They Don't Care About Us

THE STORY BEHIND ' They Don't Care About Us '

​

This is arguably the most controversial song in Michael Jackson’s entire catalog. It is a raw, militant protest anthem that sparked a firestorm of accusations, led to a clash with the Jewish community, and resulted in two distinct music videos directed by Spike Lee, one in the slums of Brazil and one in a US prison.

​

When HIStory was shipped to critics in June 1995, the reaction to "They Don't Care About Us" was immediate and explosive. In the second verse, Michael sang: "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me."

​

Michael intended the lyrics to be a demonstration of the ugly words people used against him. He was trying to say, "You can label me with these hateful slurs, but I am still standing." He believed he was turning the slurs back on the oppressors.

 

However, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Jewish rights groups saw it differently. They condemned the lyrics as antisemitic, arguing that using slurs like "kike" even in an artistic context was irresponsible and hateful, especially coming from the biggest pop star in the world. The outcry was severe. The New York Times ran headlines criticizing the song. Michael was genuinely shocked by the reaction. He issued an apology, stating, "I am the voice of the accused and the attacked... I am not the attacker."

​

he pressure was so intense that Michael did something he had never done before: he recalled the album. Weeks after the release, Michael returned to the studio. He didn't re-sing the verses; instead, he commanded the engineers to cover the offending words with loud sound effects.

​

• On the phrase "Jew me," a loud, screeching mechanical noise was added.

• On the phrase "Kike me," a crunching sound was overlaid.

 

If you listen to the album version today (the second pressing), you will hear these sound effects masking the words. The original, uncensored version remains a rarity found only on the very first batch of CDs printed in 1995.

​

Musically, the song is an anomaly. It has almost no melody in the traditional sense. It is built entirely on rhythm. Michael wanted a beat that sounded like a marching army. To achieve this, he didn't use a standard drum kit. The percussion is thick, lo-fi, and heavy on the snare.

​

The defining sound of the track comes from Olodum, a cultural group from Bahia, Brazil. Olodum is famous for their "samba-reggae" style of drumming. Their massive, thundering drums give the song its militant, revolutionary feel. Michael sings with a staccato, percussive delivery, biting off the ends of words to match the snap of the snare drums. It was the furthest thing from "pop" music; it was street music.

​

Michael hired legendary director Spike Lee to shoot the music video. They agreed that the video needed to be shot in a place where people were truly ignored by the system. They chose Dona Marta, a favela (slum) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

​

At the time, Dona Marta was controlled by drug traffickers and was considered extremely dangerous. The Brazilian government actually tried to stop Michael from filming there, fearing it would show a "bad image" of Rio to the world during their bid for the Olympics. However, Michael’s team bypassed the government and negotiated directly with the local drug lords to ensure safety. The drug lords agreed to a ceasefire during the filming because they loved Michael Jackson.

​

The resulting video is iconic. Michael, wearing a "Olodum" t-shirt, dances in the crowded streets surrounded by the residents of the favela. The energy is electric. The video also features scenes shot in the historic district of Pelourinho in Salvador, where Michael performed with the massive Olodum drum corps. The video is credited with bringing international attention to the favelas, leading to social programs that improved conditions in Dona Marta.

​

The Prison Video: The "Banned" Version Michael and Spike Lee actually shot two completely different videos for the song. The first one filmed (the "Prison Version") was shot in a real prison in Long Island, New York, and on a soundstage.

​

In this version, Michael is an inmate. He is seen in a cafeteria, in a cell, and handcuffed. The video is intercut with real, graphic footage of police brutality (including the Rodney King beating), war crimes, and Ku Klux Klan rallies. When Michael submitted this video to MTV, they banned it. They claimed the footage was too violent and provocative for daytime television. Because of the ban, Michael and Spike Lee flew to Brazil to shoot the "Olodum" version as a replacement. The Prison Version remains one of the rawest visual statements of Michael’s career, showing him angry, unshaven, and banging on tables in a fury.

​

The "Roosevelt" Snippet The song opens and closes with the voice of a child saying: "Enough is enough of this garbage!" It also features a sample of Martin Luther King Jr., but the most prominent sample is often misidentified. In the bridge, a voice says: "We have to look after each other." This is actually a sample of Franklin D. Roosevelt, reinforcing the song’s theme of government responsibility and social justice.

​

Legacy "They Don't Care About Us" reached #30 in the US (hurt by the controversy) but was a massive #1 hit across Europe, notably in Germany where it stayed at the top for weeks.

​

In recent years, the song has experienced a massive resurgence. During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the song became a global anthem. Videos surfaced of protesters in London, New York, and Brazil singing the chorus in the streets. It proved that despite the lyric controversy of 1995, the core message of the song, fighting against a system that ignores the marginalized was timeless. It is the song that transformed Michael from an entertainer into a revolutionary.