ooh ooh baby
(I want you back)
Ya ya ya ya
(I want you back)
Na na na na

VERSE 2:
Tryin' to live without your love
Is one long sleepless night
Let me show you girl
That I know wrong from right
Every street you walk on
I leave tearstains on the ground
Following the girl
I didn't even want around
Let me tell you now

CHORUS:
Oh baby all I need is one more chance
(show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me
(back to your heart)
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms

Uh-huh
A buh buh buh buh (2 times)
All I want
A buh buh buh buh
All I need
A buh buh buh buh
All I want
A buh buh buh buh
All I need

Oh just one more chance
to show you that I love you
baby! (6 times)

(I want you back)
Forget what happened then
(I want you back)
Let me live again

Oh baby I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Spare me of this cause
Gimme back what I lost

Oh baby I need one more chance ha
I tell ya that I love you


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_You_Back

[Kahuna]

1. I remember when that song came out. It was an overnight sensation..

Mike was immediately a superstar. He just had "it." He was cute as a button, with a killer voice and dance moves.

[Uzybone]

2. a prodigy that grew into a genius

[Kahuna]

4. Well said. nt

[BeyondGeography]

3. Indeed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfJu_Bom2sA

[liberalmuse]

5. The Jackson 5 were the coolest boy band EVER!

It was a magical time, and even in the early 1980's, before the accusations and "weirdness", Michael Jackson was untouchable.

[corpseratemedia]

6. that was when we moved back to the states

so all those songs of that time (when mj was a tyke) bring back memories of economic stability and of people no longer around

[Canuckistanian]

7. God, was that 1969?

I'm almost the exact same age as MJ. And I sure wasn't cutting records at that age.

I was too busy being a kid.

Maybe that's why he turned out the way he did. He never got the chance to be a kid like the rest of us.

[Uzybone]

8. "He never got the chance to be a kid like the rest of us."

you nailed it.

That and an asshole father fucked him for life.

[AngryOldDem]

11. Exactly,

And that's why he turned out the way he did.

Such a tragedy.

[Berry Cool]

9. One of the best openings in all of pop radio.

Great song.

[AngryOldDem]

10. MTV just played that...their first appearance on American Bandstand.

I give it a 10. It has a good beat and I can dance to it.

You had two major boy groups back then...the Jacksons and the Osmonds. Really no contest.