THRILLER NIGHT

Shoutout to Wikipedia and Epic Records

In this article you’ll find:

• Introduction
• Song Backstory
• Structure
• The Meaning Behind Each Line
• Legacy

Thriller is one of the most Iconic songs from the King of Pop, mainly because of the music video that we all associate to It, but even as a standalone track, It has stood the test of time. Claiming Its title as the #1 Halloween anthem.

From causing us nightmares as kids to making us want to recreate the famous undead horde dance every October, the appeal of this track knows no limits. However, something you might not know is that it wasn’t planned to be released as a single.

What started as a marketing campaign to make MJ’s album with the same name go back to the Billboard top charts created a phenomenon that not only doubled its sales, but also revolutionized the Music Video, making it a serious art form.

That’s why we’ll go over all these events and much more in a spooky article that will remind you how often two different mediums: Music and Cinema, can create a great experience.

Let’s dive into It!

SONG BACKSTORY

Shoutout to MacFinder

Thriller, American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson’s sixth album was released in November, 29, 1982 through his then label Epic Record. This ambitious LP, produced by none other than Quincy Jones himself, was Jackson’s final stroke against two things:

• Albums with only a good song, while the rest of the tracklist were just bland themes.
• Music Industry undervaluing black artists, with execs repeating that they didn’t sell enough.

This attempt was a complete success. All of its standout tracks charted in the Top 10 of Billboard 200 upon their release as singles. But what would be even a bigger achievement is something that was never seen before: It was the first album by a black artist to spend a whole year in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and the second to ever hit that milestone.

In spite of this, by mid-1983, sales of the album began to decline. This began to upset Jackson, who was known for being obsessed over his figures, urging his team to come up with a plan to take Thriller back to the charts.

It wasn’t until his manager Frank DiLeo suggested releasing the title track as a single along with a music video that Michael would calm down. However, this seemed as novelty idea for music executives, as the story of a song about monsters being #1 was never heard before.

When he realized that his record company didn’t plan to finance the film’s 500.000$ budget, Jackson offered to pay for It himself. But he didn’t have to, since Showtime and MTV were fighting to get rights to broadcast the Music Video and the “Making Of” segment.

At the end, MTV was the victor and plans for filming began to be made. The cherry on the top of Thriller’s excellence came when, after seeing his work, MJ contacted John Landis, director of An American Werewolf in London, to be the main filmmaker in the Video.

Finally, the anticipated song-picture combo was premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983, adding another success to Michael’s long list.

Not only It doubled the sales of the Album, but since the making-of documentary was released as a videotape, It also became the best-selling tape of all time. Along with this, Its clip is credited for making the music video a serious art form.

STRUCTURE

Shoutout to LifeArtStuff Creative Studio and Pinterest

Written by Rod Temperton, who had previously worked with MJ in his Off the Wall album, Thriller follows a typical top ten hit structure: The Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Verse-Chorus with an additional element: A spoken word outro by horror legend Vincent Price.

An interesting thing happens with the choruses, as they tend to interchange certain lines as the song progresses, from talking about a beast about to strike and a thing with 40 eyes to slightly sexual undertones with:

'Cause I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night

According to Temperton, the main focus of the song was to grab the listener’s attention and keep It for as long as It could, hence why little changes were added to create a sensation of surprise every time, as Quincy did in the production side of things with the musical breakdowns.

THE MEANING BEHIND EACH LINE

Shoutout to MJPhotosCollectors.com and Bloody Disgusting

It’s not hard to guess upon hearing this song that it’s about the horror genre as a whole. Here, in an almost Lovecraftian tone, Michael sings from the perspective of a narrator that describes different situations that would cause many Goosebumps.

If we take a look at the first verse:

It's close to midnight
And something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed

Here he describes an unknown creature with mischievous intentions chasing us, but by the time we realize, it’s too late. He not only conveys a fantastic use of imagery, but also builds the suspense at the end of the verse, giving a smooth segway to the chorus with “You’re paralyzed”.

In the first chorus:

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you
From the beast about to strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer
Thriller tonight, yeah

Still in the song's topic, the Indiana singer talks about a suspenseful night that we are cursed to experience. As It was mentioned before, some of the lines change in further iterations of the chorus.

For the 2nd:

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain't no second chance
Against the thing with forty eyes, girl
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night
You're fighting for your life
Inside a killer, thriller tonight

And the 3rd:

That this is thriller, thriller night
'Cause I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night
So let me hold you tight
And share a killer, thriller, chiller
Thriller, here tonight
'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
Girl, I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
Thriller (Ooh), thriller night
So let me hold you tight
And share a killer, thriller (Ow!)

In this song, the “hook” always acts as a complement of the verse, completing the meaning of It. Why does the second verse talk about something with 40 eyes? Well, we have to go no further than the second verse to find out why.

You hear the door slam
And realize there's nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand
And wonder if you'll ever see the sun
You close your eyes
And hope that this is just imagination (Girl)
But all the while
You hear a creature creepin’ up behind
You're out of time

The interpreter mentions another situation, where we find out that there’s a creature behind us, precisely the same one we talked about in the verse, all in great detail.

And for the third verse:

They're out to get you
There's demons closing in on every side (Ooh)
They will possess you
Unless you change that number on your dial
Now is the time
For you and I to cuddle close together, yeah
All through the night
I'll save you from the terror on the screen
I'll make you see

It’s in this point of the song that the tone changes. While previously there were constant threats being thrown upon us, now Michael offers us a way out, with him being the savior.

Not only this, but there’s an interesting line where he remarks:

They will possess you
Unless you change that number on your dial

This could have multiple meanings, as it can refer to what happens when a person gets possessed, where they might need to call a priest for help. It can also mean that the person he’s talking to has been following sinful ways and he/she needs to change them, all in the metaphor of radio frequencies, like when the radio DJ says “Don’t change that dial”.

But the horror movie tropes don’t end here. If we take a look at the bridge:

Night creatures call
And the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They're open wide)
This is the end of your life, ooh

We can see two horror movie references. First in the undead masquerade, where many reanimated souls gather and dance as It can be seem in old zombie flicks like Carnival of Souls, which might be one of the main sources of inspiration for the videoclip sequences.

The second is a sci-fi classic monster: The Alien. This eyeless anthropomorphic creature crawled Its way into many people’s nightmares after the release of the Ridley Scott movie from 1979, 3 years prior to the album’s release. Whatever the creature is, It doesn’t matter, this is the end.

And finally, the classic monologue that builds the maximum “thriller”, as Mr Price’s voice describes the horrors that await all of us in the dark night, all ending with a sinister laugh:

I'm gonna thrill you tonight
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'all’s neighborhood (I'm gonna thrill you tonight)
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
Thriller, ooh, babe (Thriller)
I'm gonna thrill you tonight (Thriller night)
Thriller, oh, darling (Oh, baby)
I'm gonna thrill you tonight (Thriller)
Ooh, babe (Thriller night)
I'm gonna thrill you tonight (Thriller)
Oh, darling (Oh, baby)
Thriller night, babe (Thriller night, babe)
Ooh
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years (Thriller night, thriller)
And grisly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver (I'm gonna thrill you tonight)
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

LEGACY

Shoutout to Michael Jackson World Network

To say that this song is legendary would be an understatement, since the cultural phenomena It sparked not only created a whole new perspective of Music Videos as an art form and a promotional tool. It also generated an international festival.

Thrill the world is an annual event where thousands of people gather to break the Guinness Record for the most people emulating Thriller’s iconic dance sequence. They have a lot of work to do, since the current landmark is at 13597 people.

Not only that. Despite being released 4 decades ago, this song manages to enter the Billboard top 100 chart every year when Halloween season comes. By 2019, the song re-entered the list at the 19th place.

Being the most well-known song out of the best-selling Album of all time, the most famous music video of all time and the definitive MJ track, as in the first week of the King of Pop’s deceasing, It became the star best-selling track in the US.

Thriller is what happens when you take creative risks and make a work of art based on your love for something. This something doesn’t have to be purely romantic, like love for a person, family or music, as something as simple as your love for horror movies can do the work.

That being said, I hope you enjoyed this article, where we took a travel back in time to observe how history was made, seeing the struggle, the creativity, and the success of a masterpiece like this one, this so you don’t feel afraid to create art about whatever you please. Thank you for your support and good luck!

Pages used for research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_%28song%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson%27s_Thriller_(music_video)
https://www.smoothradio.com/features/the-story-of/thriller-song-video-facts-lyrics/
https://genius.com/Michael-jackson-thriller-lyrics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)
https://www.laxcali.com/noticias/5-curiosidades-de-thriller-la-cancion-cumple-38-anos/
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Records
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-thriller-dance
https://macfinder.co.uk/blog/michael-jacksons-thriller-deconstructed-point-blank-production-tips-tricks/