"And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead"
About this Quote
The line “I would cry” matters because it refuses the mythology of the gifted kid who’s “lucky” to be working. It frames talent as a kind of conscription. “I would have to work instead” is the hinge: not “I chose,” not “I wanted,” but obligation. That single word turns the park into a symbol of what fame extracts, and it foreshadows the lifelong oddness people later mocked - the theme-park aesthetics, the obsession with innocence, the desperate attempts to build a childhood retroactively.
Context sharpens the sting. Jackson’s career was built in an era that celebrated prodigies while barely acknowledging children’s rights inside entertainment. His public persona depended on perpetual youth; privately, youth was the thing he couldn’t access without an audience. The quote works because it’s not self-pity so much as a quiet indictment: a culture that calls child labor “dreams coming true,” then acts surprised when the adult left behind doesn’t quite know how to live.
Quote Details
| Topic | Youth |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jackson, Michael. (2026, January 18). And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-remember-going-to-the-record-studio-and-840/
Chicago Style
Jackson, Michael. "And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-remember-going-to-the-record-studio-and-840/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-remember-going-to-the-record-studio-and-840/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
