Ben

How can you write a love song about a rat? And do so without snickering? Lyricist Don Black and arranger/composer Walter Scharf came up with the solution in the song "Ben" -- make the rat a sympathetic character. In the lyric there is no mention of fur, fangs, or long pink tails. Instead, the lyrics focus on how empathetic a character he was. In fact, Ben was the title character of the movie that was the sequel to the wildly successful horror film Willard, which starred Bruce Davidson (Senator Kelly in the 2000 X-Men movie) and veteran actor Ernest Borgnine. Who could convincingly sing this song with a straight face? None other than a teenaged Michael Jackson whose sensitive reading of the lyric is no less than astonishing. Wrapped up in a beautiful string arrangement, subdued instrumentation, and background vocals that conjure Walt Disney-ish beddy-bye images, Jackson's tender vocals make you forget that he's singing about a rat. Could there been some kind of kismet going on here since the animal-loving singer had two pet mice named Ray and Charles, and Black wrote the lyrics to the title track theme of the 1966 movie Born Free, which centered around a lion? Jackson performed the Academy Award-nominated song on the Oscars telecast. "Ben" made it to number five R&B; and number one pop in fall 1972.