Childhood

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1994-1996)

RECORDING DATE

Recorded from February 1994 to March 1995.

For its inclusion in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, despite being billed as the theme from the film, “Childhood” played a pivotal role in the scene where Elvis ran away after Jesse and the Greenwoods each denied his help which in-turn caused Annie to accidentally break her and Elvis’ promise they made the previous day. An instrumental version of the song is also played when Elvis is all alone later that night.

In the HIStory album booklet there is a drawing of MJ as a child. He is huddled in a corner of the room and looks scared; The electric cord of his microphone has snapped. On one corner wall are the lyrics to “Childhood”, the other wall shows MJ’s signature.

STUDIO(S)

Hit Factory in New York City

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Jackson

PRODUCER(S)

Michael Jackson & David Foster

RELEASE DATE :

May 31, 1995 (Scream/Childhood single)

June 20, 1995 (History).

LABEL

Sony Music

LENGTH

4:27

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

Childhood (recording session) : Recorded in 1994. Leaked on January 28, 2023. Remains unreleased.

MUSICIANS

Produced by Michael Jackson and David Foster
Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
Arranged by Michael Jackson, David Foster, and Bruce Swedien
Orchestration by Jeremy Lubbock
Michael Jackson – lead vocals and percussion
New York City’s Children’s Choir – Tracy Spindler, Natalia Harris, Jonathon Ungar, Brandi Stewart, Reeve Carney, Caryn Jones, and Brian Jones
New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jeremy Lubbock
David Foster – percussion, keyboards, and synthesizers
Brad Buxer – keyboards and synthesizers
Michael Boddicker and Brad Buxer – synthesizer programming [27]

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

5

SHORT FILM

Music video directed by : Nicolas Brandt

Date of shooting : Early June, 1995

Date of premiere : July, 1995

Official release : On DVD in 1997 (History on Film Vol 2) and in 2010 (Vision) and on Michael’ You Tube official page.

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on TV

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts (On December 4, 1995 : Michael rehearsed the song for canceled HBO concert at the Beacon Theatre with French artist Mime Marceau).