'We Are the World'

Parts of this benefit single have aged poorly — specifically, the Quincy Jones fanfare that opens the thing and the Cyndi Lauper shrieking-dolphin interlude. But the song itself, written by Jackson and Lionel Richie, is a wonder, flexible enough to accommodate the vocal styles of everyone from Kenny Rogers to Bob Dylan. And at the 2:40 mark, when Jackson sings the bridge in a classic “‘scuse me, genius coming through” moment, he proves that his style tops them all.
'I'll Be There'

After three upbeat songs, this Berry Gordy–co-written ballad was the Jackson 5′s first serious track, and it turned out to be its most successful. Michael and Jermaine share the lead vocals, but it’s Michael who has the memorable lines, opening with, “You and I must make a pact” — he sounds almost too young to know what the word pact might mean — and the ad-libbed ender, “Just look over your shoulders, honey,” a reference to the Four Tops’“Reach Out, I’ll Be There.”












