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Beat It (Music)

 Beat It (Music)
type
TVTItem
 Beat It (Music)
label
Beat It (Music)
 Beat It (Music)
page
BeatIt
 Beat It (Music)
comment
"Beat It" is the third single from Michael Jackson's sixth studio-album, Thriller. Produced by Jackson and frequent colloborator, Quincy Jones, the song is renowned for its mixture of Pop and Rock, with its now iconic main guitar riff and the inclusion of a guitar solo from legendary guitarist, Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen.Released in 1983, the song was met with universal acclaim and quickly rose to number one on several music charts on Billboard. Much like with the previous single, "Billie Jean", this early success was only built on with the release of the song's music video on MTV in a primetime premiere on March 31, 1983. The video sees two rival street gangs preparing to have an all out gang war when they are interrupted by Jackson, who through the power of music is able to get both gangs to reconcile their differences. While the lowkey video for "Billie Jean" made Jackson an icon in the United States, it's this video that launched him into the international stardom that he would only go on to expand upon for the rest of his career.The song and video have received a litany of awards and remains on several publication' lists for the best songs of all time, including Rolling Stone magazine.
 Beat It (Music)
fetched
2023-04-16T20:14:00Z
 Beat It (Music)
parsed
2023-04-16T20:14:00Z
 Beat It (Music)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Beat It (Music) / int_16d8476f
type
Protest Song
 Beat It (Music) / int_16d8476f
comment
Protest Song: The song protests violence and its association with masculinity, advocating that violence isn't the only option to resolve disputes.
 Beat It (Music) / int_16d8476f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_16d8476f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_16d8476f
 Beat It (Music) / int_214078a2
type
Staredown Faceoff
 Beat It (Music) / int_214078a2
comment
Staredown Faceoff: Before the duel begins, the camera pans over both sides to show them staring at each other in an entire gang vs entire gang faceoff.
 Beat It (Music) / int_214078a2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_214078a2
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_214078a2
 Beat It (Music) / int_361d0d58
type
Concept Video
 Beat It (Music) / int_361d0d58
comment
Concept Video: Michael intervenes and stops a Mob War through the power of dance.
 Beat It (Music) / int_361d0d58
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_361d0d58
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_361d0d58
 Beat It (Music) / int_400b9d22
type
Sunglasses at Night
 Beat It (Music) / int_400b9d22
comment
Sunglasses at Night: The gang leader in the white coat is wearing sunglasses inside a bar despite it being nighttime for the entirety of the video.
 Beat It (Music) / int_400b9d22
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1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_400b9d22
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_400b9d22
 Beat It (Music) / int_60b97eed
type
Red Hot Masculinity
 Beat It (Music) / int_60b97eed
comment
Red Hot Masculinity: The song discusses the issue that violence is often not worth it, but because guys "don't want to be a boy, [they] want to be a man," they refuse to back down from a fight. However, the more sensible thing to do is to back down or "beat it." In other words, fighting isn't the manly thing to do; knowing when to backdown or solve the issue without violence is. In the video, the gangs wear primarily black or white. Michael, who intervenes and shows the gangs that violence isn't the answer, wears what would later become his iconic bright red leather coat in contrast.
 Beat It (Music) / int_60b97eed
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1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_60b97eed
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_60b97eed
 Beat It (Music) / int_62719eed
type
I Want to Be a Real Man
 Beat It (Music) / int_62719eed
comment
I Want to Be a Real Man: The person Michael is directing his song to is the kind of guy who gets into fights that they would be better off avoiding to prove that they are a man. As he sings in the third verse, "They're out to get you, better leave while you can. Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man."
 Beat It (Music) / int_62719eed
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1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_62719eed
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_62719eed
 Beat It (Music) / int_680bb6b1
type
Hot-Blooded
 Beat It (Music) / int_680bb6b1
comment
Hot-Blooded: The song describes the people out to get the subject of the song as such, noting that "the fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear" meaning that their threats aren't just words and they are resolved in their decision to beat you up/harm you.
 Beat It (Music) / int_680bb6b1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_680bb6b1
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_680bb6b1
 Beat It (Music) / int_78629e9c
type
Badass Pacifist
 Beat It (Music) / int_78629e9c
comment
Badass Pacifist: Michael intervenes in a Mob War Knife Fight to stop the violence and gets both sides to stop fighting by dancing.
 Beat It (Music) / int_78629e9c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_78629e9c
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_78629e9c
 Beat It (Music) / int_7919a45b
type
Duel to the Death
 Beat It (Music) / int_7919a45b
comment
Duel to the Death: Heavily implied to be the case as the two leaders engaged in the Knife Fight have their wrists bound to each other, meaning escape is not possible.
 Beat It (Music) / int_7919a45b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_7919a45b
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_7919a45b
 Beat It (Music) / int_7a7ec1e8
type
Violence is the Only Option
 Beat It (Music) / int_7a7ec1e8
comment
Violence is the Only Option: Defying this trope is one of the main points of the song and music video as the former dicusses backing away from fights and the latter shows Jackson resolving a Mob War through the power of dance.
 Beat It (Music) / int_7a7ec1e8
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1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_7a7ec1e8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_7a7ec1e8
 Beat It (Music) / int_8901de40
type
Finger-Snapping Street Gang
 Beat It (Music) / int_8901de40
comment
Finger-Snapping Street Gang: The music video is an homage to West Side Story and features Jackson and others doing the snap walk throughout the video, most notably when Jackson stops the gang war and leads the gangs into the walk, before launching into the video's famous dance routine.
 Beat It (Music) / int_8901de40
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_8901de40
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_8901de40
 Beat It (Music) / int_9843db6
type
Gangbangers
 Beat It (Music) / int_9843db6
comment
Gangbangers: The two gangs featured in the video are depicted as such, wearing denim, leather, and bandanas. This is intentional as the concept of the song and the video is based on real-world gang violence and the video actually features actual members of the infamous real life rival gangs, the Bloods and the Crips.
 Beat It (Music) / int_9843db6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_9843db6
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_9843db6
 Beat It (Music) / int_9c20a410
type
Knife Fight
 Beat It (Music) / int_9c20a410
comment
Knife Fight: The two gang leaders have their wrists tied to each other while they engage in a knife fight in the street, in order to prevent either side from being able to run away or escape.
 Beat It (Music) / int_9c20a410
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_9c20a410
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_9c20a410
 Beat It (Music) / int_aa245ded
type
Mob War
 Beat It (Music) / int_aa245ded
comment
Mob War: The video features two gangs preparing for and engaging in the beginnings of an all out gang war in the streets before Michael intervenes.
 Beat It (Music) / int_aa245ded
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_aa245ded
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_aa245ded
 Beat It (Music) / int_b2919411
type
Duels Decide Everything
 Beat It (Music) / int_b2919411
comment
Duels Decide Everything: The rival gangs are planning on settling their differences with a duel in the streets, until Jackson enters as a mediator and has them settle their differences with a dance battle.
 Beat It (Music) / int_b2919411
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_b2919411
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_b2919411
 Beat It (Music) / int_c25f013
type
Reconcile the Bitter Foes
 Beat It (Music) / int_c25f013
comment
Reconcile the Bitter Foes: Michael ends the animosity (temporarily or permanently is up to interpretation) between two rival gangs through the power of dance.
 Beat It (Music) / int_c25f013
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_c25f013
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_c25f013
 Beat It (Music) / int_cdee850f
type
Dancing Is Serious Business
 Beat It (Music) / int_cdee850f
comment
Dancing Is Serious Business: Michael is able to Reconcile the Bitter Foes by intervening in their Mob War and getting both sides to join him in a dance in the street.
 Beat It (Music) / int_cdee850f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_cdee850f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_cdee850f
 Beat It (Music) / int_df8100b7
type
White Gangbangers
 Beat It (Music) / int_df8100b7
comment
White Gangbangers: Several of the gang members are shown to be white. In fact, both gangs are very multi-racial, in contrast to many of the gangs that were prominent at the time, which are more often than not segregated by race.
 Beat It (Music) / int_df8100b7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_df8100b7
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_df8100b7
 Beat It (Music) / int_e069fae8
type
Bad Guy Bar
 Beat It (Music) / int_e069fae8
comment
Bad-Guy Bar: When they aren't popping out of the sewers or appearing from dark alleys, the gang members are seen coming out of seedy bars, implying this trope.
 Beat It (Music) / int_e069fae8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_e069fae8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_e069fae8
 Beat It (Music) / int_e16cd24e
type
Know When to Fold 'Em
 Beat It (Music) / int_e16cd24e
comment
Know When to Fold 'Em: The entire song is about both avoiding violence when you can and knowing when to back out of a situation that has escalated to the point of unreasonable violence, i.e. knowing when to "beat it."
 Beat It (Music) / int_e16cd24e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_e16cd24e
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1.0
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Beat It (Music) / int_e16cd24e
 Beat It (Music) / int_f0864fd9
type
Combat by Champion
 Beat It (Music) / int_f0864fd9
comment
Combat by Champion: Both gangs have their leaders fight on their behalf before Michael intervenes to stop the duel entirely.
 Beat It (Music) / int_f0864fd9
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1.0
 Beat It (Music) / int_f0864fd9
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 Beat It (Music)
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Beat It (Music) / int_f0864fd9
 Beat It (Music) / int_name
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ItemName
 Beat It (Music) / int_name
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 Beat It (Music) / int_name
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 Beat It (Music) / int_name
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Beat It (Music) / int_name
 Beat It (Music) / int_name
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Beat It (Music)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
African-American Media / int_7bf4c3bc
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Bad Guy Bar / int_7bf4c3bc
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Combat by Champion / int_7bf4c3bc
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Concept Video / int_7bf4c3bc
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Duels Decide Everything / int_7bf4c3bc
 Beat It (Music)
hasFeature
Staredown Faceoff / int_7bf4c3bc