Benson Boone, Friend | Music Lifts 🎶 🏋

In the first edition of Music Lifts (2025), we’re uplifted by Grammy-nominated pop singer/songwriter Benson Boone’s song “Friend.”

Welcome to Music Lifts 🎶 🏋, a column highlighting songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs exuding fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.  Featured songs aren’t genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better – be LIFTED to new heights!  So, for the first edition of Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 (2024), we highlight “Friend” as performed by Benson Boone.

“Only so much weight my back could take, I’m sinkin’ like a stone / … I could use someone to help me pick up the pieces that remain.” A friend! That is what the handsome, often shirtless (and ripped) Benson Boone needs! “Friend” is the penultimate track from the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter’s 2024,  platinum-certified debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades – it’s giving “Beautiful Things” y’all! Boone penned “Friend” alongside Michael Matosic, Jack LaFrantz, and producers Jon Levine and Dan Farber.

“Friend” begins as a ballad, where Boone excels. And by ‘excel,’ Bensons delivers big, nuanced vocals. He brings the gorgeous melodies alive with his powerful instrument. After about a minute in, the tide turns.  The tempo picks up, and rhythmic drums anchor this friend-needing song.  Besides Boone’s alluring lead vocals, layers of background vocals help keep the song energetic and engaging. “Would you take my call / When my head’s against the wall?” he sings in the second verse, continuing, “And would you sit me down and hear me out? / Would you call me beautiful?” I’ll gladly call you beautiful Benson if it is any consolation 🤭 😍.  Anyways, the big moment comes by way of the chorus, where a friend is vital to encourage Boone when things get tough, particularly from a mental health perspective.

“I’m so close to the edge

And I need a friend, yeah, I need a friend

Somebody when the world starts cavin’ in

I need a hand, yeah, I need a friend

I’m tryin’ to remember what it’s like

To be young and alive

I’m so close to the edge

And I need a friend, I need a friend.”

All of us need a friend, a confidante, and a shoulder to lean on.  Benson Boone sings authentically and beautifully on the relatable, uplifting “Friend”.

Benson Boone // Fireworks & Rollerblades // Night Street / Warner // 2024

Benson Boone, Friend: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 No. 1 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Night Street / Warner; BD Jewel, Dave H, Jean-Daniel Francoeur, Joshua Brown, Vansh Mehta from Pexels; AcatXIo, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]