HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I - Composition

Composition

HIStory, similar to Jackson's previous studio albums Thriller and Bad, contains lyrics that deal with paranoia. The majority of the songs were written by Jackson. Several of the album's fifteen songs pertain to the child sexual abuse allegations made against him in 1993 and Jackson's perceived mistreatment by the media, mainly the tabloids. Because of this, the album has been described as being Jackson's most "personal". Two of the album's new tracks were covers. The genres of the album's music span R&B, pop, hard rock and ballads. The lyrics pertain to isolation, greed, environmental concerns, injustice. "Scream" is a duet with Jackson's younger sister Janet; contemporary critics noted that it was difficult to distinguish their voices apart. It was noted that the "refrain" of the song's lyrics "Stop pressurin' me!" is "compelling," and that Jackson "spits out the lyrics with drama and purpose". "Scream"'s lyrics are about injustice.

The lyrics for the R&B ballad "You Are Not Alone", written by R. Kelly, pertain to isolation. Two Belgian songwriters, brothers Eddy and Danny Van Passel, claimed to have written the melody in 1993; In September 2007, a Belgian judge ruled the song was plagiarized from the Van Passel brothers, and it was subsequently banned from airwaves in Belgium. "D.S" is a hard rock song, whose lyrics were interpreted by music critics as an attack on the district attorney of Jackson's child sexual abuse case, Thomas Sneddon. Multiple critics reviewed the song in connection with Sneddon, Fox News Channel and CNN, noting that the "cold man" in the lyrics is Sneddon; when the name "Dom S. Sheldon" from the chorus is sung, it resembles "Thomas Sneddon".

"Money" was interpreted as being directed at Evan Chandler, the father of the boy who accused Jackson of child sexual abuse. The lyrics of "Childhood" pertain to Jackson's own childhood. Similar to "Scream", the lyrics to "They Don't Care About Us" pertain to injustice, as well as racism. In "This Time Around", Jackson asserts himself as having been "falsely accused". The song features The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) two years before his death in 1997. Jackson worked with Biggie again posthumously in 2001 on Jackson's following album, Invincible on the song "Unbreakable"; this made him the only rapper to appear on multiple Jackson LPs. "Earth Song" was described as a "slow blues-operatic", and its lyrics pertain to environmental concerns. On HIStory, Jackson covered Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" and The Beatles' "Come Together". "Stranger in Moscow" is a pop ballad that is interspersed with sounds of rain. Jackson described the lyrics as being a "swift and sudden fall from grace". "Tabloid Junkie" is a hard funk song with lyrics instructing listeners to not believe everything they read in the media and tabloids. The album's title track, "HIStory" contained multiple samples, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. "HIStory" was not released as a single from HIStory, but was from Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix in 1997.

As an introduction for "Little Susie", Michael used his own variation of Pie Jesu from Maurice Duruflé's Requiem. The inspiration behind the song more likely came from an artist called Gottfried Helnwein. Michael admired the artist's work and he had purchased some of his paintings. One of them, "Beautiful Victim", inspired the song. Helnwein is considered quite provocative as he paints about the human condition depicting wounded children, among others. Helnwein later painted a portrait of Michael. There appears to be a similarity between the "Beautiful Victim" painting and the artwork included for the song in HIStory.