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
The last recordings (2005-2009)
RECORDING DATE
Recorded in 2008. Its registration on the U.S. Copyright Office lists Neff-U as the producer. One of the songs listed by MJ on a handwritten note of songs he wanted to finish in June 2009. A short snippet leaked online in August 2025 but the song remains unreleased.
Damien Shields : “H2O is Dark Lady – same song. Excellent demo from 2008. One of the rare tracks with a FULL scratch vocal. MJ sings the vocal melody in one continuous take. No stops or breaks. There are barely any sensical lyrics in the entire song, but the vocal melody is very fleshed out. Yes, I’d say the bass line is somewhat similar to Queen’s “Under Pressure” – but beyond the bass line, the songs themselves sound absolutely nothing alike. The vocals are not complete. The lead vocal was done in one single rough take, ALL the way through. 2 verses, 2 choruses, then more repeat choruses and adlibs at the end. There are SOME stacked background vocals in SOME parts, but just to get the feel. Lyrics aren’t done at all. Verse (low): Dark lady will get what she wants every time. Dark lady don’t know what she is [mumbling lots of gibberish] + da da da Pre-chorus: She get the right one (repeated countless times) Chorus (falsetto): And you should save me from heaven, save me from [gibberish]. The words “dark lady” are the first words MJ sings in the Dark Lady verses. He sings it twice in both the 1st and 2nd verse. So unlike Rocker, Dark Lady’s title directly relates to the limited lyrical content of the song. […] It’s far from what I consider complete. It has a one-take vocal melody. He vocalises the melody, but JUST the melody – basically no coherent lyrics at all. It couldn’t be released as anything more than a demo – as it is – in my opinion. But I believe fans would love it.”
In November 2008, Rod Temperton has a meeting with MJ at his hotel suite during which MJ plays Rod several songs. Some of the songs already had lyrics, which MJ wanted to improve. Others were instrumentals without any lyrics at all. The songs MJ plays for Rod are Best of Joy, Hollywood Tonight, The Loser, The Way Your Love Me, Beautiful Girl, Dark Lady, DIE, and Can’t Stop Loving You.
STUDIO(S)
???
SONGWRITER(S)
Michael Jackson
PRODUCER(S)
Michael Jackson
RELEASE DATE :
Unreleased
LABEL
Unreleased
LENGTH
???
ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)
No other version known to exist
MUSICIANS
???
PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :
Never released as a single
SHORT FILM
No short film
LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS
Never performed on TV
LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS
Never performed in concerts
Jackson Dynasty 