Let’s Save Our Troubles For Another Day

Janet Jackson “Escapade”

It occurred to me the other day that “Escapade” is Janet Jackson’s equivalent to her brother Michael’s monster hit “The Way You Make Me Feel.” Most obviously, both songs are perky, optimistic, and flirty in tone, and tend to be considered among their most frivolous singles. More specifically, the two songs have nearly identical subject matter and sentiment. The lyrics come from the perspective of working class people who are trying to fit romance into their lives, and are getting very excited about spending time with the object of their affection. It’s all very banal, but that’s kind of the point, and not simply in terms of writing something that a broad range of people can relate to in some way. Michael sings about “working from 9 to 5;” Janet “worked so hard all week” and just cashed her check so she has some money on her weekend getaway. If you put this in the context of the singers’ very unusual upbringing and phenomenal careers, the most ordinary details start to come across like a fantasy of normalcy. They invest these songs with so much effervescent joy and enthusiasm, and I think on some level it’s because they really yearned for something so simple, fun, and uncomplicated. Of course, we do too! The singer and audience may be thinking of the some thing from different perspectives and economic means, but the expression puts them right in the same place.

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