Michael Jackson – “Do You Know Where Your Children Are?”

Michael Jackson – “Do You Know Where Your Children Are?”

In light of the allegations that surfaced in the ’90s, a Michael Jackson song called “Do You Know Where Your Children Are?” is obviously a loaded proposition, even before you hear the lyrics about sexual abuse. But it turns out the tune, yet another preview of next week’s “modernized” posthumous album Xscape, predates those allegations and is an outtake from the sessions for 1988’s Bad. According to Radio.com, the Jackson estate produced a note from Jackson about the song, which is named for a public service announcement that ran on American TV from the ’60s to the ’80s. The note explains that “Do You Know Where Your Children Are?” tackles the subject of runaways; it’s “about kids being raised in a broken family where the father comes home drunk and the mother is out prostituting and the kids run away from home and they become victims of rape, prostitution and the hunter becomes the hunted.” Incidentally, the song is completely amazing. Hear it at Radio.com.

Xscape is out 5/13 on Epic.

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