Today is Halloween, so here’s a spooky one with a sweet sound.
Michael Jackson’s very first solo No. 1 wasn’t a dance song. It was a gentle ballad called “Ben,” and he sang it when he was just 14. If you know it, you can probably hear that young voice right now, soft and a little sad.
It sounds like a song about a best friend. In a way, it is.
But the song came from a horror movie.
“Ben” was the theme of a 1972 film, also called “Ben.” It was the sequel to an earlier movie called “Willard,” from 1971, and it came out in June 1972. Michael’s version plays over the closing credits. He recorded it in October 1971 at Motown’s studio in Los Angeles.
The single came out on July 12, 1972. On October 14, 1972, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for one week. For a 14-year-old kid, that’s quite a thing to pull off.
So who was Ben?
A rat.
In the movie, a lonely boy named Danny makes friends with Ben, a rat that once belonged to Willard. Ben becomes his best friend. Ben is also the leader of an army of rats, and before long the rats take over the town.
So the tender little ballad your mom might have hummed while doing the dishes? It’s about a rat.
The words were written by Don Black, a lyricist who had already won an Oscar for “Born Free.” Film composer Walter Scharf wrote the music. And Black has been honest about how strange the job was.
“When it came to writing about a rat, I said, ‘You can’t write about a rat,'” he said.
He also drew a firm line. “I’m not going to use words like ‘cheese.'”
His solution was clever. “I thought the best thing to do is write about friendship.”
That’s why you can listen to the whole song and never hear the word “rat” once. Black wrote it about friendship, and Michael sang it from the heart.
Give it a listen with fresh ears.
Michael Jackson’s “Ben,” the official recording
The song did more than top the charts. “Ben” won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and it was nominated for an Oscar too. It lost to “The Morning After” from “The Poseidon Adventure.”
That Oscar nomination gave Michael a big night of his own. On March 27, 1973, he sang “Ben” at the 45th Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The hosts that year were Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson, and there was 14-year-old Michael on the same stage, singing a sweet ballad to a rat in front of Hollywood’s biggest names.
Here’s his performance from that night.
Young Michael sings “Ben” at the 1973 Oscars
Most grown-up singers would be nervous at the Oscars. He was a 14-year-old from Motown, singing for a room full of movie stars.
So if you hear “Ben” on the radio this Halloween, you’ll know the secret behind it. And you can decide for yourself whether it’s the sweetest song ever written about a rat.