Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ Was Divinely Inspired, Says Quincy Jones

To most people, Michael Jackson‘s “Bad” is simply a cool pop song. Meanwhile, Quincy Jones felt it was divinely inspired. He discussed the creative process behind one of the King of Pop’s greatest albums.

Quincy Jones said he didn’t work on Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ for the money

During a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, Jones was asked if he had a vision for the songs from Jackson’s Bad. “That’s not the way it works,” he replied. “You go song by song. The songs are the power. They take it home. 

“From what I learned, the melody is the voice of God,” he added. That’s what you look for. I have never ever made records for money or fame. That’s how you blow it. ‘Cause God walks out of the room if you’re going after money. And you don’t know how to go after money — it doesn’t work like that.”

Quincy Jones said he worked with Michael Jackson and others as a team

Jones explained his approach to music. “You have to go with your first intuition,” he said. “If there’s anything I’ve learned at age 84, it’s how little we have to do with most things. It’s divine intervention.”

Jones also considers making albums to be a team sport. “People get into their own opinions about I, me, my, those perspectives on making records,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that, man. It’s we, us, they — team, all the time. The more you get involved in that team, the better the project’s going to be. It’s an amazing process. I’ve been doing it a long time.”

‘Bad’ took over the world and ‘Rolling Stone’ loved it

“Bad” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It lasted on the chart for 14 weeks in total. It might be the most remembered song from this era of Jackson’s career. That might be the result of its divine melody, but the song’s long-form music video probably made it memorable. 

The video, directed by cinematic legend Martin Scorsese, features Jackson asserting his street cred to Wesley Snipes by dancing in a subway. While “Thriller” works from start to finish, the music video for “Bad” takes way too long to truly start. It’s a lot of boring melodrama that only comes to life when Jackson and company start dancing near the end. It’s characteristic of an artist whose music video started getting too long and self-indulgent for their own good.

“Bad” appeared on the album of the same title. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for six weeks, staying on the chart for 171 weeks altogether. The album produced several other big hits, such as “Man in the Mirror,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Smooth Criminal,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” and “Dirty Diana.”

Bad has become one of the most acclaimed albums of all time. Rolling Stone ranked Bad No. 194 on their list of the greatest albums of all time. Some fans consider the album to be better than Thriller. At the very least, most fans will say Jackson’s most important albums are Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad.

“Bad” didn’t produce the best music video ever but Jones considers the song an instance of divine intervention.