History Music / BillieJean

The song is lauded as one of the best songs of the '80s and currently sits at number 44 on ''Magazine/RollingStone'' magazine's list of the Top 500 Best Songs of All Time. The video was eventually inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame in 1992.

* NoahsStoryArc: Jackson says that the law was on Billie Jean's side "for forty days and forty nights", implying that she's the ark herself carrying the baby.

* TabloidMelodrama: The paparazzo following Jackson is trying to continue pushing one about Jackson being involved with Billie Jean, while Jackson vehemently denies the claim. In the video, he accidentally drops a newspaper that says in big bold letters on the front page "'''BILLIE JEAN SCANDAL'''"

!!Tropes:

--> ''And mother always told me\\
be careful who you love\\

'cause the lie becomes the truth.''

-> ''The kid is not my son...''

Released on January 2, 1983, the song received critical acclaim that only increased when Jackson later debuted its music video on Creator/{{MTV}} on March 10th of the same year, after initial pushback from the network which felt that "black music" (both music created by black artists and music primarily popular with black listeners) clashed with the network's rock aesthetic. The video boosted the song's popularity even further because of its cinematic quality like the video for the previous single,''Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller,''and became one of the first videos by a black artist to regularly air on MTV.

Released on January 2, 1983, the song received critical acclaim that only increased when Jackson later debuted its music video on Creator/{{MTV}} on March 10th of the same year, after initial pushback from the network which felt that "black music" (both music created by black artists and music primarily popular with black listeners) clashed with the network's rock aesthetic. The video boosted the song's popularity even further because of its cinematic quality like ''Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller'' and "Music/BeatIt" and became one of the first videos by a black artist to regularly air on MTV.

The song is lauded as one of the best songs of the '80s and currently sits at number 44 on ''Magazine/RollingStone'' magazine's list of the Top 500 Best Songs of All Time. The video was eventually inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame almost a decade later in 1992.

Released on January 2, 1983, the song received critical acclaim that only increased when Jackson later debuted its music video on Creator/{{MTV}} on March 10th of the same year, after initial pushback from the network which felt that "black music" (both music created by black artists and music primarily popular with black listeners) clashed with the network's rock aesthetic. The video boosted the song's popularity even further because of its cinematic quality like ''Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller'' and "Music/BeatIt" and became one of the first videos by a black artist to regularly air on MTV. In the video, a magic exhibiting Jackson walks the streets of a desolate urban landscape being stalked by a sole paparazzo trying to get a picture of him with the eponymous Billie Jean. Jackson ends up at the supposed apartment of Billie Jean and climbs into bed with her before disappearing. The paparazzo who managed to follow Jackson is quickly arrested by the police and carried away. The video was eventually inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame almost a decade later in 1992.

The song is lauded as one of the best songs of the '80s and currently sits at number 44 on ''Magazine/RollingStone'' magazine's list of the Top 500 Best Songs of All Time.

The song gained further immortality that by being the track Jackson debuted the MoonwalkDance to at the ''Creator/{{Motown}} 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'' special. Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" at the event is widely cited as his breakthrough performance as a solo artist, and firmly cemented him as an international superstar from that point forward. Since then, every one of Jackson's live performances of "Bille Jean" used the ''Motown 25'' routine as a basis, and was the one of the few songs he would always bust out a moonwalk for.

* TheBabyTrap: "Billie Jean" claims that Jackson is the father of her child, but according to the narrator this isn't true. What's true or not is up to interpretation.

* MommasBoy: The narrator of the song mentions the advice from his mother, that he seemingly did not heed.
--> ''And mother always told me\\
be careful who you love\\
and be careful what you do\\
'cause the lie becomes the truth.''

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: Though the narrator vehemently claims he's the victim of a [[TheBabyTrap baby trap]], it's actually far more ambiguous when looking at the lyrics and the video. While at face value, the lyrics that "they danced on the floor and around" can just mean they danced together at a nightclub, dancing is also a well known SexualEuphemism. The fact that the narrator later says Billie Jean showed him a picture of a baby "whose eyes were like mine" followed by a remorseful "oh no" adds more weight towards the idea that the narrtor really is the father of Billie Jean's child. Add on to that the video, in which Michael actually goes to Billie Jean's apartment and crawls into her bed, and the question of whether the narrator is [[UnreliableNarrator reliable or not]] becomes pretty significant.