Michael Jackson’s “Much Too Soon” Asks What Might’ve Been

Idolator Staff | November 30, 2010 12:10 pm

“Much Too Soon” is the third new(-ish) track from Michael Jackson, and the first to be identified as a product of his remarkably creative Thriller period. (Not that we expect that to change the song lineup for Glee). Jackson “always liked” the bittersweet “Much Too Soon”, according to a post on his official website, “and would pull it back out of the vaults for each subsequent album project but never found the right home for it”. Was Jackson right not to release this one during his lifetime? Listen below.

[wpaudio url=”//idolator.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/10-Much-Too-Soon.mp3″ text=”Michael Jackson – Much Too Soon” dl=”0″] Co-written with longtime collaborator John McClain, “Much Too Soon” finds Jackson’s falsetto at its most tender, with a harmonica solo and strings adding a tone of regret. Jackson sings of the hurt of rejection (“And would you like to go with me/ And she answered no to me/ Well guess I learned my lesson much too soon”), but at bottom this one is about the sorrow over what might’ve been. Which is why it’s a perfect song to end the upcoming Jackson collection, Michael.

We can understand why this one didn’t make the cut for Thriller — but it is fascinating to know that, at the time he was recording the majestic dance-pop of his best-known album, he still had an interest in wistful ballads.

Jackson certainly recorded more provocative tear-jerkers than this. But it is high time for the Jackson camp to release forgotten songs like “Much Too Soon”. We just wish it had happened under different circumstances.

[Via Michael Jackson]