Abstract: Michael Jackson’s opus “Earth Song” and its short film have both received considerable academic coverage in the Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies, and Joseph Vogel has written an excellent monograph that has been through three editions. But, what have other academics had to say on the subject? In this month’s MJ Studies Today column, Kerry Hennigan looks at three examples of recent scholarship on the subject.
Column by Kerry Hennigan, editor of the free monthly newsletter A Candle for Michael, administrator of the fan group “Michael Jackson’s Short Film Ghosts” on Facebook, and an MJ blogger on WordPress. Kerry holds Certificates in the Archaeology of the Ancient World and the Archaeology of Ancient Britain from Cambridge University’s Professional and Continuing Education unit and is passionate about Viking longships and the development of maritime trade routes from the Bronze Age to the Early Medieval period.
REFERENCE AS:
Hennigan, Kerry. “MJ Studies Today CXXXI: ‘What Have We Done to the World?’ The impact of Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ recording and short film across geographical and cultural boundaries.” The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies Vol 13, No. 2 (14 Nov 2026). https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-cxxxi/
The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies asks that you acknowledge The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies as the source of our Content; if you use material from The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies online, we request that you link directly to the stable URL provided. If you use our content offline, please credit the source as follows: “Courtesy of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies.” All content is copyright-protected. Any unauthorised reproduction, redistribution, or use for artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automated data collection is strictly prohibited.
“What Have We Done to the World?”
The impact of Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” recording and short film across geographical and cultural boundaries
By Kerry Hennigan
Illustration compiled © Kerry Hennigan
Released in 1995, Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” – both the recording and its accompanying short film – continues to have an impact and relevance thirty-one years later. It is an essential inclusion on any “best of” compilation of the artist’s recordings and short films. Numerous YouTube videos document Jackson’s live performances of the song, while Cirque du Soleil has featured it in both of its authorised Michael Jackson productions: Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and Michael Jackson ONE. It was also the final song Jackson rehearsed on the night before his untimely death in June 2009. Its significance has certainly not been lost on the artist’s multitude of fans.
I have written a number of articles and columns about what “Earth Song” means to me. An episode of the podcast Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On was devoted to the song (and I encourage everyone to listen to it), while Dr Joseph Vogel penned a monograph, Michael Jackson’s Earth Song and the Art of Compassion, which has gone through three editions and remains essential reading on the subject.
But what about other scholarly perspectives? Are there academics who similarly appreciate the significance of “Earth Song” and have explored its meaning in their own work? Happily, the answer is yes.
In a paper published in Philology: The Journal of English Language and Literature in 2025, Nurfia Maliza and Yulia Arfanti examine the short film for “Earth Song”, alongside those for “Leave Me Alone” and “Heal the World”, as examples of how Jackson’s short films “exemplify how visual art can be a medium for social critique.” [1]
The “Earth Song” film highlights “the shared human condition and interconnectedness in facing global crises,” the authors write, while breaking down racial and cultural barriers “by emphasizing collective vulnerability.” [2] They interpret the chorus as symbolising an “emotional outcry and urgent plea for change regarding environmental destruction”, describing it as “[a] symbolic act that became iconic for environmental activism in pop culture.” [3]
Jackson’s appeal to the heavens, they suggest, “portrays a religious or spiritual plea for healing and protection of the earth and humanity,” uniting environmentalism with spiritual beliefs “across religions.” [4] Michael Jackson was a great believer in the power of prayer, and in the “Earth Song” short film we see him seemingly reversing the destructive process through his impassioned pleas to the heavens. Yet prayer alone is obviously not enough.
Awareness of the issues that have beset humanity, generation after generation, should also prompt a personal response from each of us. In other words, our planet is our responsibility. Fast-forward to 2009, when, at the conclusion of his rehearsal of “Earth Song” for the unrealised This Is It concert series, Michael himself declared: “It’s up to us, else it will never be done.” [5]
That sentiment is echoed in an academic article titled “An Ecocritical Analysis of Environmental Issues in Michael Jackson’s Earth Song,” by Priyoto, Gowasa and Nawakwulan. The authors conclude that: “General listeners must adopt ethical behaviours and concrete actions to protect natural ecosystems based on the ecological messages conveyed through the song.” [6]
Published in the Indonesian journal Jurnal Pendidikan Tambusai in 2026, the article argues that “Earth Song” goes beyond simply describing environmental problems. The authors write that the song encourages “reflection, ethical awareness, and a reconsideration of the human–nature relationship.” They further suggest that it can be interpreted as “an ecocritical cultural text that not only criticizes ecological destruction but also encourages a more responsible, respectful, and sustainable relationship between humans and the natural environment.” [7]
A further academic perspective comes from Edafe Mukoro of the Department of English and Literature at the University of Benin, Nigeria. In an article published in 2024 in the Okada Journal of English and Literary Studies, Mukoro refers to Jackson as an eco-poet and “Earth Song” as an ecological ballad. [8]
Mukoro’s essay examines the song’s lyrical content as poetry, arguing that music and poetry are intrinsically connected and have long shared a close affinity. “There could be music in poetry and poetry in music, because the attributes of poetry are fundamentally the foundational blocks for the composition of music,” Mukoro asserts. [9]
“Jackson’s deployment of eco-critical imagery in the poem, in the form of environmental pollution, land, air, water, animal poaching, war, hunger, deforestation, drought and damaging storms, is evidence of an eco-poetic mind,” Mukoro writes, going on to observe that the lyrics of “Earth Song” underscore Jackson’s eco-sensitive consciousness. [10]
As the song builds towards its crescendo, Mukoro draws attention to Jackson’s use of the call-and-response technique to emphasise “the dire situation of the earth, the environment and the status of humanity.” The author’s observations about Jackson’s use of rhetorical questions are particularly interesting. Mukoro describes this as one of the song’s beautiful aspects, declaring: “The handling of the technique is quite inspirational and it speaks volumes about the poet’s knack for literary interpretation.” [11]
Mukoro also draws a parallel between Jackson’s “Earth Song” and the work of Niyi Osundare, whom he describes as one of Nigeria’s and Africa’s finest eco-poets. The poem he cites, “Once upon a planet,” is one he believes “captures the whole essence of Jackson’s concerns about the health status of planet earth.” [12]
Comparing “Earth Song” with the work of a celebrated Nigerian poet highlights the song’s impact and, I believe, its importance well beyond the boundaries of Western popular culture. The three academic papers discussed here – two from Indonesia and one from Nigeria – provide evidence of the song’s reach across geographical, cultural and academic boundaries. Yet Michael Jackson was no stranger to crossing such boundaries through his music, short films and spoken words.
The continued relevance of Jackson’s eco-poetry, to use Mukoro’s description, thirty-one years after the song was recorded is a testament to both his environmental consciousness and his artistry. But it is also a sobering indictment of the power brokers, policymakers and enablers – including voters – who have failed to heed the warnings and appeals of artists, scientists and activists alike, to act decisively to preserve our planetary home.
Perhaps that is why these words, written and recorded more than three decades ago, still resonate so deeply:
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don’t know where we are
Although I know we’ve drifted far. [13]
Kerry Hennigan
14 November 2026
Sources:
[1] Maliza, Nurfia, and Yulia Arfanti. “The Semiotic Analysis of Michael Jackson’s Leave Me Alone, Earth Song, and Heal The World Music Videos.” PHILOLOGY Journal of English Language and Literature 5, no. 2 (2025): 133-140, page 134.
[2] Maliza and Arfanti, page 137.
[3] Maliza and Arfanti, page 137.
[4] Maliza and Arfanti, page 138.
[5] Michael Jackson’s This Is It. Directed by Kenny Ortega. Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, The Michael Jackson Company, AEG Live. Distributed by Sony Pictures, October 2009.
[6] Priyoto, Priyoto & Gowasa, Sesilia & Nawakwulan, Lyla. (2026). An Ecocritical Analysis of Environmental Issues in Michael Jackson’s Earth Song. Jurnal Pendidikan Tambusai. 10. 23638-23649. 10.31004/jptam.v10i2.42169.
[7] Priyoto, Gowasa, Nawakwulan, pp. 23638-23649.
[8] Mukoro, E. “Earth Song: Reading Michael Jackson as an Eco-Poet” Okada Journal of English and Literary Studies 1 (1), 2024 pp 42-50.
[9] Mukoro, E. pp 42-50
[10] Mukoro, E. pp 42-50
[11] Mukoro, E. pp 42-50
[12] Mukoro, E. pp 42-50
[13] Jackson, Michael. “Earth Song.” © 1995 & 1997 Mijac Music, USA. Warner/Chappell Music Ltd, London W1Y 3FA.
Illustration: “what about everything…do we give a damn?” compiled by Kerry Hennigan using PhotoScape X Pro software and Pixlr X. No infringement of photographic copyright is intended in this not-for-profit, educational exercise.
More on Earth Song (the song and/or the short film):
Vogel, Joseph. Earth Song: Michael Jackson and the Art of Compassion. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.
Merx, Karin, and Elizabeth Amisu. Podcast “Episode 44 – Earth Song” Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 7, no. 3 (2021). Published electronically 21/02/21. https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-44-earthsong/
Hennigan, Kerry. “MJ Studies Today XCV: From the killing fields and burning forests of ‘Earth Song:’ Michael Jackson as an advocate for social change Part 2.“ (14-11-2023).The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies Vol 10, No. 2 (2023). https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-xcv/
Hennigan, Kerry. “MJ Studies Today LXXVI: Planet Earth, Earth Song and beyond: Michael Jackson’s storytelling as activism.” (14-4-2022). The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies 8, No. 4 (2022). https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-lxxvi/