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 You feel you're not wanted anywhere If you ever look behind And don't like what you find There's one thing 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 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 (a friend) Like Ben (like Ben) Like Ben
Released - July 12, 1972 Recorded - 1972 Genre - Pop rock/R&B Label - Motown Writer(s) - Don Black and Walter Scharf Producer - The Corporation: Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, Deke Richards and Berry Gordy, Jr
"Ben" is a number-one hit song recorded by the teenaged Michael Jackson for the Motown label in 1972. The song, the theme of a 1972 film of the same name (the sequel to the 1971 killer rat movie Willard), spent one week at the top of the U.S. pop chart.[1] It also reached number-one on the Australian pop chart, spending eight weeks at the top spot.[2] The song also later reached a peak of number seven on the British pop chart.[3] The song became the first of thirteen number-one pop hits for Jackson in the United States and his first number-one as a solo artist. Later included on Jackson's album of the same name, "Ben" was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Song and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.