“As noted earlier, this is a song that Michael knew could be controversial and, as a result, he spent a lot of time thinking about the story for the song and the voice through which the song should be told. The song is about a girl whose father is a priest; she was raised in the Church and on the Bible. She gets married in the Church but decides, against the Bible, to have an abortion and she wants “Abortion Papers.” As Michael indicated in his notes, “I have to do it in a way so I don’t offend girls who have gotten abortions or bring back guilt trips so it has to be done carefully… I have to really think about it.“ This is an early example of a song with a controversial subject.”
Sony just released a 25th anniversary edition of Jackson’s album Bad, which includes several new songs. One of these new songs is, “Song Groove (a.k.a. Abortion Papers).” It is an interesting song. Not nearly one of his best, but a song that will put him back in the spotlight for a hot minute. At least it will on this blog.
“Abortion Papers” tells the story of a pregnant woman who is considering an abortion, apparently against the wishes of the baby’s father. The lyrics may be sometimes difficult to understand, but the chorus is pretty clear,
Those abortion papers
Signed in your name against the words of God
Those abortion papers
Think about life, I’d like to have my child
Do fathers have any say in the choice to have a child or not? What rights do fathers have with regard to abortion in our country? If fathers don’t have any rights, why not?
I’m not sure if our culture wants to deal with complex issues like this. If it takes two to tango shouldn’t the father have decision making authority? I see that this issue has been addressed in the past, but I feel this is an issue that needs to be discussed in the present.
As with just about everything Michael Jackson did post Thriller, this might cause some sort of controversy. I hope it will spark a new dialogue and enable us to talk about the issue of abortion from a father’s perspective.