We all agree that Michael Jackson is known for his enduring dance moves and infectious dance-pop songs, but one of his most poignant ballads, She’s Out of My Life, has a special place in his discography. This heartfelt song, produced by Quincy Jones, highlights Jackson’s emotional depth and vulnerability.
Written by veteran songwriter Tom Bahler, the song was released as the fourth single from Jackson’s 1979 album Off the Wall. Though the album gave the world, many upbeat songs, it also produced a breakup song (She’s Out of My Life) that made Jackson cry every time he tried to sing it.
Jackson was moved by this real contemplation of lost love, and he gave the depressing lyrics his whole being. Now, we can all agree that a wide range of performers, including Patti LaBelle, Josh Groban, Gloria Lynne, Karel Gott, Shirley Bassey, Barbara Mandrell, Daniel Evans, Nina, Willie Nelson, and Gloria Lynne, have covered the song.
She’s Out of My Life Showed The Tearful Side of Michael Jackson
The inspiration behind She’s Out of My Life came from songwriter Tom Bahler’s personal experience of heartbreak. After a “vacuous date”, he found himself grappling with the reality that the woman he loved was no longer a part of his life.
Recalling the song’s origins, Bahler said (via Dan Clark):
It was a vacuous date because I was still in love with somebody I said ‘No’ to and she was gone, Have you ever been so frustrated and agitated that you started talking to yourself out loud? I was on the Pasadena Freeway and I said, She loved you. She wanted to marry you. You’re the guy that said no. Now, deal with it. She’s out of your life.
And thus, She’s Out of My Life was inspired by that comment. Producer Quincy Jones once gave an interview to Rolling Stone where he talked about how the song came to be:
I had a song I’d been saving for Michael called ‘She’s Out of My Life’. Michael heard it, and it clicked. But when he sang it, he would cry.
The haunting melody and heartfelt lyrics touched and “clicked” Michael Jackson, who would always cry upon singing the song, as Jones added:
Every time we did it, I’d look up at the end and Michael would be crying. I said, ‘We’ll come back in two weeks and do it again, and maybe it won’t tear you up so much.’ Came back and he started to get teary. So we left it in.
During the recording of She’s Out of My Life, Jackson’s emotional connection to the song was so sturdy that he would often break down in tears.
Celebrating Decades of She’s Out of My Life: A Retrospective
Michael Jackson’s song She’s Out of My Life, from his album Off the Wall rose to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for 16 weeks, becoming a moderate hit. It has been consigned to the annals of history, whereas numerous other Jackson singles have become radio mainstays. Not surprisingly, given how little is known about most soft-rock songs from the 1970s.
The song, which at the time was connected to both Jackson and the general public, is about a painful breakup, as we discussed above. At the time, Producer Quincy Jones, 91, disclosed in an interview (via Express):
She’s Out of My Life, I’d been carrying around for about three years – you can feel the pain in it, you know? And I held on to it and finally something said: ‘This is the right moment to give it to Michael’.
Jones had originally intended the song for Frank Sinatra before he agreed to give it to the late music legend. Anyway, the fact that Jackson’s own performance of the song moved him to tears speaks to the power of music in conveying raw emotions and connecting with listeners on a profound level.
While She’s Out of My Life may not be as widely remembered as some of Jackson’s dance-pop anthems, its haunting melody and profound lyrics showcase a different side of the King of Pop.
