The Years 1994 to 1997
One reporter from MTV Europe called the song “a handful of nonsense.” He continued about the song’s clip: “The clip is even worse than the song itself. In this clip, Michael returns life to the trees. He brings the dead back to life. He rebuilds what has been destroyed by dust. Is he God?”
At the BRIT Awards, Michael received the “Artist of the Decade” award from the hands of Bob Geldof, singer and founder of the charity organization fighting famine in Africa, and delivered a spectacular performance of “Earth Song.” Michael was surrounded on stage by about forty children, representatives of deprived children from around the world. During part of the performance, Michael flew on a crane above the audience in the hall, and the nonstop cheering of two thousand spectators was deafening. While Michael was on the crane, Jarvis Cocker rushed toward the stage. He waved his two fingers in the air in an insulting gesture toward Michael and disrupted the line of singers on stage.
Betany Garner, a seven-year-old girl who was on stage, later said in an interview with two local English newspapers, The Sun and The Mirror: “Cocker told me you’re a pretty little girl. And then he kicked my foot.”
Following this chaos, security forces came onto the stage to take Cocker down. Cocker ran around the stage and climbed on the furniture placed on stage, and when one of the dancers went toward him, his foot slipped, and he collided with several children and threw them down from the stage. In the end, security forces managed to arrest him and remove him from the hall.
Cocker was arrested for causing physical injuries and transferred to the police department of Chelsea. Police revealed that an 11-year-old boy had claimed that Cocker punched him. Another child was injured in the ear, and another was thrown to the ground.
The parents of these children were extremely angry and expressed their anger in The Sun and The Mirror newspapers.
Janet Moore, the mother of one of the children: “That man (Cocker) ruined my daughter’s biggest night of her life. I saw someone lift my daughter off the ground and try to throw her down. I thought a crazy person had entered the stage and wanted to reach Michael. What kind of sensible person does such a thing to a child? I don’t know who he is or what he thinks he is. But I want to do the same thing to him—or something even worse. My daughter Ashley spent weeks preparing for this dream night, and this madman destroyed all her efforts in just a few moments. If I could, I would strangle him with my hands.”
Rachel Garner, the mother of seven-year-old Bethany Garner, added: “All of this incident was a disgusting show. My daughter and the other children couldn’t believe what was happening. Some of them came down from the stage crying and hugged each other.”
Steve Webb, the father of Stephen, said: “After this incident, Stephen stayed on stage and continued reading. And I’m proud of him for that. But I feel that the moment he had been waiting for for a long time was ruined. He is very upset.”
In a statement released by Epic music company, Michael accused Cocker of carrying out hateful and shameful behavior.
The statement said that Michael could not understand his disrespect toward the people present on stage. Michael was disgusted, saddened, shocked, upset, and angry about the incident, but at the same time he felt an immense pride that the band members were able to continue performing the song despite the hateful and shameful behavior of the individual who intended to disrupt the show. Michael’s main concern was about the people who had worked hard for this performance, as well as the children who were injured in the incident.
Cocker also denied committing any crime in a statement he published in the newspaper: “I didn’t do anything illegal. I don’t like Michael Jackson, but I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t attack anyone. What I did was a protest against Jackson’s actions and behavior—seeing himself as a messiah and wanting to heal the world. I couldn’t tolerate it anymore. The music industry, because of the wealth and power Jackson has at his disposal, allows him to nurture his fantasies and delusions.“
His spokesperson said that Cocker intended to sue Michael for the slander he had accused him of. He also claimed that he had a video tape of one of Michael’s guards beating children.
Following this incident, the British press mocked and ridiculed Cocker. The editor of The Sun, who usually doesn’t have a good relationship with Michael, wrote: “Michael Jackson is a mega star and a professional artist. Something that Jarvis Cocker will never become. The organizers promised that we would witness an extraordinary performance by Jaco [the press nickname for Michael]. And he proved it with the song ‘Earth Song.’ Cocker couldn’t stop the king of pop from performing.”
By giving Michael nine points out of ten, he reflected the satisfaction of many other critics with his performance.
Bill Cardewell, a cartoonist for the Star newspaper, said: “Jarvis Cocker was the clown, the idiot, and the most boring person of the year.”
But no one understood how the media suddenly rose to defend Jarvis.
At the BRIT Awards, Michael entered the stage wearing black clothes and then removed them. Under this black garment, he wore a white outfit. And at the end, he guided the children and other people present on stage toward the light shining on the stage.
The media blamed Michael for this move and accused him of believing he is the messiah and imagining that he is carrying a message for the people of Earth.
Jarvis Cocker now saw himself as a hero who had managed to direct the media’s attention toward his intended goal.
In an interview with a British television network, he said: “I was disgusted by his movements on stage and felt that my surroundings felt the same. I thought I had to do something, stood up, and went on stage. I didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe it would be better to imitate his movements. Run around the stage, climb on the equipment on stage, and bow like him.”
After a while, the American media also entered the matter with a hateful approach. They called Michael’s performance anti-Semitic.
In the final scene of this performance, Michael appears in white clothes and hugs everyone, including the person who was wearing Jewish clothing. The media’s interpretation was that the Jewish person (representing the Jewish religion) worships Michael (representing the Christian religion). [Meaning the superiority of the Christian religion over Judaism]
They even conducted a poll about it and broadcast an interview that had been done with several people from the United States on television. The interviewees called Michael Jackson anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-religion, while the performance of “Earth Song” at the BRIT Awards had not been broadcast on American television, and they certainly couldn’t have seen that program.
The media supported Cocker’s actions. Cocker had said that he went on stage to protest Michael’s messiah-like appearance. Whereas when he rushed onto the stage, Michael was performing “Earth Song” on the crane and was still wearing black clothes, with no sign of the messiah.
What is important is that when security forces took Cocker off the stage, the audience shouted Michael’s name in unison. So, it is certain that, unlike Cocker, they did not feel bad about Michael’s movements.
Perhaps Cocker did this as a result of jealousy or for the sake of promoting his own album, and his claim that he was protesting Michael’s actions was just an excuse to clear himself.
In response to the media controversy, Michael released a statement on the Sony website and explained his reasons for writing this song:
“I was feeling a great deal of sadness and pain. ‘Earth Song’ is, for me, the song of the Earth. Because I feel that nature is trying very hard to make up for the damage that human beings have done to the Earth and the environment. I think the Earth is suffering. And this song gave me an opportunity to bring the voice of the Earth to the ears of the people.“
Did he not try, with this song, to depict the Earth?
When Michael appeared on stage at the BRIT Awards, he was wearing black clothes, a symbol of Earth’s pollution and the destruction caused by war. When he flew on the crane above the audience, he addressed the people below from the Earth, calling on them to wake up and save the Earth before it was too late. Then he came down from the crane. The people present on stage were representatives of all human beings. Michael removed his black clothes while wearing a white outfit underneath, representing the Earth’s purification from pollution, the end of wars, rebuilding the Earth, and its return to its former state. All people (those on stage) hugged the Earth (Michael), and the Earth embraced them in return.
Michael’s outstretched arms did not depict the Christian cross. And the Jewish person was hugging the Earth, not the messiah.
