Ben

Album

Ben

Label

Motown

Genre

Stage & Screen

Composer(s)

Walter Scharf; Don Black

Entered Chart

Aug 5, 1972

Peak Date

Oct 14, 1972

Released

July 12, 1972

Recorded

Genre

Catalog #

Motown 1207

B-Side

You Can Cry On My Shoulder

Don Black and Walter Scharf wrote the seemingly tender ballad "Ben" for the 1972 movie of the same name. It was the sequel to a movie called Willard, which was remade in 2003 starring Crispin Glover. In Willard, Ben is a pet rat trained by a human named Willard who has learned how to make rats do his bidding. Willard has the rats kill for him, but at the end of the movie they turn against him. In the sequel, Ben, a young boy befriends the rat, but the rat turns evil and recruits other rats to attack humans. In the remake of Willard, Ben becomes an enormous super-rat. Despite the horror movie provenance, the lyrics are touching and sentimental, and make no reference to rodents. This made it a sturdy song about friendship: 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 Many listeners were quite moved by the song, which was marketed independently of the movie, never knowing it's about a rat. According to the book Jacksons Number Ones, this was intended for Donny Osmond, but Don Black suggested Jackson, who got the song instead. Donny Osmond told The Huffington Post that he didn't record the song when it was offered to him because he was on tour and they had to finish the movie. He added: "Michael and I would talk about this all the time. It's funny, because we eventually ended up laughing at this one. I will never forget, we stayed up to like two in the morning, laughing about the fact that I had a hit about a puppy and he had a hit about a rat." The song's co-writer Don Black has written many movie themes, including the hits "Diamonds Are Forever" (for the James Bond movie) and "Born Free." At his 2007 induction in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, he said of "Ben," "When it came to writing about a rat, I said, 'You can't write about a rat.' I mean, I'm not going to use words like 'cheese.' I thought the best thing to do is write about friendship." "Ben" was one of Michael Jackson's favorites, and his first #1 hit as a solo artist. His group The Jackson 5 had a run of hits from 1969-1971, but when they slipped in the charts, Motown Records pushed Michael as a solo artist. At the end of 1971, he had his first solo hit with "Got To Be There," which he followed in 1972 with "Rockin' Robin," which went to #2. Later that year, "Ben" scampered to #1. Over the next few years, Jackson was more successful with the Jackson 5, but when he released his album Off The Wall in 1979, his solo career outshined his group. Jackson was 14 when he recorded this, making him the youngest person to top the Hot 100 both as a solo artist and as a member of a group (The Jackson 5). This was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song, but lost to "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure. Jackson sang it at the ceremony in 1973. Part of this song was used in a 1991 episode of The Simpsons where Jackson guest stars as an overweight, white mental patient who sings it to Homer. While Michael Jackson voiced all the talking parts for the character, the singing voice was someone else, which caught the rest of the cast by surprise. Harry Shearer, who does several voices on the show, told Songfacts: "Michael did all the vocal parts when we read it again at the stage. The character in the show sang special lyrics to 'Ben,' and when it came time to sing, Michael sat back, nodded, and a guy that we'd not noticed before, a white guy sitting across from him at the table, started singing in a ridiculously accurate Michael Jackson voice. And I thought about it for a minute, and then I realized, I guess we paid enough for the talking Michael Jackson, but not enough for the singing Michael Jackson." The guy who did the singing was Kipp Lennon, who often did singing parts for the show. Pearl Jam has a song called "Rats," which is a reference to "Ben." It's on their 1993 release Vs.. This is certainly the most popular song about a rodent, but it's not the only one. In 1976, Captain & Tennille hit #4 US with "Muskrat Love." This song was used in an episode of Queer as Folk where Michael Novotny is trying to win back lover Ben Bruckner. >> After Jackson's death, his family sued the promotion company that planned his comeback tour. In testimony, his mother, Katherine, revealed that Michael did enjoy the company of certain rodents: He once smuggled a mouse into a Beverly Hills restaurant. In 1985, Marti Webb released a cover version of this song in tribute to Ben Hardwick, who at age 2 was the youngest person in Britain to receive a liver transplant. Hardwick died a short time later; proceeds from the song, which reached #5 in the UK, went to his memorial fund. At Michael Jackson's 2001 tribute special, the young country singer Billy Gilman performed this with Marc Anthony.

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 (here and there)
You feel you're not wanted anywhere (anywhere)
If you ever look behind
And don't like what you find
There's something 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 (turn you away)
I don't listen to a word they say (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