"Liberian Girl" is the ninth and final single released from American singer Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad. The song was written as early as 1983 and was among those considered for the Jacksons' Victory 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 Jackson during his Bad world tour or later concerts.
The New York Times editor Jon Pareles wrote that a melody line from "Billie Jean" reappears in this song.[2]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."[3] In 2003, Q magazine ranked the song at number 1,001 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[4]
The song received a positive reception in Liberia,[5] with women from the country viewing the song as empowering.[5] Liberian woman Margaret Carson said in an interview with The Washington Times "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."[5]
Directed by Jim Yukich and produced by Paul Flattery for FYI (Flattery Yukich Inc.), the video for the song was filmed in two days in April 1989 at A&M Chaplin Stage at A&M StudiosinLos Angeles, California.[1] 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):[6]
^ abcdLecocq, Richard; Allard, François (2018). "Bad". Michael Jackson All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London, England: Cassell. pp. 461–63. ISBN978-1-78840057-2.
^Cadman, Chris (2015). Michael Jackson The Maestro The Definitive A-Z Volume II - K-Z. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN978-1-50762440-1.
