Street Corner Tribute

Wikipedia: "I'll Be There" By The Jackson Five

The other night after dinner, I went for my run. Yesterday, I was explaining this to my co-worker who said to me... "Oh, I didn't know that you RUN anywhere anymore since you got your new car." We both looked at each other and laughed. Yes, I have been running (really power walking) and I may lose all of this weight yet.

I walked over to the playground and I stopped to catch my breath. Somebody had their car parked outside the playground with their radio blasting but, it wasn't the sounds of Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, or Drake blasting... it was The Jackson 5 singing "I'll Be There". What struck me was, standing around the car and singing every line perfectly was about 20 of the biggest, roughest kinda guys you ever wanted to see... the kinda guys that a lot of people would be afraid of if they saw them on the street at night. And yet, there they were singing "I'll Be There" and singing it well...

"You and I must make a pact...
we must bring salvation back...
where there is love....
I'll be there.

I'll reach out my hand to you...
I'll have faith in all you do...
whenever you need me...
I'll be there.

And ohhh...

I'll be there to comfort you...
when your dreams fall down around you..
I'll be glad that I found you.

I'll be there with a love so strong...
I'll be your strength....
I'll keep holdin' on."

I couldn't believe it. I started to join in but, I didn't. It was their moment and they handled it well. It was surprising and moving (to say the least) and near the end of the song, they all held up their cell phones, lighting up the night time sky and sang in unison...

"If you should ever find someone new...
I know he better be good to you...
'cause if he doesn't...
I'll be there.

Don't you know baby yeah, yeah...
I'll be there...
I'll be there...
Just call my name...
I'll be there."

I stood a distance from these guys and applauded as they continued to sing and someone who hadn't been singing ad-libbed...

"Just look over your shoulders honey, ouuu...
I'll be there..."

It was a unifying moment... a rare moment... when all of us tossed aside our fear, hang-ups, and even our trepidations about each other and joined in a sing-a-long, if only for a few minutes. The vibe was there and it was good. It was cool. Michael was good at bringing people together through music. Wherever he is, he would have loved it!