Michael Jackson, “Ben” | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 1^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Ben” by the late, great King of Pop, Michael Jackson. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 1^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Ben”, performed by the late, great King of Pop, 🎙 Michael Jackson. 

A decade before 🎙 Michael Jackson would unveil the likes of 🎵 “Billie Jean” to the world, the 13 year old was singing about a rat 🐀.  Not just any rat of course, but 🎵 “Ben”. Furthermore, his 1972 solo album was also titled 💿 Ben. “Ben, the two of us need look no more,” he sings sentimentally in the opening line of the first verse.  He continues, on his first no. 1 hit as a solo artist, “We both found what we were looking for / With a friend to call my own / I’ll never be alone.”

Because “Ben,” penned by 🎼 ✍ Don Black and Walter Scharf, is so thoughtful and focused on sincere friendship, the fact that the song is a soundtrack cut in a horror movie about a rat is unimportant. If you have never seen the 1972 film or read a synopsis, it is shocking how different it is compared to this sweet song by a teen music icon 🤯.  Jackson’s tone is absolutely gorgeous, showcasing him as the once-in-a-generation wunderkind that he was.  Besides bring the tender lyrics to life with his awe-inspiring instrument, the production and orchestration supporting him (🎛 The Corporation) – strings and rhythm section – are utterly stupendous.

“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.”

So sweet!

🎙 Michael Jackson • 💿 Ben • 🏷 Motown • 📅 1972

Michael Jackson, “Ben”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 1 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner, John Alan Sperry, PIRO, Motown, The Musical Hype, Pixabay]