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Ben vs Human Nature

Ben or Human Nature?

  • Ben

    Votes: 6 21.4%

  • Human Nature

    Votes: 22 78.6%
  • Total voters
    28
I respect ‘ben’ and its legacy, but I never liked it. it always felt creepy to me. it lost whatever charm it had post puberty.

‘human nature’ on the other hand, is my favourite ballad ever. I’m generally not fond of the genre. musically, lyrically, and vocally, there are more layers to it. it’s timeless. it manages to have a sense of wonder and sadness about it at the same time. despite not being self written, it felt personal to michael. one could argue the same with ‘ben’ as well, but still..
 
Ben ❤️

83magic said:
I respect ‘ben’ and its legacy, but I never liked it. it always felt creepy to me. [...]
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Interesting. I'm the opposite. I find HN quite creepy. Michael's performances of the song are wonderful - especially in TII - but, overall, I'm not wild about it.
 
1958MJJmoonwalker7 said:
ben is a beautiful song, and one of the oldies, but human nature is one of my all-time favorites by mj, so ive gotta go with that
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I agree, Human Nature is the clear winner. I love the story of how the song came to fruition, and it’s also MJ’s favorite song from Thriller.
 
I had to pop back in seeing this poll. :ROFLMAO:
Human Nature is a song about humanity & why we do the things we do. It's a song for humanity. It's a story for Humanity. It's a staple for Humanity.
This dramatic ballad works every time for Wendi. & i'm glad m sang it. I'm glad it is his voice on it. Ben is okay.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Ben ❤️


Interesting. I'm the opposite. I find HN quite creepy. Michael's performances of the song are wonderful - especially in TII - but, overall, I'm not wild about it.
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‘ben’ is taken from a horror movie of the same name, about a killer rat. the original album cover was full of rats superimposed on top of michael’s image. it’s the rare version that was withdrawn. other than that, I find the song to be dark & scary musically, as well as depressing. it reminds me a little of ‘be not always’ in that regard. I think ‘someone in the dark’ is a better replacement song about befriending a non human. it sounds more magical and joyful.

I can understand why some might find ‘human nature’ to be creepy in regards to touching shoulders and staring at women, but it’s genuinely innocent from the narrator’s point of view. he’s a street transplant marvelling at his surroundings and occurrences that are ordinary to everyone else. I will say that the original toto demo, which is sung in a lower key, sounds scary to me..
 
83magic said:
‘ben’ is taken from a horror movie of the same name, about a killer rat. the original album cover was full of rats superimposed on top of michael’s image. it’s the rare version that was withdrawn.
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I know. I just ignored the film. It didn't resonate with me, didn't interest me so I ignored it. It's always been about the song. It's really all about Michael's voice.

83magic said:
other than that, I find the song to be dark & scary musically, as well as depressing.
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It's certainly very sad and moving. Full of yearning. The story of a child that is so lonely they can only find companionship with an animal is sad, no question. But it has never depressed me. It's really all about Michael's voice for me, not so much the lyrics and the story. It's the beautiful tone in his voice. It's one of his most beautiful vocal performances. Maybe his most beautiful. For me, at least.

83magic said:
it reminds me a little of ‘be not always’ in that regard. I think ‘someone in the dark’ is a better replacement song about befriending a non human. it sounds more magical and joyful.
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That's a fair point but, like I said, I'm less interested in the lyrics and the story. It's not what I'm focused on when I listen to 'Ben'.

83magic said:
I can understand why some might find ‘human nature’ to be creepy in regards to touching shoulders and staring at women,
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No, it's not that bit. It's the 'electric eyes are everywhere' bit.

Just to be clear, of course I understand what HN is about and I understand the lyrics perfectly. I also love the story about the making of the song. I love that interview with John Bettis. But I have my own take on the lyrics. I know we have very different opinions about lyrics, we've talked about that before. I'm always interested in what the lyricist was trying to say but, ultimately, I'm much more interested in my own interpretation, my own reaction to the lyrics. I've always done that, ever since I was a child.

That 'electric eyes' bit. It's very clever. I've made up an entire film noir in my head based around that single line. That lyric is a great piece of story telling but I still find it creepy. I will always love Michael's TII performance of HN, that's my go-to version. But that lyric does unsettle me, ngl. Someone could write a creepy crime novel based on that lyric. Maybe someone already has, lol.

83magic said:
but it’s genuinely innocent from the narrator’s point of view. he’s a street transplant marvelling at his surroundings and occurrences that are ordinary to everyone else. [...]
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oh, I get all of this. There is nothing difficult about these lyrics, it's an easy story to understand. But my imagination is never going to settle for what is in front of me. It's always going to take flight.

SmoothGangsta said:
Human Nature, although these aren't two songs I'd usually think about together or compare.
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No offence to Mykel but it wouldn't occur to me to bracket these two together in any way. That said, the unexpected question can be interesting / entertaining. :)
 
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zinniabooklover said:
I know. I just ignored the film. It didn't resonate with me, didn't interest me so I ignored it. It's always been about the song. It's really all about Michael's voice.


It's certainly very sad and moving. Full of yearning. The story of a child that is so lonely they can only find companionship with an animal is sad, no question. But it has never depressed me. It's really all about Michael's voice for me, not so much the lyrics and the story. The story is secondary. It's the beautiful tone in his voice. It's one of his most beautiful vocal performances. Maybe his most beautiful. For me, at least.


That's a fair point but, like I said, I'm less interested in the lyrics and the story. It's not what I'm focused on when I listen to 'Ben'.


No, it's not that bit. It's the 'electric eyes are everywhere' bit.

Just to be clear, of course I understand what HN is about and I understand the lyrics perfectly. I also love the story about the making of the song. I love that interview with John Bettis. But I have my own take on the lyrics. I know we have very different opinions about lyrics, we've talked about that before. I'm always interested in what the lyricist was trying to say but, ultimately, I'm much more interested in my own interpretation, my own reaction to the lyrics. I've always done that, ever since I was a child.

That 'electric eyes' bit. It's very clever. I've made up an entire film noir in my head based around that single line. That lyric is a great piece of story telling but I still find it creepy. I will always love Michael's TII performance of HN, that's my go-to version. But that lyric does unsettle me, ngl. Someone could write a creepy crime novel based on that lyric. Maybe someone already has, lol.


oh, I get all of this. There is nothing difficult about these lyrics, it's an easy story to understand. But my imagination is never going to settle for what is in front of me. It's always going to take flight.


No offence to Mykel but it wouldn't occur to me to bracket these two together in any way. That said, the unexpected question can be interesting / entertaining. :)
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Electric eyes is surely just wide eyed?

Nothing creepy about that 😂

If anything the lyrics see that girl, she knows I'm watching, she likes the way I stare (and then proceeds to move his hands down his body towards his crotch is more creepy) ha
 
HN all the way! That song is pure magic a real highlight in his concerts. The story of how it was recorded as well just makes it even more magic to me, there is something otherworldly about it.
 
zinniabooklover said:
That 'electric eyes' bit... That lyric is a great piece of story telling but I still find it creepy... that lyric does unsettle me, ngl. Someone could write a creepy crime novel based on that lyric. Maybe someone already has, lol.
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Basically you're scared of this
 
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zinniabooklover said:
Nope, you're both wrong.

CCTV (imo)

And 'creeped out' is not the same as scared. Creeped out is just 'euggghhh!'.

Now I come to think of it, that 'electric eyes' line would make a good page in a comic. Very dramatic!
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Just a little Gen Z humor.

So 1984 plus an episode of Doctor Who basically?
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Just a little Gen Z humor.
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oh, I got that. I forgot to throw in my usual - :ROFLMAO: - so it came off wrong, lol.

Mister_Jay_Tee said:
So 1984 plus an episode of Doctor Who basically?
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Basically, no. :ROFLMAO:

Bc I can't be doing with Dr Who. I liked the first series. After that I wasn't really bothered. Haven't watched any of the reboot stuff but, no, Dr Who is going nowhere near my HN fantasy, lol.

I'm trying to do the comic art in my head. It's not easy. Mainly bc I have no artistic skills whatsoever but also bc I can't decide if I want it across one page so it can be the cover or across two pages for better dramatic effect. 🤔

As for 1984 - also no. Bc that would be too creepy! That's way too heavy. :eek:
 
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