That is a custom-made drum set that opens this song. As in, the materials of the set were assembled to have the unmistakable sound we all know.

Michael Jackson had the bassist play the bass line on every bass the guy owned before selecting one to be on the recording.

Every song on the Thriller album had this kind of insane attention to detail. It was like a NASA mission, for tunes.

That is why every person who sees this post knows every detail of this song. We all love the drum and bass, the keyboard, the funky guitar. We have all sung every note, even tried our hand at some of the impossible-to-imitate little embellishments he obsessively dropped everywhere.

Have we all attempted to moon walk to this song? I admit I haven't. I could maybe keep up with the voice of Michael Jackson, but the moves were best handled by professionals.

Michael Jackson wanted Thriller to be massive, successful, a crossover between cultures, all of that. It was also just one of the greatest tributes to the human imagination, with songs like “Billie Jean” an absolutely unique vibe, vision, phenomenon, memory, leap.