Who else remembers this paean to a rat as tenderly as I do? I wish I could post the video but I am defeated by technology. It's worth cutting and pasting the link below, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJV4p0aet4
I never saw Willard (too young at the time and I have always hated horror movies) but I did love this love song to a rodent. Could be why I settled in New York.
Ben, the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own
I'll never be alone
And you, my friend, will see
You've got a friend in me (you've got a friend in me)
Ben, you're always running here and there
You feel you're not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind
And don't like what you find
There's one thing you should know
You've got a place to go (you've got a place to go)
I used to say "I" and "me"
Now it's "us", now it's "we"
I used to say "I" and "me"
Now it's "us", now it's "we"
Ben, most people would turn you away
I don't listen to a word they say
They don't see you as I do I wish they would try to
I'm sure they'd think again
If they had a friend like Ben (a friend)
Like Ben (like Ben)
Like Ben
-- "Ben," by Don Black & Walter Scharf, 1972
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6 comments:
This is the song that's been in my head since I heard yesterday. I have distinct memories of listening to the (LP!) album in my room as a young teenager. I think it was my sister's--maybe I "claimed" it? I was too young for Motown and almost two old for Beat It (Michael's life already felt sad by then). Ben was it.
I actually heard this on the radio this morning...and I cried. Not sure if it's hormones or the contrast of that sweet little-boy voice against the backdrop of the tragic life that ensued.
Ben is my favorite MJ song from when he was a little kid.
Am I going to cry? Oh man.... I'm going over to listen...
I'm glad somebody else remembers that song.
It was the only Michael Jackson song I ever really liked.
Thanks for sharing.
Oh, I loved Ben. I didn't know Michael Jackson sang that.
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