Michael Jackson - Ben - Lyrics Meaning

This song was written by Don Black and Walter Scharf in 1972 for the film Ben. Both the film and the song tell the story of a young boy and his pet rat, Ben.

It was Michael Jackson's first hit as a solo artist, without the Jackson 5, and was reported to be one of his personal favorites. Even though the song is basically about a rat, no actual mention of this is made in the lyrics which are incredibly moving and touched the hearts of many people who knew nothing of the film or the subject matter.

Co-writer Don Black wrote a number of movie themes and when asked about his inspiration for Ben he said, "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, so I thought the best thing to do is write about friendship."

It's a beautiful song about a boy's love for his pet and the lines, `With a friend to call my own, I'll never be alone,' really pull at the heart strings as a picture of a lonely little boy is instantly created.

In the film, Ben turns against the human race but Jackson sings of the boy's loyalty to his pet with the final lines of, `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,' guaranteed to bring a lump to the throat of even the most ardent rodent haters!