Song of the Day 1/1: Siedah Garrett, “Man in the Mirror”

The older you get, the less likely you are to make New Year’s resolutions, I’m guessing because we geezers realize how resistant we are to change. But almost 40% of US adults make them, and linking the holiday to the desire for self-improvement — the three most popular resolutions involve diet and exercise — appears to help. One study found participants were more likely to follow through when they made the change on New Year’s Day.

No song better embodies that spirit of hopeful resolve than this No. 1 hit for Michael Jackson off his 1987 “Bad” LP. Ironically, Jackson and producer Quincy Jones altered almost nothing from the demo tape that Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard made in response to Jones’ request for material. This was years before Ballard wrote for and produced Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” and Garrett was a little-known soul singer Jones had hired as a songwriter.

In a 2013 interview, she said, “All I wanted to do was give Michael something he would want to say to the world, and I knew it couldn’t be another ‘Oh baby, I love you’ song. It had to be a little bit more than that. It needed to have some substance. He hadn’t recorded anything like this to that point.”

Jones and Jackson loved more than the song — Jackson consciously emulated Garrett’s delivery, and was so impressed with her pipes that he recorded a duet with her, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” on the same album. She also co-wrote the duet “Keep the Faith” for Jackson’s 1991 album “Dangerous” and spent 16 months on his ensuing world tour.

Jones made very few changes from the original arrangement, but the main one is crucial. On the last word before the final repetition of the chorus, at 2:53 on the video, the key shifts from G major to G sharp major — right on the word “change,” no less, as it’s delivered by the Andraé Crouch choir. It’s widely considered the greatest key change in the history of popular music.

The tune is much-covered by all sorts of artists. There’s a common misconception that it’s only the lyrics that make the song so affecting, but this instrumental rendition on finger-picked guitar should lay that notion to rest.

Oh, the bad news about New Year’s resolutions: a study found 43% of those who make them will give up by February, and only 9% will see them through the year.