Remembering Michael Jackson At The Dram Shop

As the King of Pop "beat it" yesterday (haha, see what I did there?), I did what any person grieving would do: I went and saw The Proposal at the Pavilion, followed by burgers and beers at The Dram Shop.

Say what you want about formulaic romantic comedies, Sandra Bullock is looking smoking for her 40+ years, and Betty White, everyone's favorite Golden Girl, was hysterical, and not relegated to the background with stupid, awkward grandma lines. I digress (or regress, if you're a cynic).

After scarfing down the Dram's signature basket filled with a delicious cheeseburger and hand-cut fries, we drank about 700 ice-cold beers. Finally, one of the bartenders arrived with an iPod filled with Michael Jackson tunes (isn't it interesting to know that no matter how many kids you molest/name Blanket/hold over a balcony, you die and every bar across the country is singing along to "Billie Jean" and "Thriller"?).

He had all of the hits, of course, but we were waiting for "Man in the Mirror"–a lesser known, cheesy anthem from Jackson's Bad album. We figured they wouldn't play it because it's not exactly a good bar song (it's more like a song you sing alone in your room at the top of your lungs and then you realize that your roommate came home and heard everything and is paralyzed with laughter outside your bedroom door—not that that's ever happened to me).

All of a sudden, we hear the beginning notes of "Man in the Mirror" (ie: angels singing). The bartender lets it play, and we're all singing along. Once he realizes what a ridiculous, sappy song it is, he turns it off and searches frantically for another MJ song that's a little more upbeat.

The bar FREAKS out.

An acapella version of "Man in the Mirror" was then sung by myself and my fellow Dram Shop patrons, even punctuated with MJ's signature "woos" and "hehe's." The bartender realizes what he'd done and starts the song over.

Hey, if you wanna make the world a better place, you better look at yourself and make a change.

Well played, Dram Shop. Well played.