Stranger in Moscow - Music Video Plot and Influence

Music Video Plot and Influence

The song's music video, directed by Nick Brandt, and shot in Los Angeles, is focused around six unrelated people living in a cityscape while the rest of the world moves around them in slow motion. The first half of the video introduces these figures. They are a man looking down at the city from his bedroom window, a woman sitting alone in a coffee shop, a homeless man lying on the damp street, a lone figure feeding pigeons, a boy ostracized from a game of baseball, and Jackson himself is the sixth figure, seen walking the city streets while he sings. Special effects are used to show birds and wasps flying, glass breaking and coffee spilling, all in slow motion.

In the second half of the scenario, heavy rain descends on the city and the citizens try to flee, all again seen in slow motion. From the safety of shelter, the six "strangers" watch everyone's futile attempts to avoid the sudden change in weather. Eventually they decide to go outside, where they look up at the sky and allow the rain to soak them. The video ends with Michael whipping his hair. During this scene, you hear a voiceing softly in Russian, a reference to Moscow.

The music video also appear on Jackson's video albums HIStory on Film, Volume II and Michael Jackson's Vision.

Jackson's biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, has stated that the video is based on Jackson's real life. He used to walk alone at night looking for new friends, even at the peak of his musical popularity. The 1980s saw him become deeply unhappy; Jackson explained, "Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so hard to make friends ...I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home".