Line #21 Music/BeatIt


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/r_479121_1250376022.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Beat It" single cover.]]
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4	"Beat It" is the third single from Music/MichaelJackson's sixth studio-album, ''Music/{{Thriller}}''. Produced by Jackson and frequent colloborator, Music/QuincyJones, the song is renowned for its mixture of {{pop}} and {{rock}}, with its now iconic main guitar riff and the inclusion of a guitar solo from legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen of Music/VanHalen.
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6	Released in 1983, the song was met with universal acclaim and quickly rose to number one on several music charts on ''Billboard''. Much like with the previous single, "Music/BillieJean", this early success was only built on with the release of the song's music video on Creator/{{MTV}} in a primetime premiere on March 31, 1983. The video sees two rival street gangs preparing to have an all out gang war when they are interrupted by Jackson, who through the power of music is able to get both gangs to reconcile their differences. While the lowkey video for "Billie Jean" made Jackson an icon in the United States, it's this video that launched him into the international stardom that he would only go on to expand upon for the rest of his career.
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8	The song and video have received a litany of awards and remains on several publication' lists for the best songs ever made, including ''Magazine/RollingStone'' magazine, who most recently ranked the song at #185 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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10	!!Tropes:
11	* BadassPacifist: Michael intervenes in a MobWar KnifeFight to stop the violence and gets both sides to stop fighting by dancing.
12	* BadGuyBar: When they aren't popping out of the sewers or appearing from dark alleys, the gang members are seen coming out of seedy bars, implying this trope.
13	* CombatByChampion: Both gangs have their leaders fight on their behalf before Michael intervenes to stop the duel entirely.
14	* ConceptVideo: Michael intervenes and stops a MobWar through the power of dance.
15	* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: Michael is able to ReconcileTheBitterFoes by intervening in their MobWar and getting both sides to join him in a dance in the street.
16	* DuelsDecideEverything: The rival gangs are planning on settling their differences with a duel in the streets, until Jackson enters as a mediator and has them settle their differences with a dance battle.
17	* DuelToTheDeath: Heavily implied to be the case as the two leaders engaged in the KnifeFight have their wrists bound to each other, meaning escape is not possible.
18	* FingerSnappingStreetGang: The music video is an homage to ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' and features Jackson and others doing the snap walk throughout the video, most notably when Jackson stops the gang war and leads the gangs into the walk, before launching into the video's famous dance routine.
19	* {{Gangbangers}}: The two gangs featured in the video are depicted as such, wearing denim, [[HellBentForLeather leather]], and [[BadassesWearBandanas bandanas]]. This is intentional as the concept of the song and the video is based on real-world gang violence and the video actually features actual members of the infamous real life rival gangs, the Bloods and the Crips.
20	* HotBlooded: The song describes the people out to get the subject of the song as such, noting that "the fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear" meaning that their threats aren't just words and they are resolved in their decision to beat you up/harm you.
21	* IWantToBeARealMan: The person Michael is directing his song to is the kind of guy who gets into fights that they would be better off avoiding to prove that they are a man. As he sings in the third verse, "They're out to get you, better leave while you can. Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man."
22	* KnifeFight: The two gang leaders have their wrists tied to each other while they engage in a knife fight in the street, in order to prevent either side from being able to run away or escape.
23	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: The entire song is about both avoiding violence when you can and knowing when to back out of a situation that has escalated to the point of unreasonable violence, i.e. knowing when to "beat it."
24	* MobWar: The video features two gangs preparing for and engaging in the beginnings of an all out gang war in the streets before Michael intervenes.
25	* ProtestSong: The song protests [[ARealManIsAKiller violence and its association with masculinity]], advocating that violence isn't the only option to resolve disputes.
26	--> ''You have to show them that you're really not scared''\
27	''You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare''\
28	''They'll kick you, then they beat you''\
29	''Then they'll tell you it's fair''\
30	''So beat it, but you wanna be bad''\
31	''Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it''\
32	''No one wants to be defeated''
33	* ReconcileTheBitterFoes: Michael ends the animosity (temporarily or permanently is up to interpretation) between two rival gangs through the power of dance.
34	* RedHotMasculinity: The song discusses the issue that violence is often not worth it, but because guys "[[IWantToBeARealMan don't want to be a boy, [they] want to be a man]]," they refuse to back down from a fight. However, the more sensible thing to do ''is'' to back down or "beat it." In other words, fighting isn't the manly thing to do; knowing when to backdown or solve the issue without violence is. In the video, the gangs wear primarily black or white. Michael, who intervenes and shows the gangs that violence isn't the answer, wears what would later become his iconic bright red leather coat in contrast.
35	* StaredownFaceoff: Before the duel begins, the camera pans over both sides to show them staring at each other in an entire gang vs entire gang faceoff.
36	* SunglassesAtNight: The gang leader in the white coat is wearing sunglasses inside a bar despite it being nighttime for the entirety of the video.
37	* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: Defying this trope is one of the main points of the song and music video as the former dicusses backing away from fights and the latter shows Jackson resolving a MobWar through the power of dance.

Context Music / BeatIt