Now...You sing in heaven

I feel kind of special that in 50 years when people say “Man, remember when Michael Jackson died?”, I can say “Oh yea! I was nannying in Italy then…” It’s one of those things like, where were you when the first man walked on the moon? Or, where were you when you found out JFK was assassinated? Well, I was living and working in Italy when Michael Jackson died, and it was extremely interesting to get the international perspective on it.

I was reading the news online before bed, actually reading about the death of Farrah Fawcett, and right before shutting off my computer I refreshed my homepage to see if there were any new headlines. There was: Michael Jackson was being taken to the hospital for something or the other. I admit I rolled my eyes, thinking, “there’s always something with that guy”…and off I went to sleep. The next morning I logged back online and there it was: MICHAEL JACKSON, DEAD. I went into the living room where Rosa, Bruno, the girls, Bruno’s mom, and the house keeper were all chatting. I asked them if they knew Michael Jackson (stupid question, of course they knew him) and I shared the news. Rosa was completely devastated! She started going on and on about how her and her girlfriends used to listen to MJ so much in high school, his music reminds her of her youth, etc. etc. The housekeeper just kept saying “mamma mia…e’ morto…mamma mia.”

For the next couple of days it was all over the news and that was all anyone talked about. We even got to watch the funeral, streamed live from LA straight into our living room in Naples. For weeks after that, I would see t-shirts in store windows remembering Michael, every car that drove by was blasting Michael, every bar and restaurant was playing Michael. Additionally, the next three books I read mentioned Michael Jackson (even just briefly) and it made me think, he really is synonymous with America, just like baseball and apple pie. His name is one that can be said in any situation and everyone will know exactly what you are talking about – like in the three books I read. When my cousin came to visit me, 2 times in a row we were in a cab and the driver realized we were American and immediately put in a Michael Jackson CD. We would ask everyone what their favorite Michael song was and the answer was always ‘triller’ (Italians have such a hard time making the ‘th’ sound – so it’s just ‘triller’). There was also so much in the news about how people across the globe actually learned to speak English through listening to MJ’s music.

Read more about MJ and Italia here


Look closely! Underneath 'Bye Michael' it says 'now..you sing in heaven.' Shirt in a store window in Piazza Dante.