In the two weeks since Michael Jackson died, I've felt like I'm living in a movie for which he alone did the soundtrack. Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by the infectious, timeless beats of "Billy Jean," "Thriller," "Man in the Mirror" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

An open apartment window, a car driving by, the sound system at a bar or cafe. The King of Pop is the man of the moment, reminding me of when he ascended to stardom in the first place, when everyone seemed to know and love his songs and you could hear them wherever you went. But this time around, his ubiquity strikes a different chord: it's like a triumphant rebuke to all the scandals that came to define his life over the past 20 years.

In death, as in his youth, Michael Jackson is finally loved again. People who might have dismissed him as a freak three weeks ago are now listening to him with fond memories of when they, too, were die-hard fans. And those who grew up after he'd become more of a tabloid fixture than a musical icon are finally getting to see (and hear) the origins of Michael Jackson's unrivaled celebrity.

Michael Jackson will be remembered the way people choose to remember him, not by the way the media reports on his debts, his alleged child molestation, his whitening face, or even how he died. And the memories will go beyond the media spectacle that took place on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, which has caused no small amount of debate.

From what I've been hearing all over town, Michael Jackson is being remembered by what made him great. And that is, quite literally, music to my ears.

[Image: Michael Jackson performing at the Superbowl in 1993]