Michael Jackson – Stranger In Moscow

Written and recorded by Michael for his album HIStory, issued in June 1995.

It was written in a Moscow hotel room in September 1993, soon after the allegations of child molestation broke – "a strange, eerie, lonely time" according to Michael. "The lyrics are totally autobiographical," he confirmed. "When you hear lines like ‘here abandoned in my fame, Armageddon of the brain’ – at the time, on the last tour when we were in Moscow, that’s really how I felt… just all alone in my hotel, and it was raining – and I just started writing it."

It charted at no.4 in the UK, but wasn’t released in the US until nearly a year later, when a remixed version struggled to no.50 on the R&B singles chart and no.91 on the Hot 100.

A promo short film, shot in black and white in an unused hanger in Van Nuys, California, was directed by Nick Brandt – showing Michael walking in real time, while everything around him happened in slow motion.

Stranger In Moscow – Lyrics

I was wandering in the rain
Mask of life, feelin’ insane
Swift and sudden fall from grace
Sunny days seem far away
Kremlin’s shadow belittlin’ me
Stalin’s tomb won’t let me be
On and on and on it came
Wish the rain would just let me

How does it feel (How does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When you’re alone
And you’re cold inside

Here abandoned in my fame
Armageddon of the brain
KGB was stalkin’ me
Take my name and just let me be
Then a begger boy called my name
Happy days will drown the pain
On and on and on it came
And again, and again, and again…
Take my name and just let me be

How does it feel (How does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel (How does it feel now)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When you’re alone
And you’re cold inside

How does it feel (How does it feel)
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel (How does it feel now)
How does it feel
How does it feel
When you’re alone
And you’re cold inside

Like stranger in Moscow
Like stranger in Moscow
We’re talkin’ danger
We’re talkin’ danger, baby
Like stranger in Moscow
We’re talkin’ danger
We’re talkin’ danger, baby
Like stranger in Moscow
I’m livin’ lonely
I’m livin’ lonely, baby
Stranger in Moscow

(KGB interrogator –
Russian to English Translation)
"Why have you come from the West?
Confess! To steal the great achievements of
the people, the accomplishments of the workers…"