Don't Be Messin' 'Round

"Don't Be Messin' 'Round" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The song was originally recorded in 1986 during initial recording sessions for Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad, but was never finished and was left off the album.^[3] Jackson reportedly revisited the track for his eighth and ninth studio albums, but it was again abandoned from both. In May 2012, it was announced that Jackson's original 1986 demo for "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" was to be included on a re-release of the original first single from Bad, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You". This release marked the beginning of the promotional campaign for Bad 25, a twenty-fifth anniversary re-release of the Bad album.

Background and release

Michael Jackson wrote "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" at some point during recording sessions for his sixth studio album, Thriller. However, due to an overflow of new material at the time, Jackson pushed the song aside for his next album. Years later, in 1986, Jackson revisited the track with longtime collaborators Matt Forger and Bill Bottrell at the Laboratory, the nickname for Jackson's renovated Hayvenhurst recording studio. According to Forger, the original demo for "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" was nearly eight minutes long, leading to Jackson "brutally" cutting it down to its current 4:20 length. Jackson continued to work on the track throughout 1986; however, once album producer Quincy Jones began working with Jackson, the track was abandoned. Jackson reportedly revisited the song during sessions for both his Dangerous and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, albums, as well as another revisit in early 2009, but passed on it numerous times.

In early April 2012, unauthorized pre-sales for the "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" CD single began online, prematurely leaking news of the upcoming release of "Don't Be Messin' 'Round." Later in May 2012, the Estate of Michael Jackson issued a statement officially announcing the song's release. They deemed that the song was untouched, being released the way it was left largely after the controversy over 2010's Michael album.

Composition

"Don't Be Messin' 'Round" is a funk and R&B-influenced track, along with flavors of jazz and pop, that lasts for four minutes and 20 seconds. The song incorporates cowbells and thick snares into its beat, along with plucking guitars. Because the song is a demo, Jackson often mumbles through sections rather than singing actual lyrics, making an accurate translation of the lyrics difficult. The song opens with Jackson playing chords on an acoustic piano, after which he sings, "Are you ready for a real good time, my love?/Are you ready for a real good treat?/There'll be so much dancing, singing/Ah, you came falling into me." As the chorus follows, Jackson repeats "So don't be messin' 'round, don't be messin' 'round" in a soft falsetto register. The instrumentation infuses digital drum snares over cowbells and shakers. Jackson fans often noted similarities between "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" and "Streetwalker", another Bad outtake. It has also been compared to various Stevie Wonder songs.

Critical reception

Ray Rahman was proud of the song, highlighting it and praising it: "Noticeably unfinished (refreshingly so, given Bad 25's hermetic polish) numbers like rhythmic earworm 'Don't Be Messin' Around.'"^[4] The Morton Report felt more mixed: "It (album) kicks off with the mid-tempo, piano-driven “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round.” Too bad he didn’t finish this one off, it would’ve made a far better duet vehicle for him and Stevie Wonder."^[5] Evan Sawdey called this song "feel-good."^[6]

Track listing

Worldwide 5" CD Single (88725414922)^[7]

I Just Can't Stop Loving You (Album Version) - 4:23
Don't Be Messin' 'Round (Demo) - 4:19

Release history

Country	Date	Format
Germany	June 1, 2012^[8]	CD single
France	June 4, 2012^[9]
United States	June 5, 2012
Japan	June 6, 2012^[10]
Austria	June 8, 2012^[11]
United Kingdom	June 12, 2012^[12]

References

↑ "Michael Jackson's BAD 25th Anniversary Edition Already has its First #1 Single". Vocus. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
↑ "Michael Jackson's estate hit with $1 billion lawsuit". NME. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
↑ Joseph Vogel (5 June 2012). "The Story Behind Michael Jackson's Infectious, Newly Released Song". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
↑ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20396305_20627104,00.html
↑ http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/music/music-review-michael-jackson-bad-25-25th-anniversary-edition-3-cd1-dvd/
↑ http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/163219-michael-jackson-bad-25/
↑ "Michael Jackson - I Just Can't Stop Loving You - Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH". Retrieved May 12, 2012.
↑ "I Just Can't Stop Loving You: Michael Jackson: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
↑ "I Just Can'T Stop Loving You: Michael Jackson: Amazon.fr: Musique". Amazon.fr. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
↑ "I Just Can'T Stop Loving You: Michael Jackson: HMV Japan:". hmv.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
↑ "I Just Can'T Stop Loving You: Michael Jackson: Amazon.at: Musique". Amazon.at. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
↑ "I Just Can't Stop Loving You: Michael Jackson: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-06-04.

Michael Jackson songs

1970s	"Got to Be There" "Rockin' Robin" "I Wanna Be Where You Are" "Ain't No Sunshine" "Ben" "With a Child's Heart" "Happy" "Music and Me" "We're Almost There" "Just a Little Bit of You" "Ease on Down the Road" "You Can't Win" "A Brand New Day" "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" "Rock with You"

1980s	"Off the Wall" "She's Out of My Life" "Girlfriend" "One Day in Your Life" "The Girl Is Mine" "Billie Jean" "Beat It" "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" "Human Nature" "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" "Thriller" "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" "Bad" "The Way You Make Me Feel" "Man in the Mirror" "Dirty Diana" "Another Part of Me" "Smooth Criminal" "Leave Me Alone" "Liberian Girl"

1990s	"Black or White" "Remember the Time" "In the Closet" "Someone Put Your Hand Out" "Jam" "Who Is It" "Heal the World" "Give In to Me" "Will You Be There" "Gone Too Soon" "Scream/Childhood" "You Are Not Alone" "Earth Song" "This Time Around" "They Don't Care About Us" "On the Line" "Blood on the Dance Floor" "HIStory/Ghosts" "Stranger in Moscow" "Is It Scary" "Smile"

2000s	"You Rock My World" "Cry" "Butterflies" "One More Chance" "The Girl Is Mine 2008" "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008"

2010s	"Hold My Hand" "Hollywood Tonight" "Behind the Mask" "(I Like) The Way You Love Me" "Immortal Megamix: Can You Feel It/Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough/Billie Jean/Black or White (Immortal Version)" "I Just Can't Stop Loving You/Don't Be Messin' 'Round" "Bad (Afrojack Remix) (DJ Buddha Edit)" "I'm So Blue" "Love Never Felt So Good" "A Place with No Name"

Other	"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" "You've Got a Friend" "My Girl" "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" "All the Things You Are" "Too Young" "Working Day and Night" "Night Time Lover" "Muscles" "Say Say Say" "Somebody's Watching Me" "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)" "Centipede" "We Are the World" "Eaten Alive" "Twenty-Five Miles" "Get It" "2300 Jackson Street" "Just Good Friends" "Come Together" "Speed Demon" "Do the Bartman" "Dangerous" "Whatzupwitu" "D.S." "Tabloid Junkie" "Why" "I Need You" "We Be Ballin'" "Heaven Can Wait" "Speechless" "What More Can I Give" "Cheater" "Fall Again" "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008" "Beat It 2008" "Billie Jean 2008" "This Is It" "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" "Mind Is the Magic" "Breaking News" "Monster" "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" "All in Your Name" "Price of Fame" "Chicago" "Loving You" "Slave to the Rhythm" "Blue Gangsta" "Xscape" "There Must Be More To Life Than This"

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