Michael Jackson: Billie Jean Meaning

Song Released: 1983

Covered By: Weezer (2019)

Billie Jean Lyrics

She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene
I said dont mind, but what do you mean I am the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round
She said I am the one who will dance on the floor in the round
2nd verse
She told me her name...

1. anonymous

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   Jun 9th 2012 !⃝

   Just thought you guys would be interested in this:
   
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_in_the_round
   
   What if "on the floor, in the round" referred to dancing in a typical disco floor configuration where the seating is all around the dance floor?
2. anonymous

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   Dec 21st 2011 !⃝

   It is a matter of interpretation. The lyrics seem to indicate that a couple had sex and a child was born. If she tried to blame it on Michael Jackson then she might be a gold digger. We have seen it before and it will always be debatable. It reminds me of lawyers acting in a courtroom in an effort to sway the judge or juries decision in their favor.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

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   Jun 9th 2011 !⃝

   It's definitely about drugs.
4. anonymous

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   May 7th 2011 !⃝

   Billie Jean is about a girl that he met in the pool and started to dance with her and she told him that she was pregnant but it's not his child
5. anonymous

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   Feb 23rd 2011 !⃝

   about a girl who is in love with a guy who is not in love with her so she tells all these lies and say her kid is his. and he is like yea ur pretty and probably did have sex with u but that baby aint mine. lol somewhere along those lines. but billie jean is also mentioned in another song "wanna be startin something" talkin about billie jean "tellin lies and rubbing shoulders, so they call her mouth a motor" he also says "you got my baby crying" meaning she is letting his real girlfriend lies tryna to break them off.
6. anonymous

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   Dec 12th 2010 !⃝

   I think Michael Jackson was talking about Billie Jean, his pet toucan, and how crushed he was when the toucan refused to marry him. But hey, that's just what I think.
7. anonymous

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   Dec 12th 2010 !⃝

   Hiding behind the badge

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. anonymous

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   Jul 4th 2010 !⃝

   It sounds like he was telling a story, with him as the main character. He meets a girl at a club, they have a baby, she shows him a photo saying the baby looks like him, and he's trying to deny the fact that they had a baby as a result of a one night stand.
9. anonymous

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   Jun 24th 2010 !⃝

   Straight from MJ's mouth;
   
   There is a girl named Billie jean, but it's not that Billie jean. Billie Jean is kinda anonymous. It represents a lot of girls who used to - they used to call them groupies in the '60s-they would hang around backstage doors and any band that would come to town they would have a relationship with. And I think I wrote this out of experience with my brothers when I was little. There were a lot of Billie jeans put there. Every girl claimed that their son was related to nut brothers
10. anonymous

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    Jan 23rd 2010 !⃝

    Billie Jean is a bit of a straighforward song. A man meets an attractive girl in a public place. She seems to be catching the eye of every male, but luckily she chooses him. And he's been warned not to break the hearts of girls, but he falls for her. Soon, he realizes she's not right for him, and dumps her. And thus follows the battle of who's right: is the baby his or not?
11. MJFanForLife

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    Aug 1st 2009 !⃝

    I don't agree with the interpretations here. Because i know for a fact that Billie Jean is about the media and how daunting a horible they can be, hence the lyrics ' She says i am the one, who will dance on the floor, in the round' and ' the kid is not my son'. Also, if you watch the video, you'll see a guy dressed in stereotypical media clothes, along brown jacket, fedora and sunglasses.
12. wildone

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    Jul 17th 2009 !⃝

    I agree with the interpretations given, especially the idea that an artist creates a song (or an author creates a poem) so that the audience can identify with it personally. Additionally, I would like to suggest an interpretation about the lines, "Mother always told me be careful of who you love, and be careful of what you do 'cause the lie bcomes the truth." The couple danced, the guy was thrilled to be her choice (because "Every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one"). And maybe he led others to believe (bragged to his guy friends) that they'd had sex. Maybe he was infatuated with her for a bit, but wised up quickly. When he got wise to the type of woman she was, he "dumped" her ("don't go around breaking young girls' hearts"). She was furious since she wasn't used to this treatment; SHE had always been the one to break off relationships. So she ends up pregnant by another guy (on purpose?) to get back at him. (The well-known line "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" comes to mind.) And now "the lie became the truth" because he'd have to try to admit he never did have sex with her when earlier he bragged about it. Everyone believes the woman (after all she is someone that seems to hold sway over others), even the guy's girlfriend is distrustful; and the picture "proves" the baby is his. One theme appears to suggest "be careful who you hang around and careful of what you say." It all may come back to haunt you.
13. anonymous

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    Jul 3rd 2009 !⃝

    I believe the song is suppose to be left up to many interpretations - so pretty much anyone who posts here is 100% correct (as long as they use details to back it up) because jackson's style is under pop after all and pop music is all about a general idea that everyone can at least understand. I always thought it was about a girl who did exactly know who's child it was but made it to be Jackson's because he could probably support the child the best - I don't know.
14. Gurl_E_Nerdd

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    Apr 29th 2008 !⃝

    This song is straight up about denial.
15. anonymous

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    Sep 12th 2007 !⃝

    This song is about a crazed fan who had a baby and was so obsessed with Jackson that she believed it was his. She sent packages and photos of the child to him, eventually sending him a gun and ordering him to commit suicide at the same time as she would kill her baby and then herself, so that they could be "together as a family". The police tracked down the woman, saved the baby and proved that it was not Jackson's. He was so disturbed by the whole affair that he wrote a song about it; one of his biggest hits to date.

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