HIStory (Michael Jackson song)

"HIStory"
Single by Michael Jackson
from the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix
Released	July 30, 1997
Format	7"; 12"; cassette; CD;
Recorded	1994
Genre	Pop, R&B, house; ("HIStory" original/remix); New jack swing; ("Ghosts")
Length	4:01 ("HIStory" radio edit); 6:37 ("HIStory" original album version); 8:00 ("HIStory" remix album version); 3:50 ("Ghosts" radio edit); 5:13 ("Ghosts" album version)
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Michael Jackson, James Harris III, Terry Lewis
Producer(s)	Michael Jackson, James Harris III, Terry Lewis
Michael Jackson singles chronology

"HIStory" is a 1995 song by Michael Jackson. The original version of "HIStory" was released as a track on Jackson's 1995 studio album HIStory, but was never released as a single. "HIStory" was composed by Michael Jackson, James Harris III and Terry Lewis before it was remixed by Tony Moran in 1997. The original version contained many historic audio clips and samples. The remix does not have the audio clips and samples. The remix was released as part of the single release "HIStory"/"Ghosts", a double A-side single from Michael Jackson's 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, with "Ghosts" as a brand new recording.

Production

"HIStory" was originally written and composed by Michael Jackson, James Harris III and Terry Lewis in 1995.^[1] It was the thirteenth track on the studio album HIStory, but was not released as a single. The song sampled multiple musical compositions and historical audio quotes, all of which were dispersed throughout the track. Early in the track, one even included quotes from an interview with a young Michael Jackson from 1970. Musical compositions sampled include "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" and "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition. In reissues of the album, the Pictures at an Exhibition piece was replaced by a similar improvised orchestra piece, but the original sample was used in Jackson's live performances in the HIStory Tour. Audio quotes sampled were the "Charles Lindbergh Report" by Lowell Thomas, a report on Hank Aaron, "Robert Kennedy Eulogy" by Ted Kennedy, "Farewell to Baseball" by Lou Gehrig, "Greetings to the Children of England" by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, quotes from Muhammad Ali, Thomas Edison, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream".^[2] In 1997, Jackson issued the remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix; the second single from the album would be the double A-side "HIStory"/"Ghosts". The "HIStory" portion was a Tony Moran remix of the original 1995 composition. The remix was entitled "Tony Moran's HIStory Lesson" in the album booklet.^[3]

Music video

The music video that accompanied the remix opens with the scene of a woman, relaxing on a futuristic sofa, watching the music video through metallic virtual reality goggles. The video is set in a nightclub. Inside the club, televisions, monitors and walls display the history of Jackson's filmography such as "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock with You", "Beat It", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", "Dirty Diana", "Smooth Criminal", "Black or White", "Remember the Time", "In the Closet", "Jam", "Will You Be There", "Scream", "Earth Song", "They Don't Care About Us", "Stranger in Moscow", "Blood on the Dance Floor", scenes from his short film Ghosts, and live performances from the Bad and Dangerous tours. Wearing the goggles, the woman is led to believe she is in the nightclub too. The video ends with the woman removing the goggles.

Chart performance of HIStory/Ghosts

"HIStory/Ghosts" did generally well of music charts worldwide, having charted within the top-ten and top-twenty in multiple countries. The song's highest peak position was in Italy, charting at number three. In the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden "HIStory/Ghosts" spent seventeen to eighteen weeks on the charts. In Australia "HIStory/Ghosts" peaked at forty-three before falling off the chart.^[4]^[5] The single did not appear on any United States Billboard charts.^[6]

Track listing

European CD maxi single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"HIStory" (7" HIStory Lesson Edit)	4:08
2.	"HIStory" (MARK!'s Radio Edit)	4:18
3.	"HIStory" (MARK!'s Vocal Club Mix)	9:14
4.	"HIStory" (The Ummah Radio Mix)	5:00
5.	"HIStory" (The Ummah DJ Mix)	3:04
6.	"HIStory" (The Ummah Main Acapella)	4:04
7.	"Ghosts" (Radio Edit)	3:50
Total length:		33:38

UK CD 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"HIStory" (7" HIStory Lesson Edit)	4:08
2.	"HIStory" (radio edit)	4:01
3.	"Ghosts" (radio edit)	3:50
4.	"Ghosts" (Mousse T's Club Edit)	4:24
Total length:		16:23

UK CD 2 (Only HIStory)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"HIStory" (Tony Moran's HIStory Lesson)	4:08
2.	"HIStory" (Tony Moran's HIStory Dub)	7:56
3.	"HIStory" (MARK!'s Vocal Club Mix)	9:14
4.	"HIStory" (The Ummah Radio Mix)	5:00
5.	"HIStory" (The Ummah Urban Mix)	4:20
Total length:		33:09

UK limited edition CD maxi single

"HIStory" (7" HIStory Lesson Edit) – 4:08
"Ghosts" (Mousse T's Radio Rock) – 4:25
"Ghosts" (Mousse T's Club Mix) – 6:03
"Ghosts" (radio edit) – 3:50
"HIStory" (Tony Moran's HIStory Dub) – 7:56

12" vinyl maxi

"HIStory" (MARK!'s Vocal Club Mix) – 9:14
"HIStory" (MARK!'s Keep Movin' Dub) – 9:23
"HIStory" (The Ummah DJ Mix) – 3:04
"HIStory" (The Ummah Main a Cappella) – 4:04
"Ghosts" (radio edit) – 3:50

Cassette single

"HIStory" (7" HIStory Lesson Edit) – 4:08
"HIStory" (radio edit) – 4:04
"Ghosts" (radio edit) – 3:50

European CD promo

"HIStory" (7" HIStory Lesson Edit) – 4:08
"Ghosts" (radio edit) – 3:50

HIStory (Mark Picchiotti Remixes) 12" promo

"HIStory" (MARK!'s Phly Vocal) (Correct name: MARK!'s Vocal Club Mix) – 9:10
"HIStory" (MARK!'s Future Dub) (Correct name: MARK!'s Keep Movin' Dub) – 9:16

Ghosts (Mousse T Mixes) 12" promo

"Ghosts" (Mousse T's Club Mix) – 6:03
"Ghosts" (Mousse T's Club Mix TV) – 6:03

Charts

All entries charts as "HIStory" / "Ghosts" except where noted.

Weekly charts

{{singlechart|Dutch40|16|year=1997|week=32|rowheader=true|accessdate=October 3, 2018}

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[7]	43
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[8]	36
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[9]	17
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)^[10]	10
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)^[11]	16
France (SNEP)^[12]	26
Ireland (IRMA)^[13]	16
Italy (Hit Parade Italia)^[14] "HIStory"	24
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[15]	14
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[16]	29
Poland (LP3)^[17]	28
Scotland (Official Charts Company)^[18]	4
Spain (AFYVE)^[19]	4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[20]	12
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[21]	16
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[22]	5

Year-end charts

Chart (1997)	Position
Germany (Official German Charts)^[23]	58

Personnel

"HIStory" (1995)

The original song, it appeared as a track on the album HIStory.

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Tony Moran's HIStory Lesson remix

"HIStory" (1997 remix)

The remix, it was released as a single—along with "Ghosts"—from the remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix.