Hey Ya!

LaFace, under Sony. He tells the truth. The room keeps dancing.

LaFace released it. Sony holds the imprint. For years people shouted along with a song that says your arrangement will not hold and you should not be surprised. The joy is real. So is the sentence underneath it.

Dance if you can say the sentence after.

The eight

Industry
8/10
The track is a machine, and he built it knowing it would be misheard.
Household
5/10
Nothing lasts forever, he says, and then asks what we are doing.
Piety
3/10
No reverence. A clear eye, which is something.
Courage
7/10
He says the buzzkill in the middle of his own hit.
Republic
4/10
A crowd that would rather move than listen.
Temperance
4/10
The dance is the temptation the lyric is warning you about.
Truth
8/10
He does not take the warning back to keep the party.
Stewardship
6/10
A test of whether a house listens to words.

Live historicallyPlay it, then ask someone to repeat what he said about forever. If they cannot, play the verse again.

Song · Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, and YouTube Music · 1982

Epic · Sony Music Entertainment

Beat It

Epic, under Sony. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right. Get out.

Epic released it. Sony owns Epic. Jackson tells a boy that the circle of bodies wants a beating, not a verdict, and the boy should leave. That is often the right sentence. It is the wrong sentence when someone weaker is already on the ground and leaving is abandonment.

Know which night it is.

The eight

Industry
8/10
The riff is a shove toward the door. It works.
Household
4/10
No house. A street that wants a show.
Piety
3/10
The counsel is survival, not justice.
Courage
6/10
He tells a boy not to perform bravery.
Republic
6/10
A crowd egging a child on. He says no to the crowd.
Temperance
6/10
Pride is the thing to put down.
Truth
6/10
The fight is not about the truth. He says so.
Stewardship
6/10
Useful in a parking lot. Thin if the cause is actually just.

Live historicallyIf the fight is pride, leave it. If someone small is in it, stay and end it. Do not use the chorus for both.