Smooth Criminal

Album

Bad

Label

Epic records

Genre

Dance-pop

Media Type

45s

Composer(s)

Michael Jackson

Entered Chart

Nov 12, 1988

Peak Date

Jan 14, 1989

Released

November 14, 1988

Recorded

November 1986–April 1987[2]Studio Westlake (studio D), Los Angeles

Catalog #

Epic 34-08044

B-Side

(instrumental)

Many of the songs Jackson writes are very personal in nature, but this one (which he wrote himself) tells the fictional story of a particularly adept gangster, something far from his personal experience. Jackson takes the role of onlooker in the song, coming across the victim and asking her over and over - "Annie are you OK?" Apparently, Annie is not OK, as she's been struck by the smooth criminal. This song was a highlight of Jackson's live shows, where he performed variations of the 45-degree lean popularized in the video, often leaving the crowd wondering how it was done. The routine grew more elaborate over time; on the Dangerous tour (1992-1993), he basically reenacted the video with four dancers. The HIStory tour (1996-1997) brought a more theatrical performance, with Jackson dressed like a 1930s Chicago gangster. He would appear on stage with a prop machine gun and blast away six or so rival gangsters, whose bodies were then dragged off stage to great applause. The lean was accomplished with specially designed shoes that could lock into an anchor on the floor. Jackson patented the system. There are four versions of the video, with the original being in the Moonwalker film. The most famous aspect of the video is the forward lean where Michael and his dancers appear to defy gravity. In the video, ropes and magnets were used to achieve the special effect. On stage, the dancers wore special shoes that could be furtively inserted into pegs on the stage floor, then quickly removed to resume full motion. The technique was filed under United States Patent Law by Jackson and two collaborators in 1993, although the patent expired in 2005. >> It was the recording engineer, Bruce Swedien, who was the voice of the police chief on Jackson's recording. Alien Ant Farm's version was a hit in 2001, going to #23 in the US and #3 in the UK. That thumping you hear at the beginning is Jackson's own heartbeat, digitally processed through a Synclavier. Colin Chilvers directed the Moonwalk film, including the 42-minute "Smooth Criminal" segment. Chilvers, who worked on films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Superman (1978), was inspired by the golden age of Hollywood. He explained to Rolling Stone: "I showed Michael a movie that I felt would fit the theme of the piece, The Third Man. He loved the look of it, that sort of film-noir look, so we used that to get the camera man to light it in a similar way. The dance piece was a tribute to Fred Astaire. And actually, he wears a similar kind of costume that Fred had used in one of his movies – Band Wagon. We had the pleasure of having Fred's choreographer come on the set. [Astaire's choreographer] Hermes Pan visited the set while we were doing the song and dance piece and said that Fred would have been very happy and proud of being copied by such a wonderful person. The lean that we did, obviously that was a bit of a heritage from my days of Superman. 'Cause we had Michael on wires and fixed his feet to the ground so he could do that famous lean. I fixed their heels to the ground with a slot, so that they were locked into it. If you look in the video, when they come back up from that lean, they kind of shuffle their feet back – they were unlocking themselves from the support they had in the ground. We had 46 dancers plus the choreographers, hair, make-up, everything else. And every day, lunchtime, we'd go and watch the dailies from the day before. And it would be like a party going on in the screening room. Michael would be there as well and they would be hoopin' and hollerin' when they saw themselves and how good it looked – or else, Michael would say, 'We can do better than that.' Not the usual way to make a Hollywood movie, that's for sure." As revealed in the Spike Lee documentary Bad 25, the refrain was inspired by Resusci Anne, an industry-standard resuscitation doll that Jackson had been learning CPR on. Trainees are taught to ask "Annie, are you OK?" while performing CPR on the dummy.

As he came into the window
Was a sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
You could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down, it was her doom

Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?

Annie are you ok?
Will you tell us that you're ok?
There's a sound at the window
Then he struck you, a crescendo, Annie
He came into your apartment
Left the bloodstains on the carpet
Then you ran into the bedroom
You were struck down, it was your doom

Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?

You've been hit by, you've been hit by
A smooth criminal

So they came into the outway
It was Sunday, what a black day
Mouth to mouth resuscitation
Sounding heartbeats, intimidation

Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?

Annie are you ok?
Will you tell us that you're ok?
There's a sound at the window
Then he struck you, a crescendo, Annie
He came into your apartment
Left the bloodstains on the carpet
Then you ran into the bedroom
You were struck down, it was your doom

Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?

You've been hit by, you've been struck by
A smooth criminal

Okay, I want everybody to clear the area right now

Annie are you ok? (I don't know)
Will you tell us that you're ok? (I don't know)
There's a sound at the window (I don't know)
Then he struck you, a crescendo, Annie (I don't know)
He came into your apartment (I don't know)
Left the bloodstains on the carpet (I don't know why, baby)
Then you ran into the bedroom (help me)
You were struck down, it was your doom Annie (dag gone it)

Annie are you ok? (Dag gone it, baby)
Will you tell us that you're ok? (Dag gone it, baby)
There's a sound at the window (dag gone it, baby)
Then he struck you, a crescendo, Annie
He came into your apartment (dag gone it)
Left the bloodstains on the carpet
Then you ran into the bedroom
You were struck down, it was your doom Annie (dag gone it)